Abstract
Nomadic tribes have existed across the Arabian peninsula for thousands of years. The pre-Islamic period saw the development of civilizations based on trade in frankincense and spices, notably, from about the 12th century BC, the Minaeans in the southwest of what is now Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The Sabaean and Himyarite kingdoms flourished from around 650 BC and 115 BC respectively, their loose federations of city states lasting until the 6th century AD. Although increased trade brought these civilizations into contact with the Roman and Persian empires— the two great regional powers before the advent of Islam— they remained, for the most part, politically independent. The Nabataeans, an Aramaic people whose capital was at Petra, modern-day Jordan, spread into northern Arabia over a period covering the 1st century BC and the 1st AD before annexation of their territory by Rome. Persian influence was prevalent along Arabia’s eastern coast, centred on Dilmun which covered parts of the mainland and the island of Bahrain.
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Further Reading
Aarts, Paul, Saudi Arabia in the Balance: Political Economy, Society, Foreign Affairs. 2006
Al-Rasheed, Madawi, A History of Saudi Arabia. 2002
Al-Rasheed, Madawi and Vitalis, Robert, (eds.) Counter-Narratives: History, Contemporary Society, and Politics in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. 2004
Bradley, John R., Saudi Arabia Exposed. 2005
Hegghammer, Thomas, Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979. 2010
Kostiner, J., The Making of Saudi Arabia: from Chieftaincy to Monarchical State. 1994
Lacey, Robert, Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia. 2009
Mackey, Sandra, The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom. Revised ed. 2003
Manea, Elham, Regional Politics in the Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen. 2005
Murphy, Caryle, A Kingdom’s Future: Saudi Arabia through the Eyes of its Twentysomethings. 2013
Peterson, J. E., Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia. 1994
Vassiliev, Alexei, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia: Personality, Faith and Times. 2012
Wright, J. W. (ed.) Business and Economic Development in Saudi Arabia: Essays with Saudi Scholars. 1996
National Statistical Office: Ministry of Economy and Planning, Central Department of Statistics and Information, Riyadh.
Website: http://www.cdsi.gov.sa
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Turner, B. (2014). Saudi Arabia. In: Turner, B. (eds) The Statesman’s Yearbook. The Statesman’s Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-67278-3_313
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