Arabian Peninsula: Difference between revisions

|title = Arabian Peninsula<br />{{nobold|{{native name|ar|ٱلْجَزِيرَة ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة}}<br />{{native name|ar|شِبْه ٱلْجَزِيرَة ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة}}}}

|HDI = 0.788 (2018) <!-- [(0.857 + 0.463 + 0.848 + 0.834 + 0.866 + 0.838 + 0.808) / 7] with constituent HDIs sourced from list released in 2019 with 2018 data) --><br /><span style="color:#006400">highHigh</span>

Stone tools from the [[Middle Paleolithic]] age along with fossils of other animals discovered at Ti's al Ghadah, in northwestern Saudi Arabia, might imply that [[hominins]] migrated through a "Green Arabia" between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roberts |first1=Patrick |last2=Stewart |first2=Mathew |last3=Alagaili |first3=Abdulaziz N. |last4=Breeze |first4=Paul |last5=Candy |first5=Ian |last6=Drake |first6=Nick |last7=Groucutt |first7=Huw S. |last8=Scerri |first8=Eleanor M. L. |last9=Lee-Thorp |first9=Julia |author-link9=Julia Lee-Thorp |last10=Louys |first10=Julien |last11=Zalmout |first11=Iyad S. |last12=Al-Mufarreh |first12=Yahya S. A. |last13=Zech |first13=Jana |last14=Alsharekh |first14=Abdullah M. |last15=al Omari |first15=Abdulaziz |date=29 October 2018 |title=Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in 'Green Arabia' |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0698-9.epdf?referrer_access_token=hySAQNyjvRiQRNjo0mIXTNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0N9kU6ZdocH1K5tlqbulC1NGihAtdUvadgd-Ce3IG8XflefNUJloWb0eiaik74msA1h2rnnGtKxsacM4n3oeY0ox3pyrnXIUsPX-0WqdUkvypjbH2-2zqzS6cX7GNA5XLxPMYuIOIGe73T9jrg26kRslQtiKDIo-6b8uybLbkRmsnPtcQEVDKKZEyjcImvRdVONyF_xvx1mOlrO4zI7po2NWcmKfmlFba5CH0PjStE6EJ1Ro0X_YiKSXL-TWWd0OVI%3D&tracking_referrer=www.sciencenews.org |url-status=live |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |publisher=Nature |volume=2 |issue=12 |pages=1871–1878 |bibcode=2018NatEE...2.1871R |doi=10.1038/s41559-018-0698-9 |pmid=30374171 |s2cid=53099270 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614014654/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0698-9.epdf?referrer_access_token=hySAQNyjvRiQRNjo0mIXTNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0N9kU6ZdocH1K5tlqbulC1NGihAtdUvadgd-Ce3IG8XflefNUJloWb0eiaik74msA1h2rnnGtKxsacM4n3oeY0ox3pyrnXIUsPX-0WqdUkvypjbH2-2zqzS6cX7GNA5XLxPMYuIOIGe73T9jrg26kRslQtiKDIo-6b8uybLbkRmsnPtcQEVDKKZEyjcImvRdVONyF_xvx1mOlrO4zI7po2NWcmKfmlFba5CH0PjStE6EJ1Ro0X_YiKSXL-TWWd0OVI%3D&tracking_referrer=www.sciencenews.org |archive-date=14 June 2020 |access-date=1 November 2018 |hdl-access=free |last16=Boivin |first16=Nicole |last17=Petraglia |first17=Michael |hdl=10072/382068}}</ref> 200,000-year-old stone tools were discovered at Shuaib Al-Adgham in the eastern [[Al-Qassim Province]], which would indicate that many prehistoric sites, located along a network of rivers, had once existed in the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1785951/saudi-arabia |title=Saudi Arabia's Qassim stone axe find points to prehistoric 'crossroads' |website=Arab News |date=2 January 2021 }}</ref> [[Acheulean]] tools found in Saffaqah, [[Riyadh Region]] reveal that hominins lived in the Arabian Peninsula around 188,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Scerri | first1=Eleanor M. L. | last2=Shipton | first2=Ceri | last3=Clark-Balzan | first3=Laine | last4=Frouin | first4=Marine | last5=Schwenninger | first5=Jean-Luc | last6=Groucutt | first6=Huw S. | last7=Breeze | first7=Paul S. | last8=Parton | first8=Ash | last9=Blinkhorn | first9=James | last10=Drake | first10=Nick A. | last11=Jennings | first11=Richard | last12=Cuthbertson | first12=Patrick | last13=Al Omari | first13=Abdulaziz | last14=Alsharekh | first14=Abdullah M. | last15=Petraglia | first15=Michael D. | title=The expansion of later Acheulean hominins into the Arabian Peninsula | journal=Scientific Reports | volume=8 | issue=1 | pages=17165 | date=29 November 2018 | doi=10.1038/s41598-018-35242-5 | pmid=30498259 | pmc=6265249 | bibcode=2018NatSR...817165S }}</ref> Human habitation in Arabia may have occurred as early as 130,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Uerpmann|first1=Hans-Peter|last2=Usik|first2=Vitaly I.|last3=Parker|first3=Adrian G.|last4=Marks|first4=Anthony E.|last5=Jasim|first5=Sabah A. |last6=Armitage|first6=Simon J.|date=2011-01-28|title=The Southern Route "Out of Africa": Evidence for an Early Expansion of Modern Humans into Arabia |journal=Science |language=en |volume=331 |issue=6016 |pages=453–456 |doi=10.1126/science.1199113 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=21273486 |bibcode=2011Sci...331..453A |s2cid=20296624}}</ref> A fossilized ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' finger bone found at Al Wusta in the [[Nefud Desert]] dates to approximately 90,000 years ago and is the oldest human fossil discovered outside of Africa and the Levant. This indicates human migrations from Africa to Arabia occurred around this time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/mpif-fhm040418.php|title=First human migration out of Africa more geographically widespread than previously thought|work=Eurek Alert|date=9 April 2018|access-date=1 November 2018|archive-date=2 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202070454/https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/mpif-fhm040418.php|url-status=live}}</ref> The Arabian peninsulaPeninsula may have been the homeland of a '[[Basal Eurasian]]' population, which diverged from other Eurasians soon after the Out-of-Africa migration, and subsequently became isolated, until it started to mix with other populations in the Middle East since around 25,000 years ago. These different Middle Eastern populations would later spread Basal Eurasian ancestry via the [[Neolithic Revolution]] to all of Western Eurasia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vallini |first1=Leonardo |last2=Zampieri |first2=Carlo |last3=Shoaee |first3=Mohamed Javad |last4=Bortolini |first4=Eugenio |last5=Marciani |first5=Giulia |last6=Aneli |first6=Serena |last7=Pievani |first7=Telmo |last8=Benazzi |first8=Stefano |last9=Barausse |first9=Alberto |last10=Mezzavilla |first10=Massimo |last11=Petraglia |first11=Michael D. |last12=Pagani |first12=Luca |date=2024-03-25 |title=The Persian plateau served as hub for Homo sapiens after the main out of Africa dispersal |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=1882 |doi=10.1038/s41467-024-46161-7 |pmid=38528002 |issn=2041-1723|pmc=10963722 |bibcode=2024NatCo..15.1882V }}</ref>

{{further|Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia}}There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 106,000 to 130,000 years ago.<ref name="Saudi Embassy US Website">[http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/country-information/history/ Saudi Embassy (US) Website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062348/http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/country-information/history/ |date=2016-03-04 }} retrieved 20 January 2011</ref> The harsh climate historically{{when|date=July 2019}} prevented much settlement in the pre-Islamic Arabian peninsulaPeninsula, apart from a small number of urban trading settlements, such as [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]], located in the [[Hejaz]] in the west of the peninsula.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rise of Islam |url=https://archive.org/details/riseofislam0000gord |url-access=registration |last=Gordon |first=Matthew |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-313-32522-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/riseofislam0000gord/page/4 4]|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref>

[[Archaeology]] has revealed the existence of many civilizations in pre-Islamic Arabia (such as the [[Thamud]]), especially in [[South Arabia]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert D. Burrowes|year=2010|title=Historical Dictionary of Yemen|page=319|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0810855281}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Kenneth Anderson Kitchen|year=2003|title=On the Reliability of the Old Testament|url=https://archive.org/details/onreliabilityold00kitc|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/onreliabilityold00kitc/page/n139 116]|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0802849601}}</ref> [[South Arabian kingdoms in pre-Islamic Arabia|South Arabian civilizations]] include the [[Sheba]], the [[Himyarite Kingdom]], the [[Kingdom of Awsan]], the [[Minaeans|Kingdom of Ma'īn]], and the [[Sabaean Kingdom]] (usually considered to be the biblical land of [[Sheba]]). From 106 AD to 630 AD northwestern Arabia was under the control of the [[Roman Empire]], which renamed it [[Arabia Petraea]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Jane|title=Petra|publisher=Aurum Press Ltd|year=2005|isbn=9957-451-04-9|location=London|pages=25–31}}</ref> Central Arabia was the location of the [[Kingdom of Kinda]] in the 4th, 5th and early 6th centuries. Eastern Arabia was home to the [[Dilmun civilization]]. The earliest known events in Arabian history are migrations from the peninsula into neighbouring areas.<ref>Philip Khuri Hitti (2002), History of the Arabs, Revised: 10th Edition</ref>

The Arabian peninsulaPeninsula has long been accepted as the original ''[[Urheimat]]'' of the [[Semitic languages]] by a majority of scholars.<ref>Gray, Louis Herbert (2006) ''Introduction to Semitic Comparative Linguistics''</ref><ref>Courtenay, James John (2009) ''The Language of Palestine and Adjacent Regions''</ref><ref>Kienast, Burkhart. (2001). ''Historische semitische Sprachwissenschaft''.</ref><ref>Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1995) ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia''</ref>

The seventh century saw the rise of Islam as the peninsula's dominant religion. The [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] was born in Mecca in about 570 and first began preaching in the city in 610, but [[Hijra (Islam)|migrated]] to [[Medina]] in 622. From there he and his companions united the [[tribes of Arabia]] under the banner of [[Islam]] and created a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the Arabian peninsulaPeninsula.