The Gulf in World History: Arabia at the Global Crossroads

The Gulf sits at an ancient crossroads of cultures and faiths, and at the heart of modern trade stretching back to the origins of civilization. As a site of both conflict and peaceful encounter, it can be studied in the context of world history, as a place of cultural and historical encounter. From medieval astrology to museum architecture, from the trade of glass and pearls to the role of Indians, Africans, Christian monks, Mandaeans and merchants, this book spans historical periods and disciplinary approaches. It is united by one overarching theme: the Gulf as a cosmopolitan nexus and space of encounter. The chapters describe a Gulf simultaneously perched on the edge of empires and at the centre of world events. Presenting new evidence, new theoretical approaches, and new arguments, this volume aims to change understandings of the Gulf in the world.

• The first interdisciplinary study of the Gulf incorporates scholarship on cosmopolitan and global connections in archaeology, history and heritage studies
• Includes contributions from leading scholars from many disciplines who link the Gulf to the history of the Mediterranean and of the Indian Ocean
• Presents new ideas, new evidence and new approaches to the archaeology, theory and history of the Gulf
• Focuses on diversity within the Gulf given its location on the edge of empires

• Allen Fromherz, Georgia State University
• Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University
• Valeria Piacentini Fiorani, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan
• Charles Häberl, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
• Ghulam A. Nadri, Georgia State University
• Abdulrahman al Salimi is an Omani Researcher, Sultanate of Oman
• Johan Mathew, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
• Matthew S. Hopper, California Polytechnic State University
• Mark Horton, University of Bristol
• Michael A. Ryan, University of New Mexico
• Eric Staples, Zayed University
• Timothy Power, Zayed University
• Robert Carter, University College London (UCL) Qatar
• Carolyn M. Swan, University College London (UCL) Qatar
• William G. Zimmerle, Farleigh Dickinson University
• Karen Exell, University College London (UCL) Qatar
• Lamya Harub is an Omani Diplomat