ABSTRACT
The chapter deals with Arabic rock inscriptions up to the end of the Umayyad era. The epigraphic corpus provides an important, in some cases dated, set of material evidence for early Islam. Moreover, the majority of the inscriptions are religious in nature, so one can study the development of Islamic ideas and identities during this crucial era. The chapter presents a categorization of the inscriptions on the basis of their contents and suggests various approaches to this rich material. It also probes the social aspects of the early Islamic-era epigraphic habit.
