Votive or funerary stele, Southwestern Arabia; alabaster, c.late 1st millennium BC
Conversation
@timotheousj not at all. Looks hieroglyphs to my amateur eyes
@timotheousj it's Old South Arabian. Pretty much wiped out by the advent of Hijazi Arabic in the 7th c. #HistoryGeeksRule
1
@timotheousj Thank you
1
Show replies
@timotheousj I'll tell you sometime but not on twitter.
@timotheousj I think it's fascinating. Most "history of Arabic/Arabs" texts start with Mecca and Muhammad, not before.
1
@timotheousj Oman is easy to get into (and gorgeous). KSA ... I took an offered opportunity and did a lot of reading between the lines.
@timotheousj oh, I hadn't considered that. Although I don't think I've ever been asked my status for a tourist visa. Longer stays, yes.
1
@timotheousj although my visit to Oman coincided with the urban legend about the gay test in the GCC.
@timotheousj it was around the same time as the supposed fatwa on necrophilia? Some Kuwaiti MP suggested a "gender test" which got picked
@timotheousj up in the press as a "gay test" and then spread around from Kuwait to the whole GCC.
1
@timotheousj file under "people will believe anything if you say Muslims did it because Islam."

