In a historical research based on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Nabataean Papyri, and books developed by historians across different eras, the academic researchers Ziyad As-Salameen and Ikhlas Al-Qanawh completed a study on the names of geographical locations known to the Nabateans. 3 chapters and two sections with different schedules and appendices.

The book includes an in-depth research on the geographical names of the Nabataean writings, and the names of these regions in the ancient historical sources and in the classical Greek and Latin references. The two researchers also singled out a study on the Nabataeans and their countries in the Byzantine Dictionary of Greek Philology, Stephen, entitled "Ethnica", meaning the races, which was placed in Sixth century AD, this dictionary is located in 60 parts and is an encyclopedia of the names of peoples, sites and peoples in the ancient world.

And the book, as the author Al-Qannawa says in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, is a “linguistic historical study of the names of geographical locations mentioned in the Nabataean writings of inscriptions and papyri, in addition to the names attributed to geographical locations and also mentioned in the Nabataean scriptures, and the geographical names and the names of peoples and tribes that were labeled Nabatiyeh,” Or I contacted the Nabataeans in one way or another, in classical Greek and Latin historical sources and writings.

As for toponymy, according to the author, it is "a Greek word meaning (place name), and it is a branch of the science of studying names (onomatics) in general, and it is concerned with tracing the origins, roots, derivations and forms of different formulas for names of geographical locations, in an attempt to understand the different naming contexts, linguistic and historical. And religious. "

The sites studied by the two Jordanian authors extend over the land of the Nabataeans, which was described by the Byzantine historian Amianus Markellinos, born in 330 A.D., by what he said in the study, and on the borders of Palestine, the Arab countries, which are bordered on the other side by the Nabataeans, which is a land rich in its various goods, and equipped with strong forts and castles. The ancient government decided to establish it through narrow mountain paths to be suitable to repel the attacks of neighboring peoples, and this region also possesses, in addition to some cities, great cities such as Bosra, Jerash and Philadelphia, which are impregnable because of its strong walls, and Trajan granted it the title of state.

The book "The Nabataean Toponemia: A Study of Toponyms in the Light of Historical Sources and the Dead Sea Scrolls" (Al-Jazeera)

Between the Nabataean Papyri and the Dead Sea Scrolls

The study relied on the Nabataean papyri and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Regarding the relationship between them, the researcher replies, “There is absolutely no relationship between them except for the discovery of the two groups in caves within a narrow geographical area. There are great differences in the linguistic and literary structure of these two groups of documents. The manuscripts discovered in the Cave of the Messages, especially those written in Nabatiyeh, are of a commercial nature, and the chronological span of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which is approximately one thousand manuscripts, is wider, as the earliest of them dates back to the third century BC, while the documents of the Letter Cave are limited in number and were written in a period of time not Over 40 years old. "

So what is the Nabataean papyrus then?

The Qanawah turns out to be “a group of documents written in Nabatiyya and in Greek that belong to a woman named Babatha. The operators called these documents the (Babatha archive), and these papyri documented a number of relations and commercial dealings between the Jews and the Nabateans in the period between the end of the first century and the first third of the second century. The Gregorians. "

"These documents were discovered among other collections of documents that date to a revolt against the Romans known as (Bar Kokhba Revolution), in the Cave of Messages on the western shore of the Dead Sea. This is a rich woman whose father owned large areas of land in the area surrounding the Safi Valley on the southern tip," she continues. Eastern Dead Sea. "

The importance of historical place names

On the importance of indexing the names of historical sites today, the researcher says, "We are in need of linguistic studies that deal with precise details, such as studying proper names or studying names of places, or any form of comparative lexical studies. And classifying one lexical type of linguistic material (names of places. In this book) it may contribute to a broader understanding of their contexts, especially as the approach is more precise and comprehensive.

On the other hand, the two researchers mention in the introduction to the book that "place names are part of peoples' memory, just as their study provides us with information about the geographical, topographical and geomorphological nature of the place and its ancient environment. Such studies also provide us with additional information about the stages and diversity of human habitation in it and they represent an integral part of the topic." The study of ancient historical geography, and it has importance in research that deals with the study of ancient languages ​​and dialects and comparative linguistics, which in turn help us to encompass the different cultural, religious, social, political and civilizational aspects of the place and its inhabitants. In ancient times, it is the most descriptive of the nature of the earth and place, and this description accompanies it and does not change for the most part. "

Linguistic Studies in the Arab Library

Regarding the presence of such studies in the Arab Academic Library, Al-Qanawna points out that "there are separate studies written in Arabic on the names of placements, some of which are published in the form of articles in peer-reviewed journals, and others are unpublished research studies for postgraduate students in the masters and doctoral stages." "The interest in this type of studies in European languages ​​surpasses its Arab counterpart by stages."

This study shows the importance of paying attention to comparative Semitic linguistic studies within the wider linguistic framework, and from this chapter the importance of relying on the linguistic material of the Dead Sea Scrolls has emerged. The development of formulas. It also showed the importance of researching the classical sources, especially the Greek, for looking at the methodology with its advantages and disadvantages that classical writers used in dealing with this part of the world. Perhaps this book paved the way for other researchers to look at the names of places in other Semitic writings, following the same research method. .

The work on the book took nearly two years, preceded by the stage of collecting and classifying the material from its first sources.

One of the most important difficulties facing researchers in this section is the knowledge of the various literature, especially those published in languages ​​that are not widely used.

In his previous interview with Al-Jazeera Net, the Jordanian Minister of Culture, an expert in the history of the Nabateans, Dr. Bassem Al-Tuisi, said, "The Arabic alphabet was established in Petra." The international historical Silk Roads. The Nabataean era represents the most historical stage of weight in the production and accumulation of material culture in Petra and its vicinity.

Dr. Tweissi emphasized that the Nabateans "are the first root of the cultural and political formation of the Arabs in northern Arab countries, and they worshiped Arab gods who were worshiped by the Quraish after them, and their names were Arabic and their spoken language was Arabic, and they wrote in Aramaic and then developed it into the Arabic letter form later, just as the classical historians make the word ( The Arabs) in many places is synonymous with the word (Nabateans). "