[2] The Thamud tribe is otherwise well-attested to have existed in this region of Arabia from at least the 8th century BC.
[3] The location of the inscriptions are curious, given that they are found at the southern extremities of the Roman province of Arabia with little else nearby, which has been described by some as the "last place" where a set of inscriptions recognizing the imperial authority of the Roman Empire would be found, though it adds to the significance of the inscription, indicating that this distant region of Arabia alongside the allied auxiliary unit still received attention from the emperors.
The first three lines of the inscription are originally in Greek.1 For the eternal duration of the power of the most divine rulers of the world, the great Augusti, Armeniaci, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius 2 [Au]relius Verus, [ .
The second inscription is entirely in Greek.5b For the victory and the perpetual continuance of the emperors, the Caesars [M]arcus [Au]relius Antoninus 6 and Lucius Aurelius Verus, Aug(usti), Armeniaci, [Med]ici, Parthici Maximi, and their whole hou[se], the natio of the Thamūd ... 7 have completed the temple 8 and consecrated the sanctuary 9 [... of Cl]audius Modestus 10 [... ] Proprae(tor).
[4] The first to discover the inscriptions was Alois Musil in 1910, who gave the site its name, Ruwafa.
In January of 1951, the British Arabist St John Philby revisited and rediscovered the inscriptions identified by Musil.
In 1966, Ruth Stiehl visited the site and took some photographs of the inscriptions, which were subsequently published in 1969.
Additional photographs taken in 1968 by another group were turned over to Józef Milik who produced the first acceptable scholarly edition of the inscriptions.
[3] The inscriptions assert that they were constructed by the Θαμουδηνω̂ν εθνος or the šrkt tmwdw, identified as the nomadic Arabian tribe Thamud who are attested as early as the 8th century BC.
In the context of the inscription, it refers to a military unit drawn from members of the tribe of Thamud.