This region had Olympianism, Hellenism, Babylonian religion, Hellenistic Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Greco-Buddism, Romanism, Idolatry, and Christianism.

Author

Robert G. Hoyland was educated at Oxford as a historian and specializes in late antique and early Islamic history. He currently teaches at Institute for study of the ancient world, New York.

Publication notes

This book is published by Routledge in 2001.

Book cover

Introduction

The book is neatly organized and Arabia is dissected into multiple parts and explained throughout history as the Arabs and Arabia developed and morphed.

Summary of content

The book has many maps, diagrams, and plates—all in black and white—to show the research efforts and the linkage with the praxis of the times.

Analysis

Q. What part does Arabia and Arabs play in the past and still play in history?

A. Page 5. In all history, except for the Muslim period—after the Prophet till 1300 C.E—Arabia only played the role of proxy for superpowers. It could be Byzantine, Sasanian, or Greeks. Arabs were called Saracens.

Q. Where did people emerge, and what were the areas?

A. Page 10-13. People first emerged in the south and east of Arabia around 3000 BCE. The areas were Dilmun (Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar), Magan (Oman), and Yeman in the south. They traded with Persia, Mesopotamia, and Meluhha (Pakistan).

Q. How did Alexander view this area?

A. Page 21. During his teaching, Alexander always wanted to conquer the incense producing region and control it. During his life he never accomplished this. Most cultures considered Arabs to be an insignificant race of people and never bothered to interact or rule their lands. There was only sand and desert.

Q. What area was the richest?

A. Page 40-45. Yemen was the richest with gold and silver, they also had the trade routes for incense and aromatics. Jews and Christians put a lot of significance on this product and incorporated it into their religion. Greeks and Romans—during their pagan days and after—also desired this substance.

Q. What proxy wars were happening in Yemen?

A. Page 49-58. The proxy wars were between Byzantine and Sasanian empires. They used Yemen to fight their wars. The Arabs would supply resources to both. It was mostly about religion also between Jews and Christians, Romans being the Christian power. Both wanted control of Yemen and trade routes.

Q. How does the Bible show the Arabs?

A. Page 62. Arabs are seen a lower class people, nomads. This is where the Jews take their inspiration to hate the Arabs, blacks and all other races, (Jeremiah 49:31, Canticles 1:5, Psalms 120:5, Ezekiel 27:21).

Q. How did Arabia survive?

A. Page 74-113. Water was the most important commodity for survival and agriculture. There were two types of people: Sedentary and Pastoral. The nomad’s diet consisted of milk and meat. They also did a lot of trade of aromatics.

Q. What cultures and religions mixed in this area?

A. Page 150-247. This region had Olympianism, Hellenism, Babylonian religion, Hellenistic Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Greco-Buddism, Romanism, Idolatry, and Christianism.

Conclusion

It is a fascinating book and looks to be researched with many maps and images of epigrams and epigraphs. It lists all the empires that emerged and used Arabian land for their conquests, many empires died off. Trade, economy, and language development is discussed. The emergence and development of the Arab language and what phases it went through. We recommend this book as a book place to start if one is interested in learning about Arabia and Arabs.