The Development of the Arabic Scripts: From the Nabatean Era to the First Islamic Century According to Dated Texts

As an early contribution to the neglected field of Arabic paleography, assembles all published, dated Arabic texts from the first century AH (622-719 CE), arranges them in chronological order, and uses that list to explore the evolution of the written script. The evidence include texts in Nabatean (which Gruendler accepts as the immediate precursor to Arabic), pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions, epigraphic texts, and Arabic papyri. The discussion includes the development of individual graphemes, monumental versus cursive affiliations, homogenization, and other topics. No index. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.