Laïla Nehmé Explained

Laïla Nehmé (born 1966) is a Lebanese-French archaeologist. A specialist in the archaeology and epigraphy of the Ancient Near East, she is known for her research on Nabatean writings, the evolution of the Nabatean script into the Arabic, and archaeological excavations at Petra and Mada'in Saleh.

Early life

Laïla Nehmé was born in Beirut, Lebanon, where she attended high school. A meeting with a restorer of ceramics from a dig in northern Lebanon prompted her to seek higher studies in archaeology.^[1]

Nehmé attended the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, where Jean-Marie Dentzer guided her research between 1991–1994. She wrote her doctoral thesis on Petra in 1994. She began to conduct excavations in Syria and Jordan, and to specialise in the epigraphy of northern Arabic.^[1]

Career

Nehmé has been directing excavations at Mada'in Saleh, an ancient Nabatean centre. Her team has discovered several tomb sites, a walled city, comprising mud-brick structures, as well as oases where the granaries and wells supported the local agriculture.^[2]

She has studied the transition of scripts from the Nabataean Aramaic to the recognisably Arabic form between the third and fifth centuries AD, replacing the indigenous Arabic alphabet.^[3]

Awards

• 2010 – Chevalier of the National Order of Merit (France)^[1]
• 2007 – Prix Clio for Archaeological Research.^[4]

Selected works

Articles

• Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Empire. 10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe031. Nehmé. L.. 2016. MacKenzie. J.M.. 9781118455074. 1–3. Nabataean Kingdom.
• Strategoi in the Nabataean Kingdom : a reflection of Central Places?. 2015. Nehmé. L.. Arabian Epigraphic Notes. 1.
• Encyclopedia: Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Somology Art Publishers. Hegra of Arabia Felix. Nehmé. L.. al-Ghabban. A. 2010.
• Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. A glimpse of the development of the Nabataean script into Arabic based on old and new epigraphic material. 40. 47–88. 2010. L.. Nehmé. M.C.A.. Macdonald. 41224043.
• Les inscriptions des chambres funéraires nabatéennes et la question de l'anonymat des tombes. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 2003. 10.1034/j.1600-0471.2003.00017.x. Nehmé. L.. 14. 2. 203–258. free.
• Web site: Langue et écriture nabatéennes. Clio. L.. Nehmé. 2001. 2 June 2017.
• L'espace cultuel de Pétra à l'époque nabatéenne. Nehmé. L.. Topoi. 1997. 7. 2.
• Les inscriptions safaïtiques de Syrie, cent quarante ans après leur découverte. Macdonald. M.. Al-Mu'azzin. M.. Nehmé. L.. Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 140. 1. 1996.

Books

• Book: Report on the Fifth Season (2014) of the Madâ'in Sâlih Archaeological Project. Nehmé. L.. Abu-Azizeh. W.. Bauzou. T.. Durand. C.. Rohmer. J.. As-Sabban. I.. Delhopital. N.. Alhaiti. K.. 2015. 3.
• Book: Nehmé. L.. Villeneuve. F.. Pétra: Métropole de l'Arabie antique. 1999. 978-2702837689. Seuil.
• L'espace urbain de Pétra (Jordanie) de l'époque nabatéenne à l'époque byzantine à travers les sources archéologiques et épigraphiques. Ph.D.. Nehmé. L.. 1994. Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

Notes and References

1. Le Monde de la Bible. À la recherche des Nabatéens et de leurs descendants. Benoît. de Sagazan. 2011. 195. 30 May 2017.
2. Popular Archaeology. Kensington. James. Ancient Roads of Arabia. 4. 2015. 30 May 2017.
3. Web site: University of Texas, Austin. Episode 82: What Writing Can Tell Us About the Arabs before Islam. Christopher. Rose. Ahmad. al-Jallad. 27 April 2016. 2 June 2017.
4. Web site: Palmarès 2007. 30 May 2017. Clio.