54 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



eighth century, and having regard to the peculiar formulas * the 

 sentence (or record) ends', and 'God knows hest', I incline to the 

 belief that there was some doubt as to the actual site of the tomb of 

 this Sallam ibn Salah — possibly a local saint, — and that some later 

 Muslim put up the tablet, with all reserve, to commemorate the spot 

 identified by local tradition. Such tablets are not uncommon in the 

 East over the graves of holy men, and to erect them is a pious act 

 which brings credit to the commemorator. There remains, however, 

 the possibility that the century of the date has been omitted, but this 

 I think improbable. 



It will be seen that there are a good many problems connected 

 with this tablet which are not easily solved. This much, however, 

 may be laid down. If not actually a contemporary tombstone of a 

 Muslim who died in southern Rhodesia in the beginning of the 

 eighth century, it shows at least that there was a local tradition 

 in regard to such a person strong enough to induce some one in 

 later times to set up a commemorative tablet recording his name 

 and date. As the solitary Arabic document from South Africa the 

 inscription is valuable ; but it is to be hoped that it will not long 

 enjoy its unique eminence. A qualified archaeological exploration 

 of Rhodesia ought to bring to light other monuments of the Muslim 

 and possibly far earlier periods, and decide many questions in regard 

 to the ancient and mediaeval history of South Africa which can 

 never be settled until we have the evidence of trained explorers 

 and thorough excavation of the numerous sites which so far have 

 been scarcely more than looked at. Such an archaeological survey 

 should be undertaken without delay, and the results should be 

 collected in the Museum of the Rhodesia Scientific Association at 

 Bulawayo, whose members are fully alive to the importance of the 

 subject, 



