Archives
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Papers from the fifty-sixth meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held in Aarhus 4–6 August 2023
Vol. 53 (2024)The 56th Seminar in Aarhus in 2023 was a special one, as it marked the 70th anniversary of the first Danish archaeological expedition to Bahrain led by T. Geoffrey Bibby and P.V. Glob, from the Prehistoric Museum of Moesgaard. This is justly considered the starting point of archaeological research on Arabia, as it was the first time that formal excavations were undertaken in the region. This volume of the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies includes 21 papers presented at Aarhus.
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Revealing Cultural Landscapes in North-West Arabia: Supplement to the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies volume 51
Vol. 51 (2022)These papers present a range of recent discoveries that demonstrate north-west Arabia’s centrality to understanding the greater region and further, and to begin to clarify the extraordinary richness of life in this pivotal zone of the Arabian Peninsula from the Palaeolithic through to the Islamic period.
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 52 2023: Papers from the fifty-fifth meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at Humboldt Universität, Berlin, 5–7 August 2022
Vol. 52 (2023)The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the longest continually running academic forum for the presentation of cultural heritage research on the Arabian Peninsula. Subjects include archaeology, epigraphy, history, ethnography, art, architecture, linguistics, and literature from prehistory to the early twentieth century.
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 51 2022: Papers from the fifty-fourth meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held virtually on 2–4 and 9–11 July 2021
Vol. 51 (2022)The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the longest continually running academic forum for the presentation of cultural heritage research on the Arabian Peninsula. Meeting for the first time in 1968, the Seminar covers a wide range of subjects including but not limited to archaeology, epigraphy, history, ethnography, art, architecture, linguistics, and literature from prehistory to the early twentieth century.
The 54th Seminar for Arabian Studies consisted of 73 papers and 6 posters presented over the course of two weekends. These papers included four special sessions: a session on the recent research in North West Arabia, two sessions on the historical and cultural relations between Iberia and Arabia, and one session on maritime practices. The special sessions on North West Arabia and Iberian-Arabian interactions will be published as supplemental volumes while many of the papers submitted on maritime practices are included in the present issue. -
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 50 2020: Papers from the fifty-third meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the University of Leiden from Thursday 11th to Saturday 13th July 2019
Vol. 50 (2020)The 53rd Seminar for Arabian Studies was hosted by the University of Leiden, 11-13 July 2019. In total 65 papers and 23 posters were presented at the three-day event. This proceedings volume presents a selection of papers and posters.
The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the principal international academic forum for research on the Arabian Peninsula. First convened in 1968 it is the only annual academic event for the study of the Arabian Peninsula that brings together researchers from all over the world to present and discuss current fieldwork and the latest research. The Seminar covers an extensive range of subjects that include anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, numismatics, theology, and more besides, from the earliest times to the present day or, in the fields of political and social history, to around the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922).
The 53rd Seminar for Arabian Studies was hosted by the University of Leiden and took place in the Lipsius Building from Thursday IASA. In total sixty-five papers and twenty-three posters were presented at the three-day event. On Friday 12 July a special session on the stone tools of prehistoric Arabia was held, the papers from this session are published in a supplement to the main Seminar Proceedings. -
Stone Tools of Prehistoric Arabia: Papers from the Special Session of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held on 21 July 2019 (Vol. 50 supplement)
Vol. 50 (2020)This volume presents the proceedings from the special one-day session on the stone tools of prehistoric Arabia, held during the Seminar for Arabian Studies (Leiden 2019).
During the Seminar for Arabian Studies held in Leiden (July 2019), a special one-day session on the stone tools of prehistoric Arabia was held. Stone tools are generally associated with the oldest archaeological periods of human existence, the Palaeolithic, and are the most lasting vestiges of our ancestors’ productive activities. In Arabia, stone tools (or lithics) are found on the deflated surfaces close to raw material outcrops, high on the top of mountains and deep within valleys and terraces, on lake relics at the heart of the many sand seas, and even under water. For a long time, however, stratified archaeological records were rare and developing chronological frameworks was therefore a challenge. The discoveries made by international archaeological projects conducted across Arabia in recent years have made vital contributions to the field; the archaeological investigation of human origins in the Arabian Peninsula and a better understanding of cultural diversification throughout prehistory are good examples. The interpretation of the new finds provides alternative scenarios for how prehistoric human populations interacted with the diverse landscapes of Arabia, suggesting the Peninsula was not merely a crossroads or superhighway of expansion for anatomically modern humans but also functioned as a human habitat throughout the Pleistocene. The present Supplement to Volume 50 of the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies addresses these and many particularly emerging interests on the deep past of the Arabian Peninsula.
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 49 2019: Papers from the fifty-second meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 3 to 5 August 2018
Vol. 49 (2019)Humanities studies on the Arabian Peninsular including anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, numismatics, theology, and more, from the earliest times to the present day or, in the fields of political and social history, to around the end of the Ottoman Empire.
The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the principal international academic forum for research on the Arabian Peninsula. First convened in 1968, it is the only annual academic event for the study of the Arabian Peninsula that brings together researchers from all over the world to present and discuss current fieldwork and the latest research. The Seminar covers an extensive range of diverse subjects that include anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, numismatics, theology, and more besides, from the earliest times to the present day or, in the fields of political and social history, to around the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922). The Seminar meets for three days each year, with an ever-increasing number of participants coming from around the globe to attend. In 2018 the fifty-second meeting took place, in which fifty-seven papers and posters were presented in London at the British Museum, where this prestigious event has been hosted since 2002.
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 48 2018: Papers from the fifty-first meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 4th to 6th August 2017
Vol. 48 (2018)Humanities studies on the Arabian Peninsular including anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, numismatics, theology, and more, from the earliest times to the present day or, in the fields of political and social history, to around the end of the Ottoman Empire.
The Seminar for Arabian Studies has come a long way since 1968 when it was first convened, yet it remains the principal international academic forum for research on the Arabian Peninsula. This is clearly reflected in the ever-increasing number of researchers from all over the world who come each year to the three-day Seminar to present and discuss their latest research and fieldwork. The Seminar has covered, and continues to cover, an extensive range of diverse subjects that include anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, numismatics, theology, and more, from the earliest times to the present day or, in the fields of political and social history, to around the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922/1923). Papers presented at the Seminar have all been subjected to an intensive review process before they are accepted for publication in the Proceedings. The rigorous nature of the reviews undertaken by a range of specialists ensures that the highest academic standards are maintained. A supplementary volume, ‘Languages, scripts and their uses in ancient North Arabia’ edited by M.C.A. Macdonald (ISBN 9781784918996, Archaeopress, 2018), is also available containing the proceedings from the special session held during the seminar on 5 August 2017.
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Languages, scripts and their uses in ancient North Arabia: Papers from the fifty-first meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 4th to 6th August 2017 (Vol. 48 supplement)
Vol. 48 (2018)The Seminar for Arabian Studies has come a long way since 1968 when it was first convened, yet it remains the principal international academic forum for research on the Arabian Peninsula. This is clearly reflected in the ever-increasing number of researchers from all over the world who come each year to the three-day Seminar to present and discuss their latest research and fieldwork. Most of the papers published in this volume were presented at a Special Session of the fifty-first Seminar for Arabian Studies, held at the British Museum on 5 August 2017. Its subject was ‘Languages, scripts, and their uses in ancient North Arabia’ and it was held to celebrate the completion in the previous March of Phase 2 of the ‘Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia’ (OCIANA).
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 47 2017: Papers from the fiftieth meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 29 to 31 July 2016
Vol. 47 (2017)The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the principal international academic forum for research on the Arabian Peninsula. First convened in 1968, it is the only annual academic event for the study of the Arabian Peninsula that brings together researchers from all over the world to present and discuss current fieldwork and the latest research. The Seminar covers an extensive range of diverse subjects that include anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, numismatics, theology, and more besides, from the earliest times to the present day or, in the fields of political and social history, to around the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922). The Seminar meets for three days each year, with an ever-increasing number of participants coming from around the globe to attend. In 2016 the fiftieth meeting took place, in which sixty papers and posters were presented in London at the British Museum, where this prestigious event has been hosted since 2002. The Seminar also regularly hosts a special session focusing on a specific aspect of the Humanities on the Arabian Peninsula, enabling a range of experts to present their research to a wider audience. In 2016 this special session was entitled ‘Textiles and Personal Adornment in the Arabian Peninsula’, which provided a fascinating overview of research on dress, textiles, and adornment in the Middle East.
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 46, 2016: Papers from the forty-seventh meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 24 to 26 July 2015
Vol. 46 (2016)The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the only international academic forum that meets annually for the presentation of research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula. It focuses on the fields of archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, and numismatics from the earliest times to the present day. A wide range of original and stimulating papers presented at the Seminar is published in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies and reflects the dynamism and scope of the interdisciplinary event. The Proceedings present the cutting edge of new research on Arabia and include reports of new discoveries in the Peninsula. They are published each spring in time for the subsequent Seminar, which is held in July. The main foci of the Seminar in 2015, in descending order of the number of papers presented in each session were North Arabia, South Arabia and Aksum, Archaeological Survey and Field Methods, Bronze and Iron Ages in Eastern Arabia, Islamic Archaeology, and Neolithic Archaeology. In addition, there were sessions on Recent Cultural History in Arabia, and Heritage Management in Arabia, as well as a special session on the Nabataean world titled ‘Beyond the “rose-red” city: the hinterland of Petra and Nabatean rural sites’, which featured a total of six papers. This volume also includes notes in memoriam on Professor Andrzej Zaborski (1942–2014), Professor Ordinarius at the Jagellonian University of Cracow, who specialized in Afro-Asiatic linguistics, Semitic and Cushitic in particular.
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 45 2015: Papers from the forty-eighth meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 25–27 July 2014
Vol. 45 (2015)The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the only international academic forum which meets annually for the presentation of research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula. It focuses on the fields of archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, and numismatics from the earliest times to the present day. A wide range of original and stimulating papers presented at the Seminar are published in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies and reflect the dynamism and scope of the interdisciplinary event. The main foci of the Seminar in 2014, in chronological order were the Palaeolithic and Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, Early Historical and Classical periods, Heritage Management, Islamic Archaeology and History. In addition there were sessions on Ethnography, on Language, and with a session dedicated to the Archaeology and History of ancient Yemen. In addition, on the evening of Saturday, 26 July 2014, Professor Lloyd Weeks, Head of the School of Humanities, the University of University of New England, New South Wales, Australia, a long supporter of the Seminar and Foundation, presented the MBI Lecture entitled ‘The Quest for the Copper of Magan: how early metallurgy shaped Arabia and set the horizons of the Bronze Age world’ and as always provided an informative, interesting and lucid lecture. This volume also includes notes in memoriam on Nigel Groom (1924–2014), ‘Arabist, historian, spy-catcher, and writer on perfume’; and on Professor Tony Wilkinson (1948–2014), Professor of Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh (2005–2006) and Professor of Archaeology at Durham University (2006–2014) who specialised in landscape archaeology.
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 44 2014: Papers from the forty-seventh meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 26 to 28 July 2013
Vol. 44 (2014)Papers from the forty-seventh meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 26 to 28 July 2013.
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Languages of Southern Arabia: Supplement to the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 44 2014
Vol. 44 (2014)The special session in 2013, Languages of Southern Arabia, was the fifth in the Seminar for Arabian Studies special session series.
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 43 2013: Papers from the forty-sixth meeting, London, 13–15 July 2012
Vol. 43 (2013)The Seminar for Arabian Studies (www.thebfsa.org/seminar/) is the only international forum which meets annually for the presentation of the latest academic research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula (including archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, ethnography, language, history, art, architecture, etc.) from the earliest times to the present day or, in the case of political and social history, to the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922).
The Seminar meets for three days - Thursday to Saturday - in the third week of July each year in London or another British university town. Up to 150 people attend the Seminar from all over the Middle East, Europe, and North America as well as India, Pakistan, Australia and Japan and up to 50 papers are now presented each year.
Papers read at the Seminar are published in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies in time for the Seminar of the following year. The Proceedings therefore contains new research on Arabia and reports of new discoveries in the Peninsula in a wide range of disciplines.
Publication and distribution were taken over by Archaeopress in 2003 and back issues are available. -
The Nabataeans in Focus: Current Archaeological Research at Petra: Supplement to the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 42 2012 (Vol. 42 supplement)
Vol. 42 (2012)Introduction - The Nabataeans in focus (Laïla Nehmé & Lucy Wadeson); 1) Landscapes north of Petra: the Petra Area and Wādī Silaysil Survey (Brown University Petra Archaeological Project, 2010-2011) (Susan E. Alcock & Alex R. Knodell); 2) Nabataean or Late Roman? Reconsidering the date of the built sections and milestones along the Petra–Gaza road (Chaim Ben David); 3) Reinventing the sacred: from shrine to monastery at Jabal Hārūn (Zbigniew T. Fiema, ); 4) Dating the early phases under the temenos of the QaΒr al-Bint at Petra (F. Renel, M. Mouton, C. Augé, C. Gauthier, C. Hatté, J-F. Saliège & A. Zazzo); 5) A Nabataean shrine to Isis in Wādī Abū Ullayqah, in the south-west of Petra (Marie-Jeanne Roche); 6) The palaces of the Nabataean kings at Petra (Stephan G. Schmid, Piotr Bienkowski, Zbigniew T. Fiema & Bernhard Kolb); 7) The funerary landscape of Petra: results from a new study (Lucy Wadeson); 8) The International Aslah Project, Petra: new research and new questions (Robert Wenning in cooperation with Laurent Gorgerat).
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 42 2012: Papers from the forty-fifth meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 28 to 30 July 2011
Vol. 42 (2012)The Seminar for Arabian Studies (www.thebfsa.org/seminar/) is the only international forum which meets annually for the presentation of the latest academic research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula (including archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, ethnography, language, history, art, architecture, etc.) from the earliest times to the present day or, in the case of political and social history, to the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922).
The Seminar meets for three days - Thursday to Saturday - in the third week of July each year in London or another British university town. Up to 150 people attend the Seminar from all over the Middle East, Europe, and North America as well as India, Pakistan, Australia and Japan and up to 50 papers are now presented each year.
Papers read at the Seminar are published in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies in time for the Seminar of the following year. The Proceedings therefore contains new research on Arabia and reports of new discoveries in the Peninsula in a wide range of disciplines.
Publication and distribution were taken over by Archaeopress in 2003 and back issues are available -
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 41 2011: Papers from the forty-fourth meeting, held at the British Museum, London, 22–24 July 2010
Vol. 41 (2011)The Seminar for Arabian Studies (www.thebfsa.org/seminar/) is the only international forum which meets annually for the presentation of the latest academic research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula (including archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, ethnography, language, history, art, architecture, etc.) from the earliest times to the present day or, in the case of political and social history, to the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922).
The Seminar meets for three days - Thursday to Saturday - in the third week of July each year in London or another British university town. Up to 150 people attend the Seminar from all over the Middle East, Europe, and North America as well as India, Pakistan, Australia and Japan and up to 50 papers are now presented each year.
Papers read at the Seminar are published in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies in time for the Seminar of the following year. The Proceedings therefore contains new research on Arabia and reports of new discoveries in the Peninsula in a wide range of disciplines.
Publication and distribution were taken over by Archaeopress in 2003 and back issues are available -
Proceedings of the Seventh Seminar for Arabian Studies, held at The Middle East Centre, Cambridge on 28th and 29th June 1973
Vol. 4 (1974)Table of Contents:
THE CONSTRUCTION OF PTOLEMY'S MAP OF SOUTH ARABIA – William C. Brice
FINANCIAL STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA – J.N. Bridge
Accounts 1.6.73 to 31.5.74
EVIDENCE FOR PRE-SELEUCID OCCUPATION OF EASTERN ARABIA – Marny Golding
HON. SECRETARY'S REPORT, 1973-4 – J.E. Dayton
HARVARD ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY IN OMAN, 1973: I - FLINT SITES IN OMAN – Judith Pullar
HARVARD ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY IN OMAN, [1973]: II - SOME LATER PREHISTORIC SITES IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN – J.H. Humphries
HARVARD ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY IN OMAN, 1973: III - SOHAR AND THE SEA TRADE OF OMAN IN THE TENTH CENTURY A.D. – Andrew Williamson
GEDI - A LATE MEDIAEVAL CITY OF THE SWAHILI SUB-ARAB CULTURE OF THE EAST AFRICAN COAST – James Kirkman
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE HIMYARITE ERA – A.G. Lundin
MAHDISM AND HOLY WARS IN ETHIOPIA BEFORE 1600 – E.G. Martin
A PALAEOGRAPHICAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE SABAEAN - DATED INSCRIPTIONS, WITH REFERENCE TO SEVERAL ERAS – Jacqueline Pirenne
FORMAL INERTLA IN THE SOUTH-ARABIAN INSCRIPTIONS (MAʿĪN AND SABA) – Jacques Ryckmans
THE ROLE OF MAJOR AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ARABIAN PENINSULA COUNTRIES – J.M. Stevens
SOME DATA FOR THE STUDY OF PREHISTORIC CULTURAL AREAS ON THE PERSIAN GULF – Maurizio Tosi
BOOK REVIEW
"Neue Lihyanische Inschriften aus al-ʿUḏaib". (Sonderdruck aus "Christentum am Roten Meer", Bd. 1) by F. Altheim, R. Stiehl – Reviewed by A.F.L. Beeston
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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
Vol. 1 (1971)The papers presented in this pamphlet were contributed at a two-day symposium organised by the Arabian Seminar in Cambridge in June 1970. The symposium was held at the Middle East Centre at the invitation of its Director, Professor R B Serjeant, who also presided at the meeting.
The organisers of the Symposium are grateful to the authors of the papers, to all who attended the meetings, to the staff of the Middle East Centre, and to many other well-wishers, for their efforts and support. It is hoped that more meetings of this nature will be held, and will help to promote the study of Arabia.