Arabian/Persian Gulf Archaeology

Recent research by the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities and Tourism in Al Ain, now part of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), has revealed new Neolithic sites in the Umm az-Zamul region, located in the south-eastern desert of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The sites comprise of extensive lithic scatters spreading more than 3 kilometres alongside the south-eastern slopes of barchan dunes (crescent-shaped dunes whose arms point down-wind). The lithics scatters belong to the so-called Arabian Bifacial Tradition (ABT). Detailed recording of single flints as well as controlled total collection from defined contexts was applied. This was carried out to determine the character of the assemblage composition and to discuss the possible origins of site formation. These new sites allow us to re-examine the nature of settlement activities within the desert interior of south-eastern Arabia. Figure 1. Location Map of

Triliths are stone monuments distributed in the landscape throughout the coastal highlands of southern Arabia, from Ḥaḍramawt
in Yemen to Raʾs al-Ḥādd in Oman. They consist of three standing flat stones forming a pyramid which stands in line with others
on a low platform complemented by arranged square-shaped boulders and large fireplaces. Triliths’ site stone compositions mark
a special space of particular meaning for rituals we still do not know. They were 14C dated (from the charcoal of the fireplaces) to
the Late Iron Age period (200 BC–AD 400). The interpretation is challenging due to a lack of underlying archaeological evidence.
The first in-depth study on the triliths of southern Arabia yielded a consolidated trilith dataset of 554 trilith sites consisting of
2162 trilith clusters. It showed great variability in the spatial configuration of trilith elements, architectural design, and level of
preservation. The increased number of trilith sites has started to reveal trails of mobility across southern Arabia. Some trilith
sites are exceptional in size and unique in layout, which needs further attention. Field missions in Oman are planned in 2018–2020
to collect more relevant data, challenge trilith chronology, and test existing trilith interpretation hypotheses.

The present article focuses on a long-lasting phenomenon that has not yet been treated from a regional and comparative perspective, despite its exceptional character: the walled oases of north-western Arabia. It appears that several oases in the region (Al-Ḥuwayyiṭ, Dūmat al-Jandal, Ḥāʾiṭ, Khaybar, Qurayyah and Taymāʾ) were entirely, or in large part, enclosed by outer walls prior to the Islamic era. These compounds comprised not only densely populated areas but the whole oasis territory, including rural zones and sometimes burial grounds. Measuring several kilometres in length, these immense defensive schemes required considerable investment by indigenous populations for their construction and maintenance until their disuse. According to our research, the walled oases phenomenon in north-western Arabia originated sometime in the late fourth−early third millennium BCE, possibly inspired by Early Bronze Age southern Levant defensive concepts, and further expanded in connection with the emergence of the trans-Arabian trade and the caravan kingdoms. These conclusions are based on the detailed technological study of the ramparts of the oasis of Dūmat al-Jandal and on the analysis of satellite imagery and scientific literature on other sites in northwestern Arabia.

This paper provides a broad overview of the current state of archaeogenetic research in Arabia. We summarise recent studies of mitochondrial DNA and lactase persistence allele -13915*G in order to reconstruct the population histories of modern Arabs. These data, in turn, enable us to assess different scenarios for the peopling of the Pen- insula over the course of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. The evidence sup- ports the posited existence of Arabian refugia, although it is inconclusive which (e.g. Persian Gulf basin, Yemeni highlands and/or Red Sea basin) was/were responsible for housing ancestral populations during the Last Glacial Maximum. Synthesising genetic and archaeological data sets, we conclude that a substantial portion of the present South Arabian gene pool derives from a deeply rooted population that underwent sig- nificant internal growth within Arabia some 12,000 years ago. At the same time, we interpret the disappearance of Nejd Leptolithic archaeological sites in southern Arabia around 8000 years ago to represent the termination of a significant component of the Pleistocene gene pool.

The authors suggest to view the origins of Islam against the background of the 6th century AD Arabian socio-ecological crisis whose model is specified in the paper through the study of climatological, seismological, volcanological and epidemiological history of the period. Most socio-political systems of the Arabs reacted to the socio-ecological crisis by getting rid of the rigid supra- tribal political structures (kingdoms and chiefdoms) which started posing a real threat to their very survival. The decades of fighting which led to the destruction of most of the Arabian kingdoms and chiefdoms (reflected in Ayyãm al- 'Arab tradition) led to the elaboration of some definite "anti- royal" freedom-loving tribal ethos. At the beginning of the 7th century tribes which would recog- nise themselves as subjects of some terrestrial super-tribal political authority, the "king", risked to lose its honour. However, this seems not to be applicable to the authority of another type, the "ce- lestial" one. At the meantime the early 7th century evidences the merging of the Arabian tradition of prophecy and the Arabian Monotheist "Rahmanist" tradition which produced "the Arabian pro- phetic movement". The Monotheist "Rahmanist" prophets appear to have represented a supratribal authority just of the type many Arab tribes were looking for at this very time, which seems to ex- plain to a certain extent those prophets' political success (including the extreme political success of Muhammad).

Portugal in the Sea of Oman - Religion and Politics is an editorial achievement, which is unique in the Arab World. In cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Oman, the University of Aachen and the Centro de Estudos Históricos (Universidade Nova de Lisboa), more than one thousand documents, ranging from 1504 to 1697, from the Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (Lisbon), are published in a trilingual edition (original portuguese, translation into English and Arabic). Thus, invaluable primary sources are now available for scientists all over the world and a new scholarly dialogue about this essential period for the Arabian History can ensue.

This paper examines the chronological implications for the prolonged use of matchlock muskets by Bedouin during the Ottoman period (1453-1918). Although the technology behind the matchlock ignition system is from the fifteenth century, this weapon was used by many Bedouin until the beginning of the twentieth century. As a result, the presence of gun parts from matchlock muskets poses a potential problem for identifying Bedouin occupations from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the southern Levant and in northern Arabia. This issue is heightened by the paucity of diagnostic artifacts found at archaeological sites associated with the Bedouin during the Ottoman period.

For more than 10 years, I was one of a number of American and Yemeni archaeologists surveying and excavating sites dating to the fabled South Arabian kingdoms and beyond, to prehistoric times. We were members of the Dhamar Survey Project, started by the University of Chicago and named for a historic town in highland Yemen.

The study of the dentitions from Samad al-Shan begun by Karen Højgaard, was finished by J. Lukacs and G. Nelson. This verified the date nutrition of the Early and Late Iron Age population. The main population is of the Late, not the Early Iron Age.

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After Northern Australia the Arabian Gulf contains the second largest population in the world of sea cows or dugongs (Dugong dugon). These shy large marine mammals have been exploited for more than 7,000 years within this region. This paper highlights the economic and ritual use of dugongs by both prehistoric and historic coastal populations. Dugongs provided economically valuable products in terms of meat, oil, fat and hide, but the animals themselves were also venerated at a special monumental site constructed around 5,500 years ago on Akab Island in Umm Al-Qaiwain emirate. Their remains were also used in association with Islamic burial practice during the recent historical period on Marawah Island in Abu Dhabi emirate.

This paper examines an ongoing cooperative project between the National Museum of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, undertaken within the framework of the International Partnership Among Museums (IPAM) program of the American Association of Museums. The project— Written in Stone: Epigraphy from the National Museum of Saudi Arabia —is a virtual Web exhibition of inscriptions dating from the late second millennium B.C. to the nineteenth century A.D. It is undoubtedly representative of many special-purpose cooperative projects (for exhibitions, research, or other purposes) that are taking place across international boundaries between pairs or groups of museums in various countries. Such collaborations provide examples of how partner institutions can take advantage of the opportunities that globalization and standardization of museum practices offer.

Throughout the late Pleistocene and early Holocene the landscape of Qatar was transformed by global climate changes, cycles of sea level rise and fluctuations in rainfall. The Peninsula is formed from Eocene limestone which was subsequently shaped by geomorphological processes, leaving a gently undulating landscape featuring rock outcrops and sediment bowls. As a result of late Pleistocene and early Holocene sea level rise, the Arabian Gulf now surrounds the western, northern and eastern sides of the landmass, but for most of prehistory Qatar was part of a landlocked, hyper-arid region. Given these changes it is therefore important to consider both the changing external conditions that influenced human behaviour in prehistory and the varying taphonomic pathways that were favourable for site preservation. These are fundamental tenets of landscape archaeology, placing past human activities within the wider context of a landscape that is the product of climatic fluctuation and geomorphological change.

The well-known snake burials from the Late Dilmun building complex at Qalat al-Bahrain are discussed in the context of pre-Islamic Arabian, Mesopotamian, Elamite, Avestan, and Vedic Indian evidence. Ancient attitudes towards snakes are reviewed with the aim of confirming or eliminating one or more of these traditions as the likeliest cultural context for the snake sacrifices of Bahrain.

The Buraimi Oasis Landscape Archaeology Project is a three-way collaboration between Zayed University, Sultan Qaboos University, and the Abu Dhabi TCA, which aims to explore the historic unity and shared heritage of the Buraimi Oasis.  This first season of the project undertook a survey of the open area between the UAE border fence and the Buraimi ring road. A Wādī Sūq period tomb (c.2000–1300 BC) is located inside al-ΚAyn immediately adjacent to the border fence and may be part of a Bronze Age cemetery extending into Buraimi. Evidence of an Iron Age village (c.1300–300 BC) in the northern survey area consists of a series of mounds containing mud-brick walls and covered with pottery sherds. Some ambiguous turquoise glazed material was retrieved which does not find ready parallels with Late Pre-Islamic (c. 300 BC – AD 300) or Early Islamic examples. An Early Islamic (c.AD 750-900) village in the southern survey area consists of large buildings with walls preserved up to c.2.3 m, making it one of the best-preserved Early Islamic sites in the Arabian Gulf. Limited evidence for Middle Islamic (c. AD 1050-1200) activity was discovered, which has so far been extremely rare in the al-ΚAyn/Buraimi Oasis group. Evidence for the Late Islamic 1 (c. AD 1650–1800) includes an extensive field system and low-density settlement, demonstrating that the Buraimi Oasis was once much larger than today. During the Late Islamic 2 period (c.AD 1800–1950) the field system was abandoned and cemeteries established in its place. A series of forts was built at this time of which the survey located the visible surface outlines of the destroyed Subara and Sudayrī Forts. The archaeological record of the Buraimi Oasis can therefore be shown to stretch back at least 4000 years.

The 2008 field season of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) Māryah Archaeological Project was dedicated to creating a detailed, three-dimensional map of the 40.4 ha highland site of Masna'at Māryah. This site was occupied from the Neolithic to the Himyarite period. In addition to precise mapping of the topography, buildings, streets, water cisterns, and other cultural features visible on the surface, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of the distribution of cultural artefacts across the site’s surface. This work has also clarified Masna'at Māryah’s cultural chronology as it developed from a town with a focus on ceremonial space in the Bronze and Iron Ages, to a strategic elite urban production centre in the Himyarite period. The artefact densities and distributions systematically mapped out across the site reflect a number of processes that allow us to understand the use of space through time. We have identified evident access routes for local obsidian procurement and trade, specialized areas for ironworking, drainage patterns, and water management strategies, as well as areas currently heavily affected by, and prone to, erosion. This paper explains the mapping strategy developed for MaΒnaΚat Māryah and presents the implications of the data for the spatial, socio-political, and economic transformation of this site over several millennia.

"Like all multi-lingual computing, Arabic computing is now firmly in the domain of Unicode. Unicode is an industrial protocol with the status of international agreement. It is designed to encode the elements of all known script systems in such a way that they become interchangeable between programs and operating systems. Its implementation is well underway.

Unicode eliminates the need to tamper with fonts to get special characters, but it is not a font. For legible text on screen and paper, Unicode depends on compatible fonts with the required characters, where necessary with additional dedicated font technology."

"Home to a recently designated world heritage site, the city of Al Ain in Abu Dhabi Emirate contains many significant archaeological sites dating from the Bronze and Iron ages. Reflecting the historic importance of Al Ain’s oases as crossroads of trade between Oman and the Arabian Gulf, the sites range from large earthen residential settlements to fortified mud brick towers. Archaeological excavations begun in the 1960s left earthen remains exposed, with minimal protection or conservation measures put in place.

Facing the ongoing loss of a number of important sites, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage has undertaken a program of protection, documentation and conservation at two archaeological areas: Hili Archaeological Park and Rumeilah. A comprehensive conditions assessment and site management plan was developed to prioritize critical needs for more than 30 individual structures. The site management planning process was developed with the involvement of conservators, local archaeologists, government officials and the community. This paper describes the management planning and conservation measures implemented at three high priority sites: Hili 8, a fortified mud brick tower from the third millennium BCE; and the Iron Age settlements of Rumeilah and Hili 17. Conservation measures have included emergency reburial of critical features, laboratory characterization to develop compatible conservation materials, laser scanning, and testing and implementation of conservation treatments such as grouting and loss filling. Shelters at selected sites, as well as interpretation schemes including walking paths, signage, and a visitor center, are among the long-term goals of the project at Hili; while continued archaeological and conservation research is the focus at Rumeilah.

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"""Table of Contents.
1. Arabia and the study of the ancient Near East.
2. Ecological and environmental diversity in Arabia.
3. The formation of Arabian society: 7000 to 3000 BC.
4. Eastern Arabia from 3000 to 2000 BC.
5. The Bronze Age in western Arabia.
6. Eastern Arabia from 2000 to 1300 BC.
7. Humans, dromedaries, and the transformation of ancient Arabia.
8. Intensification and consolidation: Arabia from 1300 to 800 BC.
9. Expansion and engagement: Arabia and the ancient Near East.
10. Adaptation and social formation in ancient Arabia."""

This conference seeks to explore and contextualize the configuration of the varied desert cultic practices from the southern Levant and northern Arabia during the Late Bronze/Iron Ages that may have contributed to the emergence of the Yahwistic cult. Recent archaeological excavations in the Negev, southern Transjordan and Hejaz and new interpretations of old epigraphic and iconographic evidence are rapidly changing the biblical-based paradigm of the interactions between the desert cults and the Iron Age Levantine religions.

The conference adopts an interdisciplinary approach, assessing textual, archaeological, as well as epigraphic data. The papers presented here contribute in a unique way to big historical questions of the LBA/IA desert religions: Was there something unique in the desert cults? How were the religious experiences shaped by the interactions between the local rituals and the sanctuary cults that penetrated from the agricultural lands? The conference also touches the much wider debate of the role played by trade–in copper, incense, pastoral products–and cultural interconnections in the diffusion of religious ideas. It particularly explores how these data relate to those religious practices attested in Judah and Israel of the later Iron Age and beyond, thereby providing new insights into the prehistory of the Yahweh cult.

In 2011, one of my classes documented the construction of a traditional woven palm frond house compound on the Dubai campus of Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates.  This is the project they produced.  I also documented the project and uploaded a daily short summary of the process along with my own images: https://rhawker.wordpress.com/page/6/