Script itself. so are we standing in the birthplace of written arabic? yes, i think i would say that, yes. for an arabic scholar — i studied arabic for a long time — learning that i'm actually standing in the birthplace of the script is... is... it's thrilling. it's very exciting. i'm a script nerd. the hundreds of unique inscriptions at hegra are just one draw for academics who come here from all around the world looking for answers about this mysterious people, and there's a real push to find out as much as possible about how ordinary nabataea ns lived. i'm in north—west saudi arabia, where an international team is making exciting discoveries about the ancient civilisation