Archaeology of the Gulf

Catalog description

Archaeological research in the Gulf States has recently increased exponentially. Why is archaeology and its scientific methods the most comprehensive way to investigate life in Arabia and preserve its heritage? How is new archaeological research changing historical paradigms for the development of trade and agriculture at the Gulf crossroads? And how should we identify the land of the Emirates in the distant past before the birth of the U.A.E? In this course, we will explore evidence from excavations in the Gulf for understanding the characteristics of pre-Islamic as well as Early, Middle, and Late Islamic society, culture, and identity. The chronology is focused on the Bronze-Iron ages to the Late Islamic phases, with an overview of ceramic typologies, historical geographies, pastoral nomadism and human adaptation, dromedary domestication, the economy of trade on the incense roads, and the development of writing in the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of Islam.