Arabia, the area made up of the Arabian Peninsula, is located
in the southwestern region of the Asian continent. Covering
about 3 million square kilometres, the southeastern area of
the peninsula is the Rub'al-Khali, the Empty Quarter, which
is the world's largest expanse of continuous sand. Politically,
the Arabian Peninsula consists of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain,
Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman, and
the Republic of Yemen. Together, these countries (excluding
the Republic of Yemen) constitute the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC). Founded on 26 May 1981, the aim of this collective
is to promote coordination between member states in all fields
in order to achieve unity.
The image of oil tankers passing through the Straits of Hormuz,
into the Indian Ocean, and so to the rest of the world seems
quite modern, dating back only some fifty years or so. It
is surprising to realize, then, that it is actually just the
latest aspect of a tradition of maritime trade in the region
which stretches back some 7,000 years. "In fact, the South
and Southwest Asian regions, and the Gulf area in particular,
have perhaps the richest and longest running seafaring tradition
of any world region."1
The Arabian Gulf, or al-Khaleej al-Arabi in Arabic, lies between
the Arabian Peninsula and Southwest Asia. It is connected
by the Straits of Hormuz to the Arabian Sea, the northwest
part of the Indian Ocean. The Gulf is some 615 miles long
and has a maximum width of 210 miles, with an area of about
93,000 square miles. It is a shallow body of water, with a
maximum depth of 360 feet, and due to hydrological conditions
does not develop high waves. Despite high temperatures and
humidity, the Gulf rarely sees storms and gale-force winds,
and therefore is an easily navigable body of water, unlike
its neighbour, the Red Sea. For several millennia these two
bodies of water served as primary routes of interaction between
the great civilizations of the East and the Mediterranean.
Mesopotamia is the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
at the northwest end of the Arabian Gulf. It is likely that
in prehistoric times the waters of the Gulf were higher. As
they receded, the land was left covered in rich, highly fertile
sediment which attracted settlers to the region. This region
formed one end of the Fertile Crescent, an area of fertile
land stretching from the northern end of the Arabian Gulf
in a semi-circle northwest to the Nile River delta. As one
writer describes it, the "Fertile Crescent was to be for most
of historic times a great crucible of cultures, a zone not
only of settlement but of transit, through which poured an
ebb and flow of people and ideas. In the end this produced
a fertile interchange of institutions, language and belief
from which stems much of human thought and custom even today."2
The first known urban civilizations arose in Mesopotamia.
There is archaeological evidence of urban centres around 5,000
BCE at sites such as 'Ubaid, Uruk and Kish. In the
United
Arab Emirates and
Oman,
archaeological surveys have also revealed settlements as old
as 7,000 years. In these settlements, distinctive black pottery
from 'Ubaid has been discovered; indicating that trade throughout
the Gulf had been established by that time.
It is difficult to know why the Mesopotamians and their neighbours
took to the sea to trade. Some suggest that despite its agricultural
fertility, Mesopotamia lacked other resources such as metal,
wood and stone. If they had been unable to obtain these by
trade overland, it may have driven them to sail their boats
down the rivers and out into the Gulf in search of other sources.
Written records from Sumer dated around 3,000 BCE mention
a place called Magan, from where copper was obtained; possibly
this was a culture in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula.
Later trade records from the Akkadian period, around 2000
BCE, mention Dilmun (perhaps modern Bahrain) as an entrepôt
between Mesopotamia, Magan and Meluhha (the Akkadian name
for the Indus valley region). Dilmun itself may be a much
older civilization, as archaeological evidence from
Bahrain
suggests that it dates back to the beginning of the 3rd millennium
BCE. Thus, there is plenty of archaeological evidence of trade
between Mesopotamia, the Gulf and the Indus valley, including
findings of special seals from each region, which would have
been attached to bundles of trade goods, in the other regions.
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| A
TRADITIONAL BOAT |
One question that has been raised, and answered in a unique
way, is whether the ancient Mesopotamians would have had the
maritime technology to reach the Indus valley and other places
in the Indian Ocean. In 1977, the Norwegian anthropologist
Thor Heyerdahl set out to prove that this was indeed possible.
Using the oldest Sumerian depictions of their sailing craft,
he built a replica from local reeds found in the Tigris-Euphrates
delta. In this ship, named Tigris, he and eleven others sailed
out into the Gulf, to Bahrain. From there they sailed to Oman,
then Pakistan, then finally back to Aden. They had hoped to
be able to sail up the Red Sea to the Suez Canal, but a regional
conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia ended their voyage at
Djibouti. They had travelled for five months and 4,200 miles,
and had shown that a ship constructed along the lines of ancient
Sumerian design could certainly travel the distances involved
to trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus valley.
However, it is believed by some that it was the sailors of
Magan who came to dominate the trade between Mesopotamia and
India some time in the 3rd millennium BCE, acting as middlemen
in the shipment of trade goods. Situated at the mouth of the
Gulf, they would have been able to intercept other ships,
particularly those attempting to sail to the Red Sea and up
to Egypt. It was this control, perhaps, which gave Magan its
power and wealth, wealth that was shared by Dilmun and other
cities on the coastline of the Gulf, such as those found at
Umm an-Nar and Dalma off the coast of Abu Dhabi, and at Failaka
in
Kuwait.
It is not clear when the power of Magan finally declined,
but it must have been well before the time of the Greeks,
as it is not mentioned in their writings.
Another factor that facilitated trade in the Gulf was the
construction of roads by the Mesopotamian civilizations northwards
to connect the Gulf to the Mediterranean. The first long-distance
road came into existence in about 3,500 BCE, running 1,500
miles between the Gulf and the Mediterranean. From 1,200 BCE
on, the Assyrians used this road to connect the trading centre
of Susa, in present-day Iran, with the Mediterranean ports
of Smyrna and Ephesus, in present-day Turkey. They may have
traded with the Minoans, a civilization based on the island
of Crete. Certainly they carried on extensive trade with the
Egyptians and the Phoenicians, who were themselves an advanced
seafaring culture with colonies throughout the Mediterranean.
There were also roads between Mesopotamia and Egypt, running
across the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula, with connections
to the trade centres of the interior.
What was being traded through the Gulf in those ancient times?
Ancient clay tablets record such goods as herbs and spices,
frankincense and myrrh, textiles, gems and jewellery, and
ceramics. There is evidence of teak and cedar coming from
India. Minerals and metals such as copper from Magan are also
noted. The Gulf was also renowned as a source of high quality
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| PEARLS |
pearls, one of the most highly prized jewels of that time.
Diving for pearls in the calm waters and shallow depths of
the Gulf was an ancient pursuit. In the U.A.E., archaeological
sites dating back to the 5th millennium BCE have been found
to contain pearls.
By the middle of the 6th century BCE the Achaemenians had
established an empire which, at its height, stretched throughout
the Near East from the Indus valley to Libya, and north to
Macedonia. Thus it controlled all the trade routes to the
Mediterranean, both by land and by sea. The Achaemenian kings
rebuilt the road from Susa to Sardis, near Ephesus and Smyrna.
Our first extended accounts of Arabia and the Gulf come from
this time.
Herodotus was a Greek writer who travelled throughout much
of the Achaemenid Empire, and described Arabia in his Histories.
"Arabia is the last of inhabited lands towards the south,
and it is the only country which produces frankincense, myrrh,
cassia, cinnamon, and laudanum.Concerning the spices of Arabia
let no more be said. The whole country is scented with them,
and exhales an odor marvelously sweet."3 It is not clear whether
Herodotus actually visited the Arabian Peninsula himself.
Some of the stories he recounts suggest that he is only reporting
what others had to say. Arabia, the area made up of the Arabian
Peninsula, is located in the southwestern region of the Asian
continent. Covering about 3 million square kilometres, the
southeastern area of the peninsula is the Rub'al-Khali, the
Empty Quarter, which is the world's largest expanse of continuous
sand. Politically, the Arabian Peninsula consists of Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates,
the Sultanate of Oman, and the Republic of Yemen. Together,
these countries (excluding the Republic of Yemen) constitute
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Founded on 26 May 1981,
the aim of this collective is to promote coordination between
member states in all fields in order to achieve unity. In
this summary the countries of the GCC will be introduced,
except for the United Arab Emirates, which is the subject
of a separate summary. Please refer to that page for in-depth
information on the UAE.
