Unraveling the Mysteries of Ancient Arabia

Although millions of Muslims around the world visit Saudi Arabia to perform haj and umrah (minor haj) every year, not many of them know the history of Ancient Arabia other than a glimpse in the story of Prophet Ibrahim and his family.

Such as the stories about the Kaaba, Zamzam water and so on. They, however, do not know beyond that.

Interestingly, it is not only Muslims who lack knowledge of Ancient Arabia. Historians also seem to ignore, or are less interested in, discussing the past history of Ancient Arabia.

As a result, Arabia is not included on the map of the history of mankind’s ancient civilizations. When discussing the ancient civilizations of the Middle East, historians always refer to Egypt, Iran (Persia) or Mesopotamia (a historical region in West Asia located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that is now part of Iraq). Arabia is excluded from their observations.

Also read:

> Studying Secular Sciences in the Middle East

> Haj Pilgrims’ Safety is the Main Priority

In fact, like Egypt, Persia and Mesopotamia, in Arabia there are also many interesting historical and archaeological relics of the past to be used as material for studying the origins of civilization and ancient culture of mankind in the Middle East. In fact, according to some archaeologists, the historical and cultural traces of Ancient Arabia are older than those of Egypt, Persia or Mesopotamia. So although Arabia is not considered a place of a number of legendary ancient kingdoms such as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Rome, Byzantium, Persia and so on, it does not mean that Arabia did not have ancient kingdoms of the pre-Islamic era.

The mention of Arabia is to distinguish this area from other "Arab regions" in the Middle East.

What is meant by Ancient Arabia here is the Arabian Peninsula (Arabia) hundreds or thousands of years BC whose territory stretched from the north, which is now part of Jordanian territory to the southern tip, which is now part of Yemeni. The central part of the peninsula is now the territory of Saudi Arabia. The mention of Arabia is to distinguish this area from other "Arab regions" in the Middle East.

Interesting archaeological finds

In the last few months, I have observed various interesting findings from the excavations by archaeologists and physical anthropologists, both from Saudi Arabia and abroad, which can add to or even change the history of the human civilization of the Middle East. This observation is part of a research project on archaeological tourism in Saudi Arabia that I have codirected with Professor Simeon Magliveras from the United States.

For example, a group of archaeologists from the Saudi Heritage Authority, King Saud University and the Max Planck Institute found ancient stones (including Archeulean axes) in the Nafud and Tabuk Deserts (Khal Amishan) that were shaped in such a way as to be used as tools/weapons by the “ancient human".

AFP PHOTO/CNES 2019, DISTRIBUTION AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE

This handout satelite image released by Airbus Defence and Space on August 11, 2019 shows a gereral view of the Saudi holy city of Mecca with the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine in the centre of the picture, during the climax of the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year.

It could be said that the tools made from these ancient stones (in archeology called eco-facts) are part of the sculptural works created or developed by humankind’s ancestors. Archaeologists estimate the age of these ancient stones to be around 400,000 years old and are by far the oldest archaeological findings in Arabia.

Archaeologists have also found tools made from other ancient stones that are younger (50,000-300,000 years). This means that archaeologists have found not only archaeological remains from the ancient civilization of Archeulea, but also from the younger Middle Paleolithic era.

The team of archaeologists also found fossils of several thousands-of-years old animals that indicate the fertility of the ancient Arabian region. The results of these findings were published in detail in Nature magazine.

This is the first fossil hominin (a group of ancient humans and direct ancestors of “modern humans”) to be found in Saudi Arabia and the oldest human fossil ever found outside Africa and the Levant.

A team of scientists comprising Iyad Zalmout from the Saudi Geological Survey, Huw Groucutt from the University of Oxford and Michael Petraglia from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History found the middle finger bone of an adult human (from Homo Sapiens), which is estimated to have lived 85,000-90,000 years ago. This is the first fossil hominin (a group of ancient humans and direct ancestors of “modern humans”) to be found in Saudi Arabia and the oldest human fossil ever found outside Africa and the Levant.

Their findings were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

No less interesting were the findings of the archaeological research team at the University of Western Australia on ancient burial complexes with age ranges from 4,500-5,000 BC in the Al Ula and Khaibar regions, which published in the Holocene journal. These complexes again show Arabia as one of the locations where ancient humans lived. The ancient humans who inhabited the area of Ancient Arabia were not necessarily ethnic/ethnic Arabs, but human ancestors from other ethnicities/tribes, for example the Nabataeans who had built Petra in Jordan and Hegra in Arabia. In fact, Arab ethnicities/tribes can be said to be “newcomers” in Arabia.

Ancient kingdoms

Scientists (historians and archaeologists) have also found the remains of ancient kingdoms in southern, northern and eastern Arabia. Salma Hawsawi, a historian of Ancient Arabia from King Saud University, said that southern Arabia was once the center of a number of classical kingdoms such as Ma'in, Awsan, Qataban, Sheba, Himyar and so on. North Arabia became the headquarters of a number of ancient kingdoms that were very important in its time such as Dadan, Lihyan, Nabataean, Palmyrene, Tayma, Qidar. East Arabia was also the home of a number of ancient kingdoms such as Dilmun, Magan, Gerrha and Thaj.

Of course, the establishment of an empire anywhere is always accompanied by the birth of a civilization. The establishment of an empire itself is a reflection or manifestation of the progress of civilization at that time, although not all human civilizations, both ancient and contemporary, had an empire.

As far as I know, only the central part of Arabia (Najd, Qassim, Buraidah and so on) was historically very "dry" of major empires and civilizations. This was a result of the absence of encounters with other ethnic groups due to its very extreme geographical conditions, filled with mountains and wild dry desert. Even so, in this area the ancient civilizations of al-Magar and Quryat al-Faw were born, although there is no evidence of the establishment of a kingdom in ancient Arabia.

It was this area of central Arabia that later became the center of the emergence of the Wahhabi group and the early Saudi dynasties, so it is not surprising that they were originally a very strict group and followed nomadic patterns. Meanwhile, other Arabian regions – west, north, east and south – were fertile areas, or at least not as dry and barren as central Arabia, so were inhabited by many people from various ethnic groups and religions. In southern Arabia, there are even agricultural and plantation areas where local residents can grow rice, coffee and vegetables.

West Arabia, Jeddah and Mecca

In western Arabia – including Jeddah and Mecca –no traces of archaeological remains of ancient kingdoms have been found as in southern, northern and eastern Arabia. However, West Arabia was an important and strategic area because of its location on the shores of the Red Sea, so it has been inhabited by humans since a long time ago.

South Asia and Southeast Asia, long before Islam was born in the seventh century AD.

Jeddah has long been a coastal trading center and a transit point for traders and travelers from various parts of the world, including Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, long before Islam was born in the seventh century AD.

So has Mecca. As historian James Wynbrandt wrote in his book A Brief History of Saudi Arabia, later Mecca (from the Sabaean language meaning sanctuary or nature reserve), especially since the middle of the first millennium (1 AD), also became a center of commerce, a melting pot of cultures as part of the caravan trade routes from the south (Yemen, Najran) and north (Syria, Jordan, Palestine) as well as the starting point for trade trips to the east such as Iraq and its surroundings.

The protracted war between the Byzantine and the Sasanian Empire caused the destruction of the main trade route from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf (or Arabian Gulf) in eastern Arabia. As a result, alternative trade routes were formed by passing through the west coast of Arabia, which made Jeddah and Mecca strategic areas. Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say Mecca/Jeddah later became known as rich caravan cities.

AFP/ANDREJ ISAKOVIC

Smoke billows from an oil storage facility in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on March 25, 2022. - Yemeni rebels said they attacked a Saudi Aramco oil facility in Jeddah as part of a wave of drone and missile assaults today as a huge cloud of smoke was seen near the Formula One venue in the city.

A number of historians note that this trade activity in western Arabia had been going on for a very long time, particularly since 3,000 BC. Arabian traders were also part of an international trading network that stretched as far as Africa, South Asia and the Mediterranean. They also played an important role in bridging India and the Far East on the one hand and Byzantium and the Mediterranean on the other.

Area of human civilization

From the explanation above, it can be seen that since ancient times Arabia has been a very strategic area, so it is not surprising that it has become a meeting point for human beings from various ethnic, tribal and religious groups to conduct commercial transactions, reside or just stop temporarily.

One of the factors that pushed early humans to live in Arabia was because this area was surrounded by seas/rivers such as the Red Sea (Nile), Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea or Gulf of Aden. Where there is water, there is hope for life, and because of that there is a human population. This has been the instinct of mankind since time immemorial, not only in the Middle East, but also in Southeast Asia and other regions.

That is why Egypt, Persia and Mesopotamia became one of the cradles of human civilization because there are the Red Sea/Nile River (for Egypt), the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman (for Persia) and the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers (for Mesopotamia).

Recognizing the importance and strategic position of Arabia as a center of "ancient human" civilization as well as a very rich ancient archaeological heritage center, the Saudi government is now investing billions of US dollars to build, promote and "transform" Saudi Arabia into a one of the world's archeological centers and the main destination of “archaeological tourism” which had been barely touched by the previous administration.

KOMPAS/WINARTO HERUSANSONO

Sumanto Al Qurtubi

Sumanto Al Qurtuby,Founder of Nusantara Institute and Lecturer at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo)