Петроглифы Умм-Агаиба (Хукаб-Карара). По материалам Нубийской археологической экспедиции академии наук СССР. Часть 1. Племенные знаки

Abstract

This article presents the research of petroglyphs discovered by Soviet archaeologists in 1962 and 1963 in course of epigraphic studies in Wadi al-Allaqi region within the framework of the archaeological expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences. 200 hieroglyphic inscriptions were discovered in Umm-Agaib, copied and subsequently published. As for the petroglyphs, due to lack of time they were not reproduced and studied. However, the photos of the rocks in Umm-Agaib preserved in the archive of one of the expedition members, A.V. Vinogradov, allow us to make trace drawings of the petroglyphs, to study and publish them. Materials and methods. In this article we publish the so-called tribal brands (Arabic Wasm, pl. Wusum), used by the Bedouins of the Middle East (Iraq, Syria, the Arab Peninsula, Egypt, Sudan) primarily for branding camels. However, brands were also tribe symbols of sorts, and as such were often drawn on tents, clothing, or tattoos. Wasm was used by the Bedouins as a territorial marker, as well as to indicate caravan routes or the tribe’s migration. As such the brands were drawn on the rocks at the campsites. Results and discussion. This article attempts to determine the time period when tribal brands were drawn on the rocks of Umm-Agaib, as well as to answer the question of who could have left them: the Blemmyes who inhabited the Nubian desert in late Antiquity; the Arabs who migrated to the region of present-day Sudan in the 9th-11th centuries because of the active gold mining in Wadi al-Allaqi region and caravan trade that connected the Red Sea port of Aidhab with the Upper Egypt cities; or the Beja, indigenous inhabitants of the Nubian Desert. Conclusion. The author comes to the conclusion that at the current level of our knowledge of the brands left in the Nubian Desert, it’s impossible to accurately determine the time period when they were drawn. So far, we can talk about a wide time range from late Antiquity to the present.