View source for Pre-Islamic Arabia

{{Short description|Demography of the Arabian Peninsula before 610 CE}}
{{about|the peoples, cultures, and traditions within Arabia before Islam|a religion-specific overview|Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|the Islamic concept of a pre-Islamic "Age of Ignorance"|Jahiliyyah}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Pre-Islamic Arabia
| name                   = {{native name|ar|شبه الجزيرة العربية قبل الإسلام}}
| image_map              = NabateensRoutes.png
| image_map_size         = 
| image_map_caption      = Nabataean trade routes in Pre-Islamic Arabia
| s1                     = First Islamic state
| flag_s1                = Black flag.svg
}}
'''Pre-Islamic Arabia''' is the [[Arabian Peninsula]] and its northern extension in the [[Syrian Desert]] before the rise of [[Islam]].{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=1–5}} This begins with the [[Prehistoric Arabia|prehistory of Arabia]], from its earliest human settlements until the rise of its major kingdoms around 1000 BCE, and then a period of historical documentation lasting until the seventh century CE.

Pre-Islamic Arabia included both nomadic and settled populations. Several settled populations developed distinctive civilizations. [[Eastern Arabia]] was the home of Arabia's earliest civilizations, such as [[Dilmun]], known from Mesopotamian sources through extensive trade networks. Later in its pre-Islamic history, East Arabia fell under rule of consecutive Persian empires, the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]] and then the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanians]]. [[South Arabia]] became the home to a number of kingdoms from the early 1st millennium BCE onwards, such as the kingdoms of [[Saba'|Sheba]] and [[Ma'in]]. North Arabia was the home of the [[Nabataean Kingdom]] for several centuries, before being annexed by the [[Roman Empire]] in 106 CE, known afterwards as the province of [[Arabia Petraea]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Jane |title=Petra |publisher=Aurum Press Ltd |year=2005 |isbn=9957-451-04-9 |location=London |pages=25–31}}</ref>

[[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia]] was diverse. [[Polytheism]] was prevalent for most of its history (especially in forms related to [[ancient Semitic religion]]s), but from the fourth century onwards, [[Monotheism in pre-Islamic Arabia|monotheism]] became widespread. Large [[Christianity in pre-Islamic Arabia|Christian]] and [[Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia|Jewish]] communities formed, especially in the north and south, as well as monotheistic populations unaffiliated with either religion.{{Sfn|Lindstedt|2023|p=1–144}}

== Sources of information ==
Detailed literary accounts from within pre-Islamic Arabia are absent. "There is no Arabian [[Tacitus]] or [[Josephus]] to furnish us with a grand narrative."{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=10}} Information is synthesized from a diversity of sources, each potentially suffering from incompleteness, lateness, or bias. Islamic-era accounts represent oral traditions collected and codified during the Islamic period (including the [[Quran]], [[pre-Islamic Arabic poetry]], and Arabic histories). Contemporary information may come from archaeological excavations, [[pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions]], and literary accounts from observers beyond the peninsula (including by [[Assyrians]], [[Babylonians]], [[Israelites]], [[Greeks]], [[Roman people|Romans]], and [[Persians]]).{{Sfn|Munt|2014|p=21–22}}{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=8–9}} Coinage from South Arabia from the 4th century BCE to the 3rd century CE can inform knowledge of legend, iconography, and the history of rulership.{{Sfn|Nebes|2023|p=308}} 

Large scale excavations on the peninsula are very recent, and so no firm chronology has been established for Arabian material culture.{{Sfn|MacDonald|2015|p=2}} The most advanced excavation work so far has been done in Eastern Arabia.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=32–35}} Eastern Arabia is also the earliest documented region in literary sources, as far back as 2500 BCE, with literary documentation of North and South Arabia beginning in 900 BCE.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=11}}

== Territorial definitions ==
The word ''Arabia'' has been understood in many ways in ancient texts, but it was not a synonym for the Arabian Peninsula. In the earliest sources, ''Arabia'' was not the peninsula but the steppe and desert wastes bordering the states of Egypt and the [[Fertile Crescent]]. The early historian [[Herodotus]] applies the term to areas as far out as eastern Egypt, the [[Sinai Peninsula]], and the [[Negev]]. Persian administrative lists refer to ''Arabâya'' as a place between Assyria and Egypt. According to Robert Hoyland, this is equivalent to Herodotus' Arabia plus areas of the Syrian desert. The Syrian Desert is what is meant by [[Pliny the Elder]]'s "Arabia of the nomads".{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=1–5}}

== Prehistoric Arabia ==
{{Main|Prehistoric Arabia}}
Prehistoric Arabia is the era of the history of the Arabian peninsula before its earliest documents civilizations. Early human migration into Arabia took place during the [[Paleolithic]] period. Human occupation was not continuous, but punctuated, heavily influenced by changing patterns of rainfall and [[precipitation]], resulting in expansions, contractions, and migrations of early Arabian populations of humans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Petraglia |first=Michael D. |last2=Groucutt |first2=Huw S. |last3=Guagnin |first3=Maria |last4=Breeze |first4=Paul S. |last5=Boivin |first5=Nicole |date=2020-04-14 |title=Human responses to climate and ecosystem change in ancient Arabia |url=https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1920211117 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=117 |issue=15 |pages=8263–8270 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1920211117 |pmc=7165439 |pmid=32284422}}</ref> Among the earliest human settlements that have been found date back to 240–190 thousand years ago, and the oldest human fossils known from Arabia are over 80,000 years old.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bretzke |first=K. |last2=Preusser |first2=F. |last3=Jasim |first3=S. |last4=Miller |first4=C. |last5=Preston |first5=G. |last6=Raith |first6=K. |last7=Underdown |first7=S. J. |last8=Parton |first8=A. |last9=Parker |first9=A. G. |date=2022-01-31 |title=Multiple phases of human occupation in Southeast Arabia between 210,000 and 120,000 years ago |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05617-w |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=1600 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-05617-w |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=8803878 |pmid=35102262}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Groucutt |first=Huw S. |last2=Grün |first2=Rainer |last3=Zalmout |first3=Iyad A. S. |last4=Drake |first4=Nick A. |last5=Armitage |first5=Simon J. |last6=Candy |first6=Ian |last7=Clark-Wilson |first7=Richard |last8=Louys |first8=Julien |last9=Breeze |first9=Paul S. |last10=Duval |first10=Mathieu |last11=Buck |first11=Laura T. |last12=Kivell |first12=Tracy L. |last13=Pomeroy |first13=Emma |last14=Stephens |first14=Nicholas B. |last15=Stock |first15=Jay T. |date=2018 |title=Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,000 years ago |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0518-2 |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |language=en |volume=2 |issue=5 |pages=800–809 |doi=10.1038/s41559-018-0518-2 |issn=2397-334X |pmc=5935238 |pmid=29632352}}</ref> The earliest human populations likely migrated into Arabia from Africa, settling into the Eastern coastline. In the Neolithic period, Arabia witnessed a large demographic expansion, and humans began to widely settle the south and inland regions of Arabia. Eventually, by 6,000 years ago, the Arabian economy transitioned into one of [[nomadic pastoralism]], but it continues to be debated if this technology spread into Arabia through the migration of Levantine populations where this practice had already been established, or if it was an internal development that may have come about from trade with the Levant.{{sfn|Magee|2014|p=}}{{pn|date=June 2025}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Petraglia |first=Michael D. |last2=Parton |first2=Ash |last3=Groucutt |first3=Huw S. |last4=Alsharekh |first4=Abdullah |date=2015 |title=Green Arabia: Human prehistory at the Crossroads of Continents |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618215005911 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=382 |pages=1–7 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.05.071}}</ref>[[File:British Museum Yemen 05.jpg|thumb|Gravestone of a young woman named Aban, portrayed frontally with a raised right hand and a sheaf of a wheat in her left hand, symbolizing fertility. [[British Museum]], London|318x318px]]

==Eastern Arabia==
{{Main|Eastern Arabia|Christianity in Eastern Arabia}}

Eastern Arabia is a geographic region that generally refers to the territories covered by modern-day [[Kuwait]], [[Bahrain]], [[Qatar]], the east coast of [[Saudi Arabia]], the [[United Arab Emirates]], and [[Oman]].{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=11}} The main language in this region among sedentary peoples was [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], Arabic, and to some degree, [[Persian language|Persian]]. The Syriac language also came to be spoken as a liturgical language.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mrmJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA185|title=The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity|year=1993|pages=185|isbn=9781134980819|last1=Cameron|first1=Averil|publisher=Routledge |access-date=2015-08-13|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131335/https://books.google.com/books?id=mrmJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA185|url-status=live}}</ref>

Many religions were practiced in the area. Practitioners included [[Arab Christians]] (including the tribe of [[Abd al-Qays]]), Aramean Christians, Persian-speaking [[Zoroastrians]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Va6oSxzojzoC&pg=PA98 |title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Volume 5 |work=M. Th. Houtsma |publisher=BRILL |year=1993 |isbn=978-9004097919 |page=98 |access-date=2015-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131335/https://books.google.com/books?id=Va6oSxzojzoC&pg=PA98 |archive-date=2023-01-17 |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Mizrahi Jews|Jewish]] agriculturalists.<ref name="maj">{{cite book |last1=Holes |first1=Clive |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJLjAKH7-rIC&pg=PR25 |title=Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary |work=Clive Holes |publisher=BRILL |year=2001 |isbn=978-9004107632 |pages=XXIV–XXVI |access-date=2015-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131335/https://books.google.com/books?id=bJLjAKH7-rIC&pg=PR25 |archive-date=2023-01-17 |url-status=live}}</ref> One hypothesis holds that the contemporary [[Baharna]] are descendants of Arameans, Jews, and Persians from the area.<ref name="maj" /><ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=614301|title=Fisher-folk and fish-traps in al-Bahrain|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|volume=31|issue=3|pages=486–514|author=[[Robert Bertram Serjeant]]|year=1968|doi=10.1017/s0041977x00125522|s2cid=128833964 }}</ref> [[Zoroastrianism]] was also present in Eastern Arabia.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6u13vgHhSdgC&pg=PA371|title=Medieval Islamic Political Thought|author=Patricia Crone|page=371|year=2005|isbn=9780748621941|access-date=2015-08-13|archive-date=2021-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614084235/https://books.google.com/books?id=6u13vgHhSdgC&pg=PA371|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SsAGdWNZt6MC&pg=PA110|title=Close Relationships: Incest and Inbreeding in Classical Arabic Literature|author=G. J. H. van Gelder|page=110|year=2005|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781850438557|access-date=2015-08-13|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131336/https://books.google.com/books?id=SsAGdWNZt6MC&pg=PA110|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/islamicbeliefspr0000stef|url-access=registration|title=Islamic Beliefs and Practices|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc|author=Matt Stefon|page=[https://archive.org/details/islamicbeliefspr0000stef/page/36 36]|year=2009|isbn=9781615300174}}</ref> The Zoroastrians of Eastern Arabia were known as "[[Majus|Majoos]]" in pre-Islamic times.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dIuuyj9lpXoC&q=majoos+eastern+arabia&pg=PA131|title=Glossary Of Islamic Terms|last1=Zanaty|first1=Anwer Mahmoud|access-date=2020-11-07|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131335/https://books.google.com/books?id=dIuuyj9lpXoC&q=majoos+eastern+arabia&pg=PA131|url-status=live}}</ref> The sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia, including [[Bahrani Arabic]], were influenced by [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], Aramaic and Syriac languages.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_uhvUA428fcC&pg=PA269|title=Non-Arabic Semitic elements in the Arabic dialects of eastern Arabia|work=Clive Holes|pages=270–279|year=2002|isbn=9783447044912|last1=Jastrow|first1=Otto|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |access-date=2015-08-13|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131336/https://books.google.com/books?id=_uhvUA428fcC&pg=PA269|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="per">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJLjAKH7-rIC&pg=PR29|title=Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia: Glossary|year=2001|pages=XXIX–XXX|isbn=978-9004107632|last1=Holes|first1=Clive|publisher=BRILL |access-date=2015-08-13|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131342/https://books.google.com/books?id=bJLjAKH7-rIC&pg=PR29|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Bronze Age (3000 – 1300 BCE)===
{{Main|Dilmun}}{{See also|Magan (civilization)}}[[Image:Near East in 1000bc (en).jpg|thumb|300px|Dilmun and its neighbors in the 10th century BCE.]]
During the [[Bronze Age]], most of Eastern Arabia was part of the land of Dilmun, including modern-day Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the adjacent coast of Saudi Arabia. Its capital was located in Bahrain.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=13}} Dilmun is the earliest recorded civilization from Eastern Arabia, mentioned in written records in the 3rd millennium BCE,{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=13}} with archaeological evidence indicating activity from the fourth to first millennia BCE, its importance faltering after 1800.<ref name="hoj">{{cite journal |author=Jesper Eidema, Flemming Højlundb |date=1993 |title=Trade or diplomacy? Assyria and Dilmun in the eighteenth century BC |journal=World Archaeology |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=441–448 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1993.9980218}}</ref><ref name="Dilmun and Its Gulf Neighbours">{{cite book |last1=Crawford |first1=Harriet E. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BevKadehakC&pg=PA152 |title=Dilmun and Its Gulf Neighbours |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=9780521586795 |page=152}}</ref> Dilmun is regarded as one of the oldest ancient civilizations in the [[Middle East]] in general.<ref>{{cite news |date=21 May 2013 |title=Bahrain digs unveil one of oldest civilisations |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22596270 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113080926/http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22596270 |archive-date=13 November 2014 |access-date=11 December 2014 |website=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="uns">{{cite web |title=Qal'at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1192 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405042527/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1192 |archive-date=5 April 2012 |access-date=17 August 2011 |publisher=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref>

The Dilmun civilization was an important trading center<ref name="hoj" /> which at the height of its power controlled the [[Persian Gulf]] trading routes.<ref name="hoj" /> This was enabled by a number of natural advantages to the region, and part of this was its abundant underground water supplies and easy anchorages for ships. It became a center for long-distance trade and all types of commodities passed through it (trade extending to areas as far as the [[Indus Valley]]<ref name="uns" />), including a variety of exotic goods. As a result, Dilmun became legendary in Mesopotamian literature.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=13}} The [[Sumer]]ians regarded Dilmun as [[holy land]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fC6DAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA230|title=Egypt's Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000-2000 BC|year=1991|page=230|isbn=9781134492633|last1=Rice|first1=Michael|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> The Sumerians described Dilmun as a paradise garden in the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]].<ref name="ed">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwddi0p4jQkC&pg=PA10|title=Getting Back Into the Garden of Eden|author=Edward Conklin|page=10|isbn=9780761811404|year=1998|publisher=University Press of America |access-date=2015-08-13|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131336/https://books.google.com/books?id=jwddi0p4jQkC&pg=PA10|url-status=live}}</ref> The Sumerian tale of the garden paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the [[Garden of Eden]] story.<ref name="ed" /> Dilmun, sometimes described as "the place where the sun rises" and "the Land of the Living", is the scene of some versions of the [[Eridu Genesis]], and the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, [[Utnapishtim]] ([[Ziusudra]]), was taken by the gods to live forever. [[Thorkild Jacobsen]]'s translation of the Eridu Genesis calls it ''"Mount Dilmun"'' which he locates as a ''"faraway, half-mythical place"''.<ref name="Jacobsen1997">{{cite book |author=Thorkild Jacobsen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-BI0h41yCEC |title=The Harps that once--: Sumerian poetry in translation, p. 150 |date=23 September 1997 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-07278-5 |access-date=2 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131337/https://books.google.com/books?id=L-BI0h41yCEC |archive-date=17 January 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Dilmun was mentioned in two letters dated to the reign of [[Burna-Buriash II]] (c. 1370 BCE) recovered from [[Nippur]], during the [[Kassites|Kassite]] dynasty of [[Babylon]]. These letters were from a provincial official, [[Ilī-ippašra]], in Dilmun to his friend Enlil-kidinni in Mesopotamia. The names referred to are [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]. These letters and other documents, hint at an administrative relationship between Dilmun and [[Babylon]] at that time. Following the collapse of the Kassite dynasty, Mesopotamian documents make no mention of Dilmun with the exception of Assyrian inscriptions dated to 1250 BCE which proclaimed the Assyrian king to be king of Dilmun and [[Meluhha]]. Assyrian inscriptions recorded tribute from Dilmun. There are other Assyrian inscriptions during the first millennium BCE indicating Assyrian sovereignty over Dilmun.{{sfn|Larsen|1983|p=50-51}} Dilmun was also later on controlled by the [[Kassite dynasty]] in Mesopotamia.<ref name=t>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6KeP3v79MQC&pg=PA216|title=Traces of Paradise: The Archaeology of Bahrain, 2500 BC to 300 AD|work=Harriet Crawford, Michael Rice|year=2000|pages=217|isbn=9781860647420|last1=Crawford|first1=Harriet|last2=Rice|first2=Michael|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |access-date=2015-08-13|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131337/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6KeP3v79MQC&pg=PA216|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 19th and early 20th centuries, some historians believed that the [[Phoenicia|Phoenicians]] originated from Eastern Arabia, particularly Dilmun. However, this theory has since been abandoned.{{Sfn|Magee|2014|p=87–89}}

=== Iron Age (1300 – 330 BCE) ===
Upon the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]], the major powers across the Near East lost much of their power and this allowed many smaller and far-flung states to become more independent and a number of minor states to emerge. In addition, new scripts and alphabets were developed, which were of great utility to merchants for producing contracts and conducting other and related economic affairs. In turn, the [[Middle Assyrian Empire]] became much more prominent and undertook an aggressively expansionist policy. In the second half of the 13th century BCE, [[Tukulti-Ninurta I]] took on the title "king of Dilmun and Meluhha". Dilmun disappears from Assyrina sources until the reign of [[Sargon II]], king of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]. Here and across the next century, Dilmun appears as a polity that is not directly ruled by Assyria, although it sends tribute to the Assyrian rulers in exchange for peace and independence. When the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] overthrew the Assyrian Empire, its influence on Dilmun is also attested. Finally, Dilmun falls under the sway of the Persians after the rise of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] which replaces the Babylonian one.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=16–20}}

=== Greco-Roman/Parthian period (330 BCE – 240 CE) ===
After [[Alexander the Great]] returned from his conquests that reached India, settling in Babylonia, it is said by the historian [[Arrian]] that he was turning his attention towards an invasion of the Arabian peninsula. Although he died too soon for this campaign to take place, Alexander did dispatch three intelligence-gathering missions to gather knowledge about the peninsula, and it was these missions that greatly enhanced information about the peninsula to the [[Hellenistic world]]. Alexander, and his [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] successors who took control of the relevant region near Arabia after his death, took an interest to Arabia because of trade happening there involving luxury products.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=22–24}}[[Image:Asia 001ad.jpg|thumb|300px|Gerrha and its neighbors in 1 CE.]]In this context, Gerrha was an ancient city of great importance in Eastern Arabia. It was located on the west side of the [[Persian Gulf]]. Soon after the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]], it became the most important center of trader for the Hellenistic world in the Gulf region, known for its transport of Arabian aromatics and goods from India further away. It retained its prominence until the first centuries of the common era.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=24–26}} While there is no certainty as to which archaeological site the Gerrha of Greek sources can be identified with, the most prominent candidates have been [[Thāj|Thaj]] and Hagar (modern-day [[Hofuf]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Retsö |first=Jan |title=The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads |date=2014 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-7007-1679-1 |edition= |location= |pages=274–275}}</ref> The Greeks also described [[Bahrain]] in their writings, referring to it by their exonym, [[Tylos]]. Tylos was the center of pearl trading, when [[Nearchus]] came to discover it serving under [[Alexander the Great]].<ref name="Larsen">Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarcheology of an Ancient Society By Curtis E. Larsen p. 13</ref> From the 6th to 3rd century BCE Bahrain was included in [[Persian Empire]] by [[Achaemenian]]s, an [[Iranian Peoples|Iranian dynasty]].<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh">Security and Territoriality in the Persian Gulf: A Maritime Political Geography By Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh, page 119</ref> The Greek admiral [[Nearchus]] is believed to have been the first of Alexander's commanders to visit this islands, and he found a verdant land that was part of a wide trading network; he recorded: "That in the island of Tylos, situated in the Persian Gulf, are large plantations of cotton tree, from which are manufactured clothes called ''sindones'', a very different degrees of value, some being costly, others less expensive. The use of these is not confined to India, but extends to Arabia."<ref>Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren, Historical Researches Into the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Principal Nations of Antiquity, Henry Bohn, 1854 p38</ref> The Greek historian, [[Theophrastus]], states that much of the islands were covered in these cotton trees and that Tylos was famous for exporting walking canes engraved with emblems that were customarily carried in Babylon.<ref>Arnold Heeren, ibid, p441</ref>

It is not known whether Bahrain was part of the [[Seleucid Empire]], although the archaeological site at [[Qalat Al Bahrain]] has been proposed as a Seleucid base in the Persian Gulf.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fnJvha8jzzQC&pg=PA184 |title=Classical Greece: Ancient Histories and Modern Archaeologies |date=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=184|isbn=978-0-521-45678-4 }}</ref> Tylos was integrated well into the Hellenised world: the language of the upper classes was Greek (although Aramaic was in everyday use), while Zeus was worshipped in the form of the Arabian sun-god Shams.<ref>Phillip Ward, Bahrain: A Travel Guide, Oleander Press p68</ref> Tylos even became the site of Greek athletic contests.<ref>W. B. Fisher et al. The Cambridge History of Iran, Cambridge University Press 1968 p40</ref>

Another important player in this time was the [[Parthian Empire]], which emerged from northeastern Iran and relinquished a significant amount of territory from the eastern borders of the Seleucids. The Seleucids would be eventually vanquished by the Roman Empire over the course of the 1st century BCE, leading to the Romans and Parthians being the main power contenders in the region, separated by the Syrian desert.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=21–22}} Parthian influence extended over the [[Persian Gulf]] and reached as far as [[Oman]]. Garrisons were established at the southern coast of the Gulf to help extend their power.<ref name="Federal Research Division page 7">Bahrain By Federal Research Division, page 7</ref>

=== Byzantine/Sasanian period (240 CE – 630 CE) ===
[[Image:Persia 600ad.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Asia in 600 CE, showing the Sasanian Empire before the Arab conquest.]]A major shift in dynamics accompanied the replacement of the Parthian dynasty in Persian lands by the Sasanians, leading to the rise of the [[Sasanian Empire]] around 240 CE. Seizing the moment, [[Ardashir I]], the first ruler of this dynasty marched down the Persian Gulf to Oman and Bahrain and defeated Sanatruq{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=28}} (or Satiran<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh" />), probably the [[Parthia]]n governor of Eastern Arabia.<ref name="jamsheed">Conflict and Cooperation: Zoroastrian Subalterns and Muslim Elites in ... By Jamsheed K. Choksy, 1997, page 75</ref> He appointed his son [[Shapur I]] as governor of Eastern Arabia. Shapur constructed a new city there and named it Batan Ardashir after his father.<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh" /> At this time, Eastern Arabia incorporated the southern Sasanian province covering the Persian Gulf's southern shore plus the archipelago of Bahrain.<ref name="jamsheed" /> The southern province of the Sasanians was subdivided into the three districts of Haggar ([[Hofuf]], Saudi Arabia), Batan Ardashir ([[Qatif|al-Qatif province]], Saudi Arabia), and [[Mishmahig]] ([[Muharraq]], Bahrain; also referred to as [[Samahij]])<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh" /> which included the Bahrain archipelago that was earlier called [[Awal|Aval]].<ref name="Mojtahed-Zadeh" /><ref name="jamsheed" />

Sasanian interests in the region largely lay in controlling traffic through the Persian Gulf, but land-incursions into the peninsula were occasionally undertaken, such as when the inhabitants of Eastern Arabia invaded southern Iran during the reign of [[Shapur II]] in the fourth century CE. During the political struggles of the sixth century, [[Khosrow I]] began to exert more direct rule over Eastern Arabia, including the direct appointment of regional governors. Another development of the Sasanian period is the rise of Christianity in Eastern Arabia.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=27–32}}

==== Beth Qatraye ====
In antiquity, [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac Christians]] referred to a region in northeast Arabia as Beth Qatraye, or the "region of the Qataris". This region encompassed a territory that, today, includes Bahrain, [[Tarout Island]], [[Khatt|Al-Khatt]], [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Hasa]], [[Qatar]], and possibly the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aub.edu.lb/communications/media/Documents/May_2011/grant-syriac-EN.pdf|title=AUB academics awarded $850,000 grant for project on the Syriac writers of Qatar in the 7th century AD|publisher=American University of Beirut|date=31 May 2011|access-date=12 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528053210/http://www.aub.edu.lb/communications/media/Documents/May_2011/grant-syriac-EN.pdf|archive-date=28 May 2015}}</ref> The region was also sometimes called "the Isles".<ref name="adias">[http://www.adias-uae.com/publications/hellyer01b.pdf "Nestorian Christianity in the Pre-Islamic UAE and Southeastern Arabia"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419070815/http://www.adias-uae.com/publications/hellyer01b.pdf |date=2012-04-19 }}, Peter Hellyer, ''Journal of Social Affairs'', volume 18, number 72, winter 2011, p. 88</ref>

By the 5th century, Beth Qatraye was a major centre for [[Nestorian Christianity]], which had come to dominate the southern shores of the Persian Gulf.<ref name="brookes" /><ref>Curtis E. Larsen. Life and Land Use on the Bahrain Islands: The Geoarchaeology of an Ancient Society University Of Chicago Press, 1984.</ref> As a sect, the Nestorians were often persecuted as heretics by the [[Byzantine Empire]], but eastern Arabia was outside the Empire's control offering some safety. Several notable Nestorian writers originated from Beth Qatraye, including [[Isaac of Nineveh]], [[Dadisho Qatraya]], [[Gabriel of Qatar]] and Ahob of Qatar.<ref name="brookes" /><ref>Kozah, Abu-Husayn, Abdulrahim. p. 1.</ref> Christianity's significance was diminished by the arrival of Islam in Eastern Arabia by 628.<ref>{{cite book |last= Fromherz|first= Allen|author-link1=Allen James Fromherz|date= 13 April 2012|title= Qatar: A Modern History|publisher= Georgetown University Press|pages=43|isbn= 978-1-58901-910-2}}</ref> In 676, the bishops of Beth Qatraye stopped attending synods; although the practice of Christianity persisted in the region until the late 9th century.<ref name="brookes" />

The dioceses of Beth Qatraye did not form an [[ecclesiastical province]], except for a short period during the mid-to-late seventh century.<ref name="brookes">{{cite web|url=http://heritage.brookes.ac.uk/downloads/abu-dhabi-collections.pdf|title=Christianity in the Gulf during the first centuries of Islam|publisher=Oxford Brookes University|access-date=27 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528032636/http://heritage.brookes.ac.uk/downloads/abu-dhabi-collections.pdf|archive-date=28 May 2015}}</ref> They were instead subject to the Metropolitan of [[Fars (East Syrian Ecclesiastical Province)|Fars]].

==== Beth Mazunaye ====
Oman and the United Arab Emirates comprised the [[ecclesiastical province]] known as Beth Mazunaye. The name was derived from 'Mazun', the [[Persian language|Persian]] name for Oman and the United Arab Emirates.<ref name="adias" />

==South Arabia==
{{Main|Ancient history of Yemen|South Arabia|Zafar, Yemen}}
South Arabia roughly corresponds to modern-day [[Yemen]], with Oman being designated as part of Eastern Arabia.{{Sfn|Hoyland|2002|p=11}} In contrast to the rest of Arabia, South Arabia is a self-contained cultural area that retained the independence of its cultural, political, and linguistic dynamics from the rise of its first known kingdoms until the end of Late Antiquity.{{Sfn|Nebes|2023|p=299}} The rise of the South Arabian kingdoms owes itself to the construction of irrigation complexes that captured precipitation by the biannual monsoon rains, enabling agriculture, and the trade routes that carried incense and other spices, giving rise to tales of legendary wealth about the region among Greco-Roman observers.{{Sfn|Nebes|2023|p=301–303}} 

The South Arabian kingdoms emerged in the early first millennium BCE, and they included the Kingdoms of Ma'in, Saba, Hadhramaut, Aswan, and Qataban. Until recently, very little was known about human activity in South Arabia prior to the first millennium BCE. However, recent decades of archaeological work have begun to rapidly change this situation.{{Sfn|Wilkinson|2009}} This has helped increase the prominence of the discipline, though it has not yet became a mainstream topic in Near Eastern archaeology.{{Sfn|Magee|2014|p=1–2}}

In the third century CE, the [[Kingdom of Himyar]] emerged and conquered its neighbours to exert complete political domination over South Arabia. This situation persisted for several centuries, until the Himyarite polity unravelled over the course of the sixth century CE and experienced a societal collapse. The collapse had no single cause, instead, a number of coinciding events contributed to this situation. First, a rapid series of turbulent political events took place: the violent coup of [[Dhu Nuwas]], the massacre of the [[Christian community of Najran]], the [[Aksumite invasion of Himyar|Aksumite conquest of Himyar]], and the rebellion of the Ethiopian soldiers in South Arabia against Aksum.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Korotaev |first=Andrey |last2=Klimenko |first2=Vladimir |last3=Proussakov |first3=Dmitry |date=1999 |title=Origins of Islam: Political-Anthropological and Environmental Context |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43391394 |journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=52 |issue=3/4 |pages=243–276 |issn=0001-6446}}</ref> Epidemic and climatological factors also contributed: one inscription ([[CIH 541]]) from the 550s indicates that the [[Plague of Justinian]] struck South Arabia. Severe droughts took place from 500 to 530 CE, and around the mid-6th century, there was the [[Late Antique Little Ice Age]]. Across the Arabian Peninsula, the effect of each of these factors was the most severe in the South, and there, especially the Southwest. By the 550s and 560s, Himyar's decline was completed, as it faced military incursions from Central and Northwest Arabia, and local insurrections. In 559 CE, the final Himyarite inscription was recorded. The collapse of the traditional order is indicated by the breakdown of the [[Marib Dam]] over the course of the 570s. A creeping in of influence from the Persian [[Sasanian Empire]] is evident towards the end of the 6th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haldon |first1=John |last2=Fleitmann |first2=Dominik |date=2024 |title=A Sixth-Century CE Drought in Arabia New Palaeoclimate Data and Some Historical Implications |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/jlaibs.2023.0024 |journal=Journal of Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–45 |doi=10.3366/jlaibs.2023.0024 |issn=2634-2367|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fleitmann |first1=Dominik |last2=Haldon |first2=John |last3=Bradley |first3=Raymond S. |last4=Burns |first4=Stephen J. |last5=Cheng |first5=Hai |last6=Edwards |first6=R. Lawrence |last7=Raible |first7=Christoph C. |last8=Jacobson |first8=Matthew |last9=Matter |first9=Albert |date=2022-06-17 |title=Droughts and societal change: The environmental context for the emergence of Islam in late Antique Arabia |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg4044 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=376 |issue=6599 |pages=1317–1321 |doi=10.1126/science.abg4044 |pmid=35709263 |bibcode=2022Sci...376.1317F |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}</ref>[[File:Panel Almaqah Louvre DAO18.jpg|thumb|Sabaean inscription addressed to the [[Lunar deity|moon-god]] [[Almaqah]], mentioning five South Arabian gods, two reigning sovereigns and two governors, 7th century BCE]]
[[File:griffon hadhramaut.jpg|thumb|A [[Griffin]] from the royal palace at Shabwa, the capital city of the [[Kingdom of Hadhramaut]]]]

===Kingdom of Saba (1000 BCE – 275 CE)===
{{Main|Sheba}}

The Kingdom of Saba (or Sheba) was regarded by the South Arabian and earliest Ethiopian kingdoms as the locus for the birth of South Arabian civilization.{{Sfn|Robin|2002|p=56–57}} The kingdom spoke [[Sabaic]] and constructed many impressive architectural complexes, such as the [[Marib Dam]], which helped sequester the monsoon rains through an irrigation network that laid the foundation for the emergence of a civilization, and many temples, including the [[Temple of Awwam]] for their national god [[Almaqah]] where hundreds of inscriptions have been discovered.{{Sfn|Nebes|2023}} The Sabaeans had close contact with the cultures of the [[Horn of Africa]]. They went on to [[Sabean colonization of Africa|conquer]] both [[Eritrea]] and northern [[Ethiopia]] to establish the Kingdom of [[Dʿmt]], where a hybrid [[Ethiopian Semitic languages|Ethiosemitic]] script emerged.{{Sfn|Schulz|2024|p=131}}<ref>Sima, Alexander. "Dʿmt" in Siegbert Uhlig, ed., ''[[Encyclopaedia Aethiopica]]: D-Ha'' (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005), p. 185.</ref><ref>Munro-Hay, Stuart. ''Aksum: a Civilization of Late Antiquity,'' (Edinburgh: University Press, 1991), p. 58.</ref> Under the leadership of [[Karib'il Watar]], Saba dominated most of modern-day Yemen, a feat that would not be accomplished again in the region until the [[Himyarite Kingdom]] a thousand years later. Their legacy was remembered in both biblical and Islamic tradition, especially in the legendary story of the [[Queen of Sheba]].{{Sfn|Robin|2002|p=58}}

The Sabaean kingdom emerged some time around the turn of the 1st millennium BCE. By the time that the formative period of Sabaean history was complex, a fully developed alphabetic script was available, as well as the technological prowess to construct cities and other architectural complexes. There is some debate as to the degree to which the movement out of the formative phase was channeled by endogenous processes, or the transfer or technologies from other centers, perhaps via trade and immigration.{{Sfn|Nebes|2023|p=330–332}}{{Sfn|Robin|2002|p=57–58}}

The first major phase of Sabaean civilization lasted from the 8th to the 1st centuries BCE. Rulers referred to themselves by the title [[Mukarrib]] ("federator") as a testimony to the hegemony they exerted over neighbouring polities.{{Sfn|Robin|2002|p=51}} The period was dominated by a caravan economy that had market ties with the rest of the Near East. Its first major trading partners were at [[Khindanu]] and the [[Middle Euphrates]]. Later, this moved to Gaza during the Persian period, and finally, to [[Petra]] in Hellenistic times. The South Arabian deserts gave rise to important aromatics which were exported in trade, especially [[frankincense]] and [[myrrh]]. It also acted as an intermediary for overland trade with neighbours in [[Africa]] and further off from [[India]]. Saba was a theocratic monarchy with a common cult surrounding their [[national god]], [[Almaqah]]. Four other deities were also worshipped: [[Athtar]], [[Haubas]], [[Dhat-Himyam]], and [[Dhat-Badan]].{{Sfn|Robin|2002|p=51–52}}

The first Sabaean period came to a close as the [[Roman Republic]] expanded to conquer Syria and Egypt in 63 and 30 BCE, respectively. They diverted the overland trade route through the Sabaean kingdom into a maritime trade route that went through the [[Kingdom of Hadhramaut|Hadhramaut]] port city of [[Bir Ali|Qani]]. They even attempted to siege [[Marib]], the Sabaean capital, but were unsuccessful. Greatly weakened, they were annexed by the neighbouring [[Himyarite Kingdom]].{{sfn|Korotayev|1996}}{{Sfn|Robin|2002|p=53}} Saba was able to regain their independence around 100 CE to onset a second period of their civilization. Notably, power dynamics had shifted from oasis cities like Marib and [[Sirwah]] to groups occupying the highlands. Ultimately, Himyar permanently re-annexed them, around 275 CE.{{Sfn|Robin|2002|p=53}}

===Kingdom of Awsan (8th century BCE – 7th century BCE)===
{{Main|Kingdom of Awsan}}

Awsan was a South Arabian kingdom that lasted from the 8th to 7th centuries BCE, with a brief resurgence in the 2nd or 1st century BCE. Awsan is centered around a [[wadi]] called the Wadi Markha. The name of the capital of Awsan is unknown, but it is assumed to be the [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]] that is today known as Hagar Yahirr, the largest settlement in the wadi. The territory under its control was sizable enough that it was a powerful contender in local power politics. In the late 7th century BCE, under the reign of its ruler Murattaʿ, Awsan entered a military conflict with the [[Kingdom of Saba]] that brought about its demise. The Sabaean king, [[Karib'il Watar]], defeated Awsan and proceeded to obliterate it. An inscription left behind claims that Karib'il killed over 16,000 people and took 40,000 more as prisoners. After this event, the wadi was left abandoned, and Awsan disappeared from the historical record for the time being.{{Sfn|Nebes|2023|p=342–343}} Saba had divided its territory between its then-allies, Qataban and Hadhramaut. Half a millennium later, when Qataban's control over the Wadi Markha was declining, Awsan was able to briefly re-emerge, in the 2nd or 1st centuries BCE. This final phase of the Awsanite kingdom is the only period in South Arabian history where kings were deified.{{Sfn|Avanzini|2016|p=201–202}}

===Kingdom of Ma'in (8th century BCE – 1st century CE)===
{{Main|Ma'in}}

The Minaeans, or the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Ma'in, had their capital at Qarna (modern-day [[Sa'dah]]). Another important city was Yathill (now known as [[Baraqish]]). The Minaean Kingdom was centered in northwestern Yemen, with most of its cities lying along [[Wadi|Wādī]] [[Wadi Madhab|Madhab]]. Ma'in was responsible for managing an international frankincense trade and it set up a number of colonies across Arabia and the Mediterranean to manage it. For this reason, [[Minaic]] inscriptions have been found far afield of the Kingdom of Maīin, as far away as [[al-'Ula]] in northwestern [[Saudi Arabia]] and even on the island of [[Delos]] and Egypt.<ref name="Nebes">Nebes, Norbert. "Epigraphic South Arabian", ''Encyclopaedia: D-Ha'' pp. 334; Leonid Kogan and [[Andrey Korotayev]]: Ṣayhadic Languages (Epigraphic South Arabian) // Semitic Languages. London: Routledge, 1997, p. 157–183.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Yemen's history and its originality:Report. - Free Online Library |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Yemen%27s+history+and+its+originality:Report-a0575332374 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023164826/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Yemen%27s+history+and+its+originality%3AReport-a0575332374 |archive-date=2021-10-23 |access-date=2022-10-17 |website=www.thefreelibrary.com}}</ref>

===Kingdom of Qataban (8th century BCE – 2nd century CE)===
{{Main|Qataban}}

Qataban was one of the ancient Yemeni kingdoms which thrived in the [[Beihan]] valley. Like the other Southern Arabian kingdoms, it gained great wealth from the trade of frankincense and myrrh incense, which were burned at altars. The capital of Qataban was named [[Timna]] and was located on the trade route which passed through the other kingdoms of Hadramaut, Saba and Ma'in. The chief deity of the Qatabanians was [[Amm (god)|Amm]], or "Uncle" and the people called themselves the "children of Amm".

===Kingdom of Hadhramaut (8th century BCE – 3rd century CE)===
{{Main|Hadhramaut}}
Hadhramaut is first mentioned in a 7th century BCE inscription from the king of the [[Sabaean kingdom]], [[Karib'il Watar]], mentioned as an ally. For commercial reasons, Hadhramaut became one of the confederates of Ma'in when they took control of the [[Caravan (travellers)|caravan]] [[Trade route|routes]]. After the fall of Ma'in, it experienced a period of independence. Hadhramaut had to repel attacks by [[Himyar]] in the 1st century BCE, and managed to annex [[Qataban]] in the 2nd century CE, when it reached its greatest size. Ultimately, the kingdom did fall to an invasion by the Himyarite king [[Shammar Yahri'sh]] in the 3rd century CE, making it the final one of the South Arabian kingdoms to fall to Himyar.<ref>Müller, Walter W. "Ḥaḍramawt"''Encyclopaedia: D-Ha'', pp. 965–66.</ref>

===Kingdom of Himyar (110 BCE – 530 CE)===
[[File:Statue Ammaalay Louvre AO20282.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Ammaalay]], 1st century BCE, Yemen]]
{{Main|Himyarite Kingdom}}Himyar was a [[polity]] in the southern highlands of [[Yemen]], as well as the name of the region which it claimed. Until 110 BCE, it was integrated into the [[Qataban|Qatabanian kingdom]], afterwards being recognized as an independent kingdom. According to classical sources, their capital was the ancient city of [[Zafar, Yemen|Zafar]], relatively near the modern-day city of [[Sana'a]]. Himyarite power eventually shifted to Sana'a as the population increased in the fifth century. After the establishment of their kingdom, it was ruled by kings from dhū-Raydān tribe. The kingdom was named Raydān.<ref name="EoAH">Jérémie Schiettecatte. Himyar. Roger S. Bagnall; Kai Brodersen; Craige B. Champion; Andrew Erskine; [[Sabine R. Huebner]]. ''The Encyclopedia of Ancient History'', John Wiley & Sons, 2017, 9781444338386.ff10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah30219ff. ffhalshs-01585072ff</ref>

The kingdom conquered neighbouring [[Sabaeans|Saba']] in c. 25 BCE (for the first time), [[Qataban]] in c. 200 CE, and [[Hadramaut|Haḍramaut]] c. 300 CE. Its political fortunes relative to Saba' changed frequently until it finally conquered the [[Sabaeans|Sabaean Kingdom]] around 280.<ref>See, e.g., Bafaqih 1990.</ref> With successive invasion and Arabization, the kingdom collapsed in the early sixth century, as the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] conquered it in 530 CE.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Playfair |first1=Col |year=1867 |title=On the Himyaritic Inscriptions Lately brought to England from Southern Arabia |journal=Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London |volume=5 |pages=174–177 |doi=10.2307/3014224 |jstor=3014224}}</ref>{{Sfn|Miller|2024|p=56–58}}

The Himyarites originally worshiped most of the [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|South-Arabian pantheon]], including [[Wadd]], [[Attar (god)|ʿAthtar]], [['Amm]] and [[Almaqah]]. Since at least the reign of [[Malkikarib Yuhamin]] (c. 375–400 CE), [[Judaism]] was adopted as the ''[[de facto]]'' state religion. The religion may have been adopted to some extent as much as two centuries earlier, but inscriptions to polytheistic deities ceased after this date. It was embraced initially by the upper classes, and possibly a large proportion of the general population over time.<ref name="EoAH" /> Native [[Christian]] kings ruled Himyar in 500 CE until 521–522 CE as well, Christianity itself became the main religion after the Aksumite conquest in 530 CE.<ref name=":1">Christian Julien Robin, "Arabia and Ethiopia," in Scott Johnson (ed.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=GKRybwb17WMC&pg=PA289 ''The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity''], Oxford University Press 2012 pp.247–333, p.279.</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Robin |first=Christian Julien |title=The Cambridge history of Judaism |date=2021 |publisher=Cambridge university press |isbn=978-0-521-51717-1 |editor-last=Ackerman-Lieberman |editor-first=Phillip Isaac |location=Cambridge |pages=297–298 |chapter=Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia}}</ref><ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Robin |first=Christian Julien |title=Arabs and empires before Islam |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-965452-9 |editor-last=Fisher |editor-first=Greg |edition= |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |pages=164–167 |chapter=Ḥimyar, Aksūm, and Arabia Deserta in Late Antiquity: The Epigraphic Evidence}}</ref>[[File:Crowned man, Zafar.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|The 'Crowned Man' excavated from the Stone Building in Zafar.]]

===Aksumite occupation of Yemen (525 – 570 CE)===
{{main|Aksumite invasion of Himyar}}

In response to the massacre of the [[Christian community of Najran]] under the reign of the Jewish king [[Dhu Nuwas]], the Christian king of the [[Kingdom of Aksum]], [[Kaleb of Axum|Kaleb]], responded by [[Aksumite invasion of Himyar|invading and annexing Himyar]]. 

===Sasanian period (570 – 630 CE)===
{{Main|Aksumite–Persian wars}}

In the second half of the sixth century, the [[Sasanian Empire]] conquered the Himyarite Kingdom and ended Aksumite occupation of South Arabia. This event is not mentioned in Sasanian sources and is noted only in passing in Byzantine sources. The bulk of what has been written about the period comes from Arabic sources, most famously that of [[Al-Tabari]] in his ''[[History of the Prophets and Kings]]'', relying on an earlier account by [[Ibn Ishaq]]. However, there are six major Arabic accounts describing the Sasanian conquest of South Arabia and they differ over a range of major and minor details, including who the key actors were and their relative roles, the religious identities of some of the authors, the sizes of the armies, and so forth. In Al-Tabari's reporting, the Persian king [[Khosrau I]] sent troops under the command of [[Vahriz]] ({{langx|fa|اسپهبد وهرز}}), who helped the semi-legendary [[Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan]] to drive the [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumites]] out of Yemen. Southern Arabia became a Persian dominion under a Yemenite vassal and thus came within the sphere of influence of the Sasanian Empire. After the demise of the Lakhmids, another army was sent to Yemen, making it a province of the Sasanian Empire under a Persian [[satrap]]. Following the death of [[Khosrau II]] in 628, the Persian governor in Southern Arabia, [[Badhan (Persian Governor)|Badhan]], converted to Islam and Yemen followed the new religion.{{Sfn|Shoshan|2021|p=}}

==Western Arabia (Hejaz)==
{{further|Hejaz}}
[[File:Lihyan Map.svg|thumb|Location of Dedan]]
[[File:Statue of a man at National Museum of Korea 01.jpg|thumb|Colossal statue from al-Ula, it followed the standardized artistic sculpting of the Lihyanite kingdom, the original statue was painted with white]]

===Kingdom of Lihyan/Dedan (5th century BCE - 1st century BCE)===
{{main|Lihyan}}
[[Lihyan]], also called Dedan, was a northwestern kingdom whose language was [[Dadanitic]]. The kingdom existed sometime between the 5th and 1st centuries BCE, but the end-date is uncertain. It is unclear if Lihyan was conquered by the [[Nabataeans]] or if the Nabataeans captured the territory after Lihyan had already fallen.{{sfn|Rohmer|Charloux|2015|p=297}}

===Thamud===
{{further|Thamud}}
The [[Thamud]] ({{langx|ar|ثمود}}) was an ancient civilization in [[Hejaz]], documented in sources from the eighth century BCE until the fifth century CE. They are attested in contemporaneous [[Mesopotamia]]n and [[Classical antiquity|Classical]], and Arabic inscriptions from the eighth century BCE, all the way until the fifth century CE, when they served as Roman [[auxilia]]ries. They are also later remembered in [[pre-Islamic Arabic poetry]] and Islamic-era sources, including the [[Quran]]. Prominently, they appear in the [[Ruwafa inscriptions]] discovered in a temple constructed circa 165–169 CE in honor of the local deity, [[Ilah|ʾlhʾ]].

Thamud appears twenty-six times in the [[Quran]] where the tribe is presented as an example of an ancient [[polytheistic]] people destroyed by God for their rejection of God's [[Prophets in Islam|prophet]] [[Salih]].{{Sfn|Mackintosh-Smith|2019|p=29}} Thamud is associated in the Quran into its grander history of a pattern of rebellion and destruction of past groups of people. This is done the most times with [[ʿĀd|Ad]], but others as well like [[Lot in Islam|Lot]] and [[Noah in Islam|Noah]]. When Salih calls Thamud to serve one God, they demand a sign from him. He presents them with a miraculous [[She-camel of God|she-camel]]. Thamud, unconvinced, injures the camel: for this God destroys them, except Salih and his followers. This account is embellished with a more detailed background in the [[Tafsir|Islamic exegetical tradition]]. Some traditions locate them in northwestern Arabia at [[Hegra (Mada'in Salih)|Hegra]] and in others they are identified as [[Nabataeans]].{{Sfn|Firestone|2006}} Islamic genealogy describes the Thamud as among the true Arab tribes, as opposed to the "Arabicized Arabs".{{Sfn|Mackintosh-Smith|2019|p=30}}

==North Arabia==
{{see also|Ancient North Arabian}}
[[File:Xerxes I tomb Arab soldier circa 470 BCE cleaned up.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Arab soldier ([[Old Persian cuneiform]]: [[Wikt:𐎠𐎼𐎲𐎠𐎹|𐎠𐎼𐎲𐎠𐎹]], ''Arabāya'')<ref>{{cite book |title=DNa - Livius |page=DNa inscription Line 27 |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dna/ |language=en |access-date=2020-03-26 |archive-date=2021-03-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325174130/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dna |url-status=live }}</ref> of the [[Achaemenid army]], circa 480 BCE. [[Xerxes I]] tomb relief.]]

===Kingdom of Qedar (8th century BCE – ?)===
{{Main|Qedarites}}
The most organized of the Northern Arabian tribes, at the height of their rule in the 6th century BCE, the Kingdom of Qedar spanned a large area between the [[Persian Gulf]] and the [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]].<ref name="stearnslanger">{{citation|title=The Encyclopedia of world history: ancient, medieval, and modern, chronologically arranged|author-link1=Peter Stearns|author-link2=William L. Langer|first1=Peter N.|last1=Stearns|first2=William Leonard|last2=Langer|edition=6th, illustrated|page= 41|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2001|isbn= 978-0-395-65237-4}}</ref> An influential force between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE, Qedarite monarchs are first mentioned in inscriptions from the Assyrian Empire. Some early Qedarite rulers were [[vassal]]s of that empire, with revolts against Assyria becoming more common in the 7th century BCE. It is thought that the Qedarites were eventually subsumed into the Nabataean state after their rise to prominence in the 2nd century CE.

===The Achaemenids in Northern Arabia===
{{Main|Arabia (satrapy)}}
Achaemenid Arabia corresponded to the lands between [[Nile Delta]] (Egypt) and [[Mesopotamia]], later known to Romans as [[Arabia Petraea]]. According to [[Herodotus]], [[Cambyses II|Cambyses]] did not subdue the [[Arabs]] when he attacked Egypt in 525 BCE. His successor [[Darius the Great]] does not mention the Arabs in the [[Behistun inscription]] from the first years of his reign, but does mention them in later texts. This suggests that Darius might have conquered this part of Arabia<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/arabia/arabia.html |title=Arabia |access-date=2007-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901205212/https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/arabia/arabia.html |archive-date=2013-09-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> or that it was originally part of another province, perhaps [[Achaemenid Babylonia]], but later became its own province.

Arabs were not considered as subjects to the Achaemenids, as other peoples were, and were exempt from taxation. Instead, they simply provided 1,000 talents of [[frankincense]] a year. 
They participated in the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]] (480-479 BCE) while also helping the Achaemenids invade Egypt by providing water skins to the troops crossing the desert.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071112044629/http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v2f3/v2f3a002.html Encyclopædia Iranica]}}</ref>

===Nabateans===
{{Main|Nabataeans}}
[[File:Petra Jordan BW 21.JPG|thumb|left|upright=0.7|[[Al Khazneh]] in the ruins of [[Petra]] ([[Jordan]])]]
The Nabataeans are not to be found among the tribes that are listed in Arab genealogies because the Nabatean kingdom ended a long time before the coming of Islam. They settled east of the [[Syro-African Depression|Syro-African rift]] between the [[Dead Sea]] and the Red Sea, that is, in the land that had once been [[Edom]]. And although the first sure reference to them dates from 312 BCE, it is possible that they were present much earlier.

[[Petra]] (from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''petra'', meaning 'of rock') lies in the [[Jordan Rift Valley]], east of [[Arabah|Wadi `Araba]] in [[Jordan]] about {{convert|80|km|abbr=on}} south of the Dead Sea. It came into prominence in the late 1st century BCE through the success of the [[spice trade]]. The city was the principal city of ancient Nabataea and was famous above all for two things: its trade and its [[hydraulic engineering]] systems. It was locally autonomous until the reign of [[Trajan]], but it flourished under [[Roman Empire|Roman rule]]. The town grew up around its Colonnaded Street in the 1st century and by the middle of the 1st century had witnessed rapid urbanization. The quarries were probably opened in this period, and there followed virtually continuous building through the 1st and 2nd centuries CE.

===Roman Arabia===
{{Main|Arabia Petraea|Arabian Peninsula in the Roman era}}
There is evidence of [[Romans in Arabia|Roman rule in northern Arabia]] dating to the reign of Caesar Augustus (27 BCE&nbsp;– 14 CE). During the reign of [[Tiberius]] (14–37 CE), the already wealthy and elegant north Arabian city of Palmyra, located along the caravan routes linking Persia with the Mediterranean ports of Roman Syria and [[Phoenicia]], was made part of the [[Roman province]] of [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]]. The area steadily grew further in importance as a trade route linking Persia, India, [[China]], and the Roman Empire. During the following period of great prosperity, the Arab citizens of Palmyra adopted customs and modes of dress from both the [[Iran]]ian [[Parthia]]n world to the east and the [[Greco-Roman world|Graeco-Roman]] west. In 129, [[Hadrian]] visited the city and was so enthralled by it that he proclaimed it a free city and renamed it ''Palmyra Hadriana''.
[[File:Roman Empire Trajan 117AD.png|thumb|right|300px|Map showing Roman emperor [[Trajan]] control of northwestern Arabia until Hegra (actual [[Mada'in Saleh]])]] 
The Roman province of Arabia Petraea was created at the beginning of the 2nd century by emperor Trajan. It was centered on Petra, but included even areas of northern Arabia under Nabatean control.

Recently evidence has been discovered that [[Roman legion]]s occupied [[Mada'in Saleh]] in the [[Hijaz mountains]] area of northwestern Arabia, increasing the extension of the "Arabia Petraea" province.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200103/well.of.good.fortune.htm|title=Saudi Aramco World : Well of Good Fortune|publisher=Saudiaramworld.com|access-date=11 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023201749/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200103/well.of.good.fortune.htm|archive-date=2014-10-23}}</ref>

The desert frontier of Arabia Petraea was called by the Romans the [[Limes Arabicus]]. As a frontier province, it included a desert area of northeastern Arabia populated by the nomadic [[Saracen]]i.

===Later kingdoms===
{{Further|Lakhmids|Ghassanids|Kahlan}}

==Central Arabia==
{{Further|Najd}}

===Kingdom of Kindah===
{{Further|Kingdom of Kinda}}
Kindah was an Arab kingdom by the Kindah tribe, the tribe's existence dates back to the second century BCE.<ref>D. H. Müller, Al-Hamdani, 53, 124, W. Caskel, Entdeckungen In Arabien, Koln, 1954, S. 9. Mahram, P.318</ref> The Kindites established a kingdom in [[Najd]] in central Arabia unlike the organized states of [[Yemen]]; its kings exercised an influence over a number of associated tribes more by personal prestige than by coercive settled authority. Their first capital was Qaryat Dhāt Kāhil, today known as Qaryat Al-Fāw.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31568/history-of-Arabia/45976/Kindah#ref484269 History of Arabia – Kindah] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403084625/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31568/history-of-Arabia/45976/Kindah |date=2015-04-03 }}. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 11 February 2012.</ref>

Ancient South Arabian inscriptions mention a tribe settling in [[Najd]] called ''kdt'', who had a king called ''rbˁt'' (Rabi'ah) from ''ḏw ṯwr-m'' (the people of Thawr), who had sworn allegiance to the king of Saba' and Dhū Raydān.<ref>Jamme 635. See: Jawād 'Alī: Al-Mufaṣṣal fī Tārīkh al-'Arab Qabl al-Islam, Part 39.</ref> Since later Arab genealogists trace Kindah back to a person called Thawr ibn 'Uqayr, modern historians have concluded that this ''rbˁt ḏw ṯwrm'' (Rabī'ah of the People of Thawr) must have been a king of Kindah (''kdt''); the [[South Arabian alphabet|Musnad]] inscriptions mention that he was king both of ''kdt'' (Kindah) and ''qhtn'' (Qaḥṭān). They played a major role in the [[Himyarite]]-[[Hadramite|Ḥaḑramite]] war. Following the Himyarite victory, a branch of Kindah established themselves in the [[Marib]] region, while the majority of Kindah remained in their lands in central Arabia.

The first Classical author to mention Kindah was the Byzantine ambassador Nonnosos, who was sent by the Emperor Justinian to the area. He refers to the people in Greek as ''Khindynoi'' (Greek Χινδηνοι, Arabic Kindah), and mentions that they and the tribe of ''Maadynoi'' (Greek: ''Μααδηνοι'', Arabic: ''[[Ma'ad]]'') were the two most important tribes in the area in terms of territory and number. He calls the king of Kindah ''Kaïsos'' (Greek: ''Καισος'', Arabic: ''Qays''), the nephew of ''Aretha'' (Greek: ''Άρεθα'', Arabic: ''Ḥārith'').

==Genealogical tradition==
{{Main|Tribes of Arabia|Bedouin}}
{{See also|Solluba}}[[File:Pre_Islamic_Arabian_Tribes_(Harold_Dixon).svg|left|thumb|248x248px|A map published by the British academic Harold Dixon during [[World War I]], showing the presence of the Arab tribes in [[West Asia]], 1914]]
Arab traditions relating to the origins and classification of the Arabian tribes is based on biblical genealogy. The general consensus among 14th-century Arab genealogists was that Arabs were three kinds:
#"Perishing Arabs": These are the ancients of whose history little is known. They include ʿĀd, Thamud, Tasm, Jadis, Imlaq and others. Jadis and Tasm perished because of genocide. ʿĀd and Thamud perished because of their decadence. Some people in the past doubted their existence, but Imlaq is the singular form of 'Amaleeq and is probably synonymous to the biblical [[Amalek]].
#"Pure Arabs" ([[Qahtanite]]): These are traditionally considered to have originated from the progeny of Ya'rub bin Yashjub bin Qahtan so were also called Qahtanite Arabs.<ref name= Parolin/>
#"[[Arabized]] Arabs" ([[Adnanite]]): They are traditionally seen as having descended from [[Adnan]].<ref name= Parolin/><ref name=gen>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O69zjVnjL10C&pg=PA72|title=Journeys in Holy Lands: The Evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael Legends in Islamic Exegesis|author=Reuven Firestone|date=1990|page=72|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=9780791403310|access-date=2015-08-13|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131339/https://books.google.com/books?id=O69zjVnjL10C&pg=PA72|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Ibn García's Shuʻūbiyya Letter: Ethnic and Theological Tensions in Medieval al-Andalus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QJ8EpN0232IC&q=adnan+arabization&pg=PA170|author=Göran Larsson|date=2003|page=170| publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-9004127401|access-date=2020-11-07|archive-date=2023-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131339/https://books.google.com/books?id=QJ8EpN0232IC&q=adnan+arabization&pg=PA170|url-status=live}}</ref>

Modern historians believe that these distinctions were created during the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad period]], to support the cause of different political factions.<ref name= Parolin>{{cite book |title=Citizenship in the Arab World: Kin, Religion and Nation-State |last=Parolin |first=Gianluca P.|year=2009 |isbn=978-9089640451 |page=30|publisher=Amsterdam University Press }} "The 'arabicised or arabicising Arabs', on the contrary, are believed to be the descendants of [[Ishmael in Islam|Ishmael]] through Adnan, but in this case the genealogy does not match the Biblical line exactly. The label 'arabicised' is due to the belief that [[Ishmael]] spoke Hebrew until he got to Mecca, where he married a Yemeni woman and learnt Arabic. Both genealogical lines go back to [[Shem|Sem]], son of [[Noah]], but only Adnanites can claim [[Abraham in Islam|Abraham]] as their ascendant, and the lineage of Mohammed, the Seal of Prophets (khatim al-anbiya'), can therefore be traced back to [[Abraham]]. Contemporary historiography unveiled the lack of inner coherence of this genealogical system and demonstrated that it finds insufficient matching evidence; the distinction between Qahtanites and Adnanites is even believed to be a product of the Umayyad Age, when the war of factions (al-niza al-hizbi) was raging in the young Islamic Empire."</ref>

==Religion==
{{Main|Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia}}
{{Further|Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia|Christianity in pre-Islamic Arabia|Christianity in Eastern Arabia}}
{{See also|Jahiliyyah}}
[[File:South Arabian - Stele with a Female Bust - Walters 2173.jpg|thumb|Rising from a roundel, the sculpture represents a priestess who intercedes with the sun goddess on behalf of the donor, Rathadum]]

Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included pre-Islamic Arabian [[polytheism]], [[ancient Semitic religion]]s, and [[Abrahamic religions]] such as [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]]. Other religions that may have existed in pre-Islamic Arabia are [[Samaritanism]], [[Mandaeism]], and [[Iranian religions]] like [[Zoroastrianism]] and [[Manichaeism]]. Arabian polytheism was, according to Islamic tradition, the dominant form of [[religion in pre-Islamic Arabia]], based on veneration of [[Deity|deities]] and spirits. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including [[Hubal]] and the goddesses [[Al-Lat|al-Lāt]], [[Al-'Uzzá]] and [[Manāt]], at local shrines and temples, maybe such as the [[Kaaba]] in [[Mecca]]. Deities were venerated and invoked through a variety of rituals, including pilgrimages and divination, as well as ritual sacrifice. Different theories [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia#Role of Allah|have been proposed]] regarding the role of [[Allah]] in Meccan religion. Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods are traced to [[Cult image|idols]], especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them in Islamic tradition.

Other religions were represented to varying, lesser degrees. The influence of the adjacent [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite]] resulted in Christian communities in the northwest, northeast and south of Arabia. Christianity in pre-Islamic Arabia made a lesser impact, but secured some conversions, in the remainder of the peninsula. With the exception of [[Nestorianism]] in the northeast and the [[Persian Gulf]], the dominant form of Christianity was [[Miaphysitism]]. The peninsula had been a destination for Jewish migration since pre-Roman times, which had resulted in a [[diaspora]] community supplemented by local converts. Additionally, the influence of the [[Sasanian Empire]] resulted in [[Iranian religions]] being present in the peninsula. While [[Zoroastrianism]] existed in the eastern and southern Arabia, there was no existence of [[Manichaeism]] in Mecca.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manicheism-iv-missionary-activity-and-technique-|title=MANICHEISM v. MISSIONARY ACTIVITY AND TECHNIQUE: Manicheism in Arabia|quote=That Manicheism went further on to the Arabian peninsula, up to the Hejaz and Mecca, where it could have possibly contributed to the formation of the doctrine of Islam, cannot be proven. A detailed description of Manichean traces in the Arabian-speaking regions is given by Tardieu (1994).|access-date=2019-09-26|archive-date=2019-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116235921/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manicheism-iv-missionary-activity-and-technique-|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=tavakoli |first1=mohammadhadi |title=Investigating the possibility of Manichaean presence in Hejaz during the pre-Islamic |journal=Studies of Religions and Denominations |url=https://arj.urd.ac.ir/article_200127_e388d1dae7d4ecbb8b090fcf5512a71c.pdf?lang=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=M. Tardieu, "Les manichéens en Egypte," Bulletin de la Société Française d'Egyptologie 94, 1982, pp. 5-19.}}</ref> From the fourth-century onwards, monotheism became increasingly prevalent in pre-Islamic Arabia, as is attested in texts like the inscriptions from [[Jabal Dabub inscription|Jabal Dabub]], [[Ri al-Zallalah inscription|Ri al-Zallalah]], and the Abd Shams inscription.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Al-Jallad |first1=Ahmad |last2=Sidky |first2=Hythem |date=2022 |title=A Paleo-Arabic inscription on a route north of Ṭāʾif |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aae.12203 |journal=Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy |language=en |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=202–215 |doi=10.1111/aae.12203 |issn=0905-7196}}</ref>

== Literacy ==
According to a classification system for understanding literary in pre-Islamic Arabia established by [[Michael C. A. Macdonald|Michael C.A. MacDonald]], societies where writing is used can be divided into literate and non-literate societies, depending on the role that writing played within the functioning of the society. A nonliterate society is one where the ability to write is widespread without any place allocated for writing in the administration of a society (in the use of official inscriptions, legal contracts, etc). By contrast, a literate society relies on writing for the administrative functioning of a society.{{Sfn|MacDonald|2015|p=29}} 

Literacy was widespread in pre-Islamic Arabia among both nomads and settled peoples. Nomadic Arab societies in northern Arabia and the southern Levant are classified as non-literate. This is because, while the capacity for writing was common among individuals in these populations, writing itself was primarily used for entertainment and passing the time as opposed to administrative or legal utility. South Arabia was a literate society, as indicated by the discovery of thousands of public inscriptions. The presence of thousands of graffiti also suggest that writing was widespread among the common people and not just the upper echelon. The major oases towns in North and West Arabia were also literate societies.{{Sfn|Al-Jallad|2020}}{{Sfn|Van Putten|2023}}

== Hellenization ==
[[Hellenization]] refers to the mixing between local cultures with the Greco-Roman culture that was spread in the aftermath of the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]]. Hellenization is believed to have spread into pre-Islamic Arabian culture.{{Sfn|Cole|2020}} The earliest evidence of Hellenistic contact in the Arabian peninsula goes back to the 3rd century BC, but at this time, it is only occurring in Eastern Arabia, as shown by the amphorae from [[Rhodes]] and [[Chios]]. In South Arabia, Hellenization reaches Arabia by the 2nd or 1st centuries BC. This can be seen in the last of the kings of [[Qataban]], who reigned around this time.{{Sfn|Avanzini|2016|p=198–199}} In the resurgent period of the South Arabian [[Kingdom of Awsan]], during the 2nd or 1st centuries BC, an evolution of the iconography of the kings is seen: they are transformed from wearing traditional South Arabian clothing to being shown dressed as a Roman citizen would, with curly hair and wearing a toga.{{Sfn|Avanzini|2016|p=201–202}} At the [[Kingdom of Saba]], the traditional Near Eastern norms of iconographic depictions of the gods give way to Roman and Hellenistic anthropomorphic styles around the turn of the Christian era.{{Sfn|Nebes|2023|p=336}} Recently, Latin inscriptions have revealed a Roman military presence as far south as the [[Farasan Islands]], in southwestern [[Saudi Arabia]].{{Sfn|Villeneuve|2004}} 

In 106 AD, the [[Roman Empire]] conquered the northwest Arabian [[Nabataean Kingdom]] and they set up a province called [[Arabia Petraea]] (Roman Arabia). By this time, Roman rule had already long been imposed on Arabic-speaking populations in [[Syria]], the [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]], and [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]. The new conquests had extended this rule to northwest Arabia, including the northern parts of the [[Hejaz]].{{Sfn|Cole|2020}} Archaeological finds of Roman military encampments have been made at [[Hegra]] (Mada'in Salih), located today in the [[Medina Province (Saudi Arabia)|Medina Province]] of [[Saudi Arabia]], and at Ruwafa, as shown by the second-century Greek-Arabic bilingual [[Ruwafa inscriptions]].{{Sfn|MacDonald|2015b|p=44–56}} The [[Letter of the Archimandrites]] dating to 569/570, composed in Greek but preserved in Syriac, demonstrating the presence and distribution of episcopal sees from its 137 [[Archimandrite]] signatories from the province of Roman Arabia.{{Sfn|Millar|2009}} [[Safaitic]] inscriptions mention the [[Roman emperor]]. Arabic-speaking tribes were gradually converting to Christianity or becoming [[foederati]] of the emperor, resulting in increasing integration into the Roman world over time. In the mid-sixth century, for example, [[Justinian I]] was closely allied with the [[Ghassanids]], a Hellenized Christian Arab kingdom.{{Sfn|Cole|2020}} 

In Central Arabia, statues of Greek deities like [[Artemis]], [[Heracles]], and [[Harpocrates]] have been discovered have been found at [[Qaryat al-Faw]], the former capital of the [[Kingdom of Kinda]].{{Sfn|Cole|2020}}

Hellenization is also seen in [[pre-Islamic Arabic poetry]].{{Sfn|Klasova|2023|p=3–4}}

==Art==
{{Further|Nabataean art|Ancient South Arabian art}}
The art is similar to that of neighbouring cultures. Pre-Islamic [[Yemen]] produced stylized [[alabaster]] (the most common material for sculpture) heads of great aesthetic and historic charm.

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Antico yemen, al-jawf, statuette di donne sedute e testa femminile, III-I sec. ac. 02.JPG|Votive [[alabaster]] figurines from Yemen that represent seated women and female heads; 3rd-1st century BC; [[National Museum of Oriental Art]] (Rome, Italy)
File:Anthropomorphic stele at National Museum of Korea 02.jpg|Stele, male wearing a baldric – an iconic artwork for pre-Islamic [[Arabic Peninsula|Arabia]]; 4th millennium BCE, Al-'Ula ([[Saudi Arabia]]); exhibition at the [[National Museum of Korea]] ([[Seoul]])
File:Anthropomorphic stele at National Museum of Korea 01.jpg|Another anthropomorphic stele from pre-Islamic Saudi Arabia
File:South Arabian - Stele with a Female Bust - Walters 2173.jpg|South Arabian stele, bust of female raising her hand, with the donor's name, Rathadum, written below; 1st century BC-1st century AD; calcite-alabaster; 32.1&nbsp;cm (12.6&nbsp;in) x 23.3&nbsp;cm (9.1&nbsp;in) x 3.5&nbsp;cm (1.3&nbsp;in); [[Walters Art Museum]] ([[Baltimore]]).
File:Antico yemen, ariete in calcare.JPG|[[Limestone]] sculpture from pre-Islamic [[Yemen]] that represents a ram
File:Antico yemen, frammento di rilievo con palma in alabastro giallo, da san'aa.JPG|Bas-relief with a palm tree; Sana'a, ancient Yemen, alabaster.
File:Antico yemen, porta in miniatura, da zafar, II-III sec.JPG|Miniature gate; Zafar, Yemen, 2nd-3rd century AD.
File:Pergamon-Museum - Totenmaske.jpg|Pergamon Museum ([[Berlin]]). Exhibition "Roads of Arabia": Funeral mask and glove (1st century AD), gold, from Thaj, [[Tell Al-Zayer]] (National Museum, [[Riyadh]])
File:Dhamar Ali Yahbur (bust).jpg|Dhamar Ali Yahbur II, King of Himyarite
File:Basel 2012-08 Mattes 1 (215).JPG
</gallery>

==Late Antiquity==
{{Islam and other religions}}
The early 7th century in Arabia began with the longest and most destructive period of the [[Byzantine–Sasanian Wars]]. It left both the Byzantine and Sasanian empires exhausted and susceptible to third-party attacks, particularly from nomadic Arabs united under a newly formed [[religion]]. According to historian [[George Liska]], the "unnecessarily prolonged Byzantine–Persian conflict opened the way for Islam".<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield">{{cite book
| last1 = Liska
| first1 = George
| title = Expanding Realism: The Historical Dimension of World Politics
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ws5mAAAAMAAJ
| publisher = Rowman & Littlefield
| date = 1998
| page = 170
| isbn = 9780847686797
| access-date = 2018-02-08
| archive-date = 2022-04-07
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220407161220/https://books.google.com/books?id=ws5mAAAAMAAJ
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

The demographic situation also favoured Arab expansion: overpopulation and lack of resources encouraged Arabs to migrate out of Arabia.<ref>
Compare:
{{cite book
| last1 = Ibrahim
| first1 = Hayder
| chapter = The Region: Time and Space
| title = The Shaiqiya: the cultural and social change of a Northern Sudanese riverain people
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aMJyAAAAMAAJ
| series = Studien zur Kulturkunde
| volume = 49
| publisher = Steiner
| date = 1979
| page = 7
| isbn = 9783515029070
| access-date = 2018-02-08
| quote = There was a continuous migration from Arabia to the neighbouring regions, because the Arabian peninsula was overpopulated and lacked resources and periodic drought drove the people out of the region. [...] The overflow of migration accelerated during the Islamic expansion [...].
}}
</ref>

===Fall of the Empires===
Before the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]], the [[Plague of Justinian]] had erupted (541–542), spreading through Persia and into [[Byzantine]] territory. The Byzantine historian [[Procopius]], who witnessed the plague, documented that citizens died at a rate of 10,000 per day in [[Constantinople]].<ref>"Bury, John.", "A history of the later Roman empire: from [[Arcadius]] to Irene.", "(New York: 1889)", "401"</ref> The exact number; however, is often disputed by contemporary historians. Both empires were permanently weakened by the pandemic as their citizens struggled to deal with death as well as heavy taxation, which increased as each empire campaigned for more territory.

Despite almost succumbing to the plague, Byzantine emperor [[Justinian I]] (reigned 527–565) attempted to resurrect the might of the Roman Empire by expanding into Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula had a long coastline for merchant ships and an area of lush vegetation known as the [[Fertile Crescent]] which could help fund his expansion into Europe and [[North Africa]]. The drive into Persian territory would also put an end to tribute payments to the Sasanians, which resulted in an agreement to give {{convert|11000|lb|abbr=on}} of tribute to the Persians annually in exchange for a ceasefire.<ref>"Sicker, Martin", "The Pre-Islamic Middle East","(Connecticut:2000)", "201."</ref>

However, Justinian could not afford further losses in Arabia. The Byzantines and the Sasanians sponsored powerful nomadic mercenaries from the desert with enough power to trump the possibility of aggression in Arabia. Justinian viewed his mercenaries as so valued for preventing conflict that he awarded their chief with the titles of patrician, [[phylarch]], and king&nbsp;– the highest honours that he could bestow on anyone.<ref>"Egger, Vernon", "Origins" in A History of the Muslim World to 1405: The Making of a Civilization", "(New Jersey: 2005)", "10"</ref> By the late 6th century, an uneasy peace remained until disagreements erupted between the mercenaries and their patron empires.

The Byzantines' ally was a Christian Arabic tribe from the frontiers of the desert known as the [[Ghassanids]]. The Sasanians' ally; the [[Lakhmids]], were also [[Arab Christians and Arabic-speaking Christians|Christian Arabs]], but from what is now [[Iraq]]. However, [[Religious denomination|denominational]] disagreements about [[God]] forced a schism in the alliances. The Byzantines' official religion was [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]], which believed that [[Jesus]] [[Christ]] and God were two natures within one entity.<ref>"Ware, Timothy", "The Orthodox Church", "(New York:1997)", "67&nbsp;– 69"</ref> The Ghassanids, as [[Monophysitism|Monophysite Christians]] from Iraq, believed that God and Jesus Christ were only one nature.<ref>"Bowersock", "Brown", and "Grabar", ""Alphabetical Guide" in Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Post-Classical World", "(Cambridge: 2000)", "469".</ref> This disagreement proved irreconcilable and resulted{{when|date=February 2018}} in a permanent break in the alliance.

Meanwhile, the Sasanian Empire broke its alliance with the Lakhmids due to false accusations that the Lakhmids' leader had committed treason; the Sasanians annexed the Lakhmid kingdom in 602.<ref>"Singh, Nagendra", "International encyclopaedia of Islamic dynasties", "(India: 2005)", "75"</ref> The fertile lands and important trade routes of Iraq were now open ground for upheaval.

===Rise of Islam===
[[File:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|thumb|250px|right|Expansion of the caliphate, 622–750 CE.

{{legend|#a1584e| Prophet Muhammad, 622–632}}

{{legend|#ef9070| Rashidun Caliphate, 632–661}}

{{legend|#fad07d| Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750}}]]

{{Main|Spread of Islam}}
When the military stalemate was finally broken and it seemed that Byzantium had finally gained the upper hand in battle, nomadic Arabs invaded from the desert frontiers, bringing with them a new social order that emphasized religious devotion over tribal membership.

The political apparatus created by [[Muhammad]] (d. 632) was able to conquer Arabia within a few years of his death. Afterwards, this group invaded the Near East into both [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] territory. Within a few decades, the Sasanian empire had fallen entirely, with Byzantine territories in the Levant, the [[Caucasus]], Egypt, [[Syria]] and North Africa also taken.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield"/>{{request quotation|date=February 2018}} By the end of the seventh century, an empire stretching from the [[Pyrenees|Pyrenees Mountains]] in Europe to the [[Indus River]] valley in [[South Asia]] had been established.<ref>
"Egger", "2005", "33"
</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
* [[Ancient Near East]]
* [[Arab (etymology)]]
* [[Arabian mythology]]
* [[History of Saudi Arabia]]
* [[History of Bahrain]]
* [[History of the Arabic alphabet]]
* [[History of the United Arab Emirates]]
* [[Incense Route]]
* [[Pre-Islamic Arab trade]]
* [[Pre-Islamic calendar]]
* [[Rahmanism]]
* [[Soviet Orientalist studies in Islam]]
* [[Women in pre-Islamic Arabia]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
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*{{Cite book |last=Avanzini |first=Alessandra |title=By land and by sea: a history of South Arabia before Islam recounted from inscriptions |date=2016 |publisher=L'Erma Di Bretschneider}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Cole |first=Juan |date=2020 |title=Muhammad and Justinian: Roman Legal Traditions and the Qurʾān |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/710188?journalCode=jnes |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=183–196 |doi=10.1086/710188|url-access=subscription }}
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*{{Citation |last=Hoyland |first=Robert G. |author-link=Robert G. Hoyland |title=Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-64634-0}}
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*{{Cite book |last=Klasova |first=Pamela |title=The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Poetry |date=2023 |publisher=Routledge |editor-last=Fakhreddine |editor-first=Huda |pages=1–26 |chapter=Arabic Poetry in Late Antiquity: The Rāʾiyya of Imruʾ al-Qays |editor-last2=Stetkevych |editor-first2=Suzanne Pinckney |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/107943897}}
*{{Citation |last1=Kozah |first1=Mario |title=The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century |year=2014 |publisher=Gorgias Press, LLC |isbn=978-1-4632-0355-9 |last2=Abu-Husayn |first2=Abdulrahim}}
*{{Cite book |last=Lindstedt |first=Ilkka |title=Muhammad and His Followers in Context: The Religious Map of Late Antique Arabia |date=2023 |publisher=Brill}}
*{{Cite journal |last=MacDonald |first=Michael C.A. |date=2015 |title=On the Uses of Writing in Ancient Arabia and the Role of Palaeography in Studying Them |url=https://www.academia.edu/12264189 |journal=Arabian Epigraphic Notes |volume=1 |pages=1–50}}
*{{Cite book |last=MacDonald |first=Michael |title=Arabs and Empires before Islam |date=2015b |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=Fisher |editor-first=Greg |pages=11–89 |chapter=Arabs and Empires before the Sixth Century}}
*{{Cite book |last=Mackintosh-Smith |first=Tim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qw-LDwAAQBAJ&dq=thamud+tribe&pg=PA628 |title=Arabs: A 3,000-Year History of Peoples, Tribes and Empires |date=2019 |publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-18028-2 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Magee |first=Peter |title=The Archaeology of Prehistoric Arabia: Adaptation and Social Formation from the Neolithic to the Iron Age |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Millar |first=Fergus |date=2009 |title=Christian Monasticism in Roman Arabia at the Birth of Mahomet |url=https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1484/J.SEC.1.100512 |journal=Semitica et Classica |volume=2 |pages=97–115 |doi=10.1484/J.SEC.1.100512|url-access=subscription }}
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*{{Cite book |last=Munt |first=Thomas |title=The Holy City of Medina: Sacred Space in Early Islamic Arabia |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
*{{Cite book |last=Nebes |first=Norbert |title=The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East: Volume V: the Age of Persia |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=Radner |editor-first=Karen |pages=299–375 |chapter=Early Saba and its Neighbors |isbn=978-0-19-068766-3 |editor-last2=Moeller |editor-first2=Nadine |editor-last3=Potts |editor-first3=Daniel |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPGxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA299}}
*{{Cite book |last=Robin |first=Christian Julien |title=Queen of Sheba, Treasures from Ancient Yemen |date=2002 |publisher=The British Museum Press |editor-last=Simpson |editor-first=John |pages=51–58 |chapter=Saba' and the Sabaeans |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/37624628}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Rohmer |first1=Jérôme |last2=Charloux |first2=Guillaume |year=2015 |title=From Liḥyān to the Nabataeans: Dating the End of the Iron Age in Northwestern Arabia |url=https://www.academia.edu/14360605 |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=45 |pages=297–320}}
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*{{cite book |author-last=Stein |author-first=Peter |year=2009 |chapter=Literacy In Pre-Islamic Arabia: An Analysis of The Epigraphic Evidence |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GcgCErhKGrAC&pg=PA255 |editor1-last=Marx |editor1-first=Michael |editor2-last=Neuwirth |editor2-first=Angelika |editor2-link=Angelika Neuwirth |editor3-last=Sinai |editor3-first=Nicolai |title=The Qurʾān in Context: Historical and Literary Investigations into the Qurʾānic Milieu |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Texts and Studies on the Qurʾān |volume=6 |pages=255–280 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004176881.i-864.58 |isbn=978-90-04-17688-1 |issn=1567-2808 |s2cid=68889318}}
*{{Citation|last=Sykes|first=Egerton|title=Who's Who in Non-Classical Mythology|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-41437-4}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Van Putten |first=Marijn |date=2023 |title=The Development of the Hijazi Orthography |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/mill-2023-0007/html |journal=Millennium |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=107–128 |doi=10.1515/mill-2023-0007 |hdl-access=free |hdl=1887/3715910}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Villeneuve |first=François |date=2004 |title=Une inscription latine sur l'archipel Farasân, Arabie Séoudite, sud de la mer Rouge |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_2004_num_148_1_22717 |journal=Année |volume=148 |issue=1 |pages=419–429}}
*{{Citation|last=Waardenburg|first=Jean Jacques|year=2003|title=Muslims and Others: Relations in Context |chapter=The Earliest Relations of Islam with Other Religions: The Meccan Polytheists |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZaTKpS-9DoC&pg=PA89 |location=[[Berlin]]|publisher=[[De Gruyter]]|series=Religion and Reason|volume=41|pages=89–91 |doi=10.1515/9783110200959|isbn=978-3-11-017627-8}}
*{{Cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Tony |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x6o4XLIKN0UC&pg=PA50 |title=The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia: Paleoenvironments, Prehistory and Genetics |date=2009 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |editor-last=Rose |editor-first=Jeffrey |pages=51–66 |chapter=Environment and Long-Term Population Trends in Southwest Arabia |isbn=978-90-481-2719-1 |editor-last2=Petraglia |editor-first2=Michael}}

==Further reading==
*{{Citation|last=Berkey|first=Jonathan P.|author-link=Jonathan Berkey|title=The Formation of Islam|year=2003|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-58813-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/formationofislam0000berk}}
*{{Citation|last=Bulliet|first=Richard W.|author-link=Richard Bulliet|title=The Camel and the Wheel|year=1975|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|isbn=978-0-674-09130-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/camelwheel0000bull}}
*{{Citation|last=Donner|first=Fred|author-link=Fred Donner|title=The Early Islamic Conquests|year=1981|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=978-0-691-10182-8}}
*{{Citation|last=Hawting|first=G. R.|author-link=G. R. Hawting|title=The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History|year=1999|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-65165-3}}
*{{Citation|last=Hoyland|first=Robert G.|author-link=Robert G. Hoyland|title=Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam|year=2001|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-415-19535-5}}
*{{Citation|last=Korotayev|first=Andrey|author-link=Andrey Korotayev|title=Ancient Yemen|year=1995|place=[[Oxford]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-922237-7|url=https://www.academia.edu/32711023}}
*{{Citation|last=Korotayev|first=Andrey|author-link=Andrey Korotayev|title=Pre-Islamic Yemen|year=1996|place=[[Wiesbaden]]|publisher=[[Harrassowitz Verlag]]|url=https://www.academia.edu/32923104|isbn=978-3-447-03679-5}}
*{{Citation|last=Yule|first=Paul Alan|author-link=Paul Alan Yule|title=Himyar–Die Spätantike im Jemen/Himyar Late Antique Yemen|year=2007|place=[[Aichwald]]|publisher=Linden|isbn=978-3-929290-35-6}}
* [http://arabiantica.humnet.unipi.it/ Arabia Antica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216095549/http://arabiantica.humnet.unipi.it/ |date=2006-02-16 }}: Portal of Pre-Islamic Arabian Studies, University of Pisa - Dipartimento Civiltà e Forme del Sapere

==External links==
*[https://ancientarabia.huma-num.fr/ Ancient Arabia Database]
*[https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/640hangedpoems.asp#The%20Poem%20of%20Zuhair Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Pre-Islamic Arabia: The Hanged Poems, before 622 CE]
*[https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/arabia1.asp Ancient History Sourcebook: Ancient Accounts of Arabia, 430 BCE – 550 CE]

{{Pre-Islamic Arabia|state=collapsed}}
{{Classical antiquity}}

[[Category:Pre-Islamic Arabia| ]]
[[Category:History of the Arabian Peninsula]]