Ancient North Arabian

The tribes of the Syrian Harrah may, of course, ultimately have come from Southern Arabia, or their home may have been near the borders of the South-Arabian empires, and their alphabet is no doubt to be derived largely from the so-called Himyaritic script ; for the history of the ancient North-Arabian alphabets seems to be that of a gradual remigration from Southern Arabia, beginning at a time when the Himyaritic alphabet had not yet received the form in which it is known to us.

Macdonald (2000:28ff) has grouped the ancient languages in two classes: Ancient North Arabian (ANA) and Ancient South Arabian (ASA). The ANA comprises: Taymanitic, Dadanitic, Dumaitic, Dispersed ONA, Safaitic, Hismaic, Thamudic (B,C,D, and Southern), and Hasaitic.