Umm Al-Jimāl’s hundreds of inscriptions have been a major source of research for archaeologists and epigraphers since H. C. Butler’s Princeton University Expeditions to Southern Syria of 1905 and 1909. In fact, Enno Littmann, one of the Princeton Expedition’s specialists, published the group’s discoveries in the project's 1913 multi-volume report. Four chapters of Littmann's work are available for download in the [Library].

 

Since then, scholars from around the world have recorded inscriptions in five languages from Umm Al-Jimāl. From religious dedications to tombstones, royal decrees to protective invocations, careful study of each one reveals another facet of the site's history, people, and connections to the wider world.

 

The slideshows below highlight the various scripts used at the sight, and detail some of the important imperial/political inscriptions found at the site.