"Wadi Rum’s Ancient Rock Art: A Story of Desert Survival" By Glenn J. Corbett
Cover photo: Inscribed boulder from the Wadi Hafir valley in the north of Wadi Rum. Included are depictions of ibex, camels, hunters, and ancient inscriptions. Photo credit: Corbett.
Jordan’s Wadi Rum Desert is renowned for its majestic natural beauty and incredible desert scenery. But tucked away in almost every corner of Rum’s towering sandstone mountains and dune-swept valleys are countless rock drawings and inscriptions carved by the desert peoples who have inhabited this remote region across the millennia. Their drawings and words convey something of the way the region’s ancient pastoral-nomads experienced this desert environment, especially the animals they herded, hunted, and relied upon for their survival.
This well-preserved 2,000-year-old depiction of an ibex hunt was carved by Bagila son of Zaidallah, whose inscription simply notes that he drew the entire scene. More than a half dozen other authors also signed their names to the stone. Photo credit: Corbett.
Much like the Bedouin of today, Rum’s ancient nomads and herders relied heavily upon their camels for transportation, milk, and camel-hair textiles. This scene shows an elegantly carved she-camel with pronounced hump and slender legs nursing her calf. Photo credit: Corbett.
The Arabian Oryx, with its long, slender horns and bulbous hump on the upper back, appears often in Wadi Rum’s rock art. Regularly hunted throughout antiquity, the oryx became extinct in the region in the 19th century but has recently been reintroduced through controlled breeding programs. Photo credit: Corbett.
Three warriors, armed with bows and swords, do battle with a ferocious lion. Though now extinct in the region, the Asiatic Lion was once commonly found in the Arabian Desert. The scene was carved by Zaidmanat. Photo credit: Corbett.
Hunters armed with bows track down an ostrich that is shown running in full flight. Ostriches were commonly found in the Arabian Desert until they were hunted to extinction in the 19th century. Photo credit: Corbett.
This rock carving shows a rare example of an Asiatic Cheetah, which could also be found in the deserts of Arabia 2,000 years ago. While cheetahs were no doubt hunted, they were also captured, tamed, and then used as chase animals in the hunt. This scene appears to show two collared cheetahs that are about to be released to track their quarry. Photo credit: Corbett.
Glenn J. Corbett is Editor-in-Chief of Biblical Archaeology Review magazine and a specialist in the archaeology of the lands of the Bible, with more than two decades of excavation and field experience working on projects in Jordan, Turkey, and Israel. Prior to joining BAR, Glenn was Associate Director of the American Center of Research (ACOR) in Amman, Jordan, where he directed the award-winning Temple of the Winged Lions project in Petra. In addition, while working as Program Director for the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, he spearheaded efforts to help preserve threatened archaeological sites and museums in Yemen and other countries ravaged by conflict.
