Figure 1.--As far as we know, there are no images of pre-Islamic Arabia. The Arabs did not produce any images, nor did the serttled people which the Arabs traded with or raided. This is a photograph of an Arab man with his children taken in Jizan province of Saudi Arabia (June 11, 1945). The life style of the ancient Arab tribes was not very different than Arabia at the time.

The Arabs were the little-known people of the Arabian Peninsula. They were organized into innumerable tribal groups. They were involved in both splits and confedrations. Their history has been called a 'kaleidoscope of shifting allegiances' and tribal warfare. There were long periods of tribal anarchy which at times approached some defree of centralized government but never reached real unification. Various tribes have become powerful over time, largely because impressiuve leaders leding to a measure of tribal cohesion, but only briefly until Mohmmed. In the ancient world, economies were primarily based on agriculture. That is why the most impressive civilizations were the rich river valley civizations. Cities like Petra come become rich on trade, but large socities initially needed agriculture. Even socities like the Phoneciuans, Greece, and Rome needed an agricultural base. And here the Arabs were at a distinct advantageb becuse of the austere, arid Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs were amomg the poorest peopole of the ancient world which is why they raided settled agricultural people. There were City Arabs and Bedouin pastoralists. For centuries they busied themselves with fraticidal wars and raids. Outside religions had made some inroads into the native Animism. Ghassanide Christianized in the north, Monophisites. Lakhnids in the northeast more connected with Persia and Zorionatism. There were also Jewish tribes. The Yemenis in the south were non-Arab speaking, The Arab tribes are probably best known in ancient history as the nomdic tribes that plundered the settled agricultural people of Mesopotmia from the south. This was part of the developing conflict between agricultural and nomadic hearder societies. Mesopotamia also faced attacks fromn the Steppe people from the north. Egyot was more protected by the surrounding deserts. The Arabian Peninsula provoded important trade routes leading between the Mediteranean and Africa/India. Particularky important was the frankincense trade. The Arab tribes were important because they were never fully controlled by either Egypt or Mesopotamia, the two great civilizations of the Middle East. The Romans after coinquering Egypt also failed to conquer them and ended up hiring Arab tribes to guard the southern Levant which they incorporated into their Empire. Guardinh important trade routes was essentially paying protection money.

Created: 5:05 AM 11/5/2021
Last updated: 5:06 AM 11/5/2021