Black Desert inscriptions offer rare glimpse into Roman, nomadic military cooperation

AMMAN – During the Roman occupation of the region, which gradually started in 1st century BC and continued in the following centuries, the relations between the Roman Empire, local nomads and inhabitants of regional statelets were very complex. 

Many of local nomads living in the Black Desert became auxiliary forces of the Rome and served as guards of the Limes Arabicus, a system of forts built on the eastern and southern frontiers. Scholars tried to put the pieces of this mosaic together but the task was a complicated one.

A group of local researchers, Ziad Salameen, Yousef Shdeifat and Rafe Harahsheh discovered a set of inscriptions in the Black Desert in 2017.

These texts – four Safaitic inscriptions and a Greek text enclosed in cartouches – were carved on a protruding rock face located at site K38. While Safaitic-Greek texts are not unknown in the Black Desert, what makes this collection unique is that it contains the first unambiguous Safaitic text composed by or for a Roman soldier. 

"The collection constitutes our first direct documentation of mixed military units in the ḥarrah, consisting of both Romans and local nomads," Salameen said.

"This paper will edit these new texts and discuss their historical context in light of Macdonald’s hypothesis’ son of Khsmn son of Ẓnn of the lineage of Kawn and he set off to the inner desert the year Ẓnn son of Khs¹mn was announced commander so ‘O Lt’ may he be secure’," Salameen said, adding that the text contains no new vocabulary or personal names. 

The British epigraphist Michael Macdonald discussed the meaning of the verb ngy and convincingly interpreted it as "to announce, declare", especially when used with the noun hdy – the entire phrase, he explains, refers to the appointment of an individual as commander of a raiding party or military troop.

How do these texts connect to each other, and what circumstances could have led to their production? The Greek inscription suggests that Ẓāʿen was deployed in a military unit; thus, it is reasonable to posit that ‘s²rq in text 1 refers to military movement towards or into the desert. 

It is further possible that Ẓāʿen was serving in a unit commanded by Ẓnn son of Kḥs1mn, a possible kinsman of Ẓāʿen. The presence of the Roman Gaius suggests that this unit was allied with Rome and, indeed, possibly raised by the Romans.

Gaius could have been a Roman soldier stationed with this unit or perhaps someone charged with liaison with the nomads.

"If we are correct and these inscriptions were written by members of an auxiliary Roman military unit in the desert," Salameen speculated

The Safaitic inscriptions mention several conflicts between the Ḍayfites and other groups in the region; some of these conflicts may have been connected to their alliance with Rome, noted Shdeifat, adding that the Romans could have raised such units to defend against incursions by nomadic groups from north Arabia.

The battle between the Ḍayfites and the Ḥṣd so close to Bostra could suggest that the latter were a threat to Roman interests; the Ḍayfites then acted as the first line of defence against incursions from north Arabia into this region. 

"If this reconstruction of events is correct, then these texts would have been produced after 106 AD, following the Roman annexation of Nabataea," Shdeifat explained.

Ḍayfite military units may have been deployed against the Nabataeans, either before the annexation of the kingdom or against Nabataean rebels after the fall of Petra. 

"A precise understanding of the chronology and circumstances under which these texts were produced remains impossible; there are several interpretive possibilities available and context does not allow us to arbitrate between them," Shdeifat underlined.