Arabian Environmental History, Fall 2016 Study Terms and Study Questions

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1 Arabian Environmental History, Fall 2016 Study Terms and Study Questions Note: all documents are located on Blackboard [click here for access] Reilly, Introduction to Arabia: Regions and Sources Study Terms: Hadr, sharif tribes, longue durée 1) Overall, the different regions of Arabia share more fundamental similarities than differences. To what degree do you agree with this statement? 2) Based on this reading, what are the most important problems facing a scholar investigating Arabian social and environmental history? Thompson, Origins of Arabia, [Excerpts] Study Terms: Harrats, Aquifers 1) Based on this chapter, what natural processes played the greatest role in creating the landscape of the Arabian Peninsula? 2) To what degree does this chapter help us explain some parts of the modern Arabian Peninsula have developed so differently from others, especially in terms of mineral, petroleum, and agricultural wealth? McCorriston, Breaking the Rain Barrier Study Terms: Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone 1) According to McCorriston, what was/were the most important factor(s) that inhibited the spread of agriculture into Southern Arabia prior to the Middle Holocene period?

2 2) What role did advances in technology play in the eventual spread of cereal (grain) cultivation in the Arabian Peninsula? Breton, Arabia Felix [Excerpts] Study Terms: Saba, Ma rib, Frankincense, Arabia Felix 1) Based on this text, what role did the geography of southern Arabia have in shaping southern Arabian civilization? 2) Based on this text, what role did the aromatics trade play in shaping southern Arabian civilization? 3) To what degree was southern Arabian civilization shaped by shifts in trade routes? Vogel, "Terrace Farming in Yemen." Study Terms: terraces, runoff farming, sayl 1) To what degree was terracing necessary in order to unlock the agricultural potential of southern Arabia? 2) To what degree does terrace farming, as described by Vogel, follow similar principles to wadi floodwater farming, as described by Breton? Varisco, "The Future of Terrace Farming in Yemen 1) What is the author s answer to his own question: how is it that a country where nearly three-fourths of the population are rural farmers cannot feed itself? 2) What has impacted Yemen s terraces more: external factors, or factors internal to Yemen itself? Mithal, Thirst, Chapter 5, A Watery Paradise in Petra Study Terms: Nabataean Civilization, cisterns, catchment basin

3 1) How did the Nabataeans re-shape the desert environments in order to survive in the arid desert of Jordan? 2) To what degree did the Nabataeans use water for political purposes, as opposed to economic purposes? 3) What similarities and/or differences do you note between water management by the Nabataeans, as opposed to the peoples of Yemen as described by Breton, Vogel, and Varisco? Vassiliev, The History of Saudi Arabia. [Excerpts] Study Terms: fellahin, dira, urf 1) Based on the material in this chapter, to what degree was class synonymous with means of production (to borrow a term from Marx) within the Arabian Peninsula? 2) What distinguished the Arabian Peninsula s urban centers from those elsewhere in the world? 3) According to the author, what factors limited political centralization in the traditional Arabian Peninsula? Reilly, Arabian Agriculture (chapter 1) Study Terms: terracing, sayl, ghayl, qanat, jalib 1) Based on the information in this chapter, what is/are the most important difference between Arabian Peninsula farming and farming in Europe or the Americas? 2) Speculate: how might traditional Arabian agricultural practices have influenced Arabian social, political, or cultural structures? In other words, what sort of superstructure do you think was appropriate to Arabia s economic and environmental base?

4 Reilly, Slavery and Agriculture (chapters 2 and 4) Study Terms: mawla, abid, malaria, jinn 1) Based on this text, and what you know about slavery from other sources, what were the most important differences between slavery as practiced in the Arabian Peninsula and in the Atlantic world? 2) How convincing do you find the author s argument that malaria was a crucial factor shaping agricultural slavery within the Arabian Peninsula? 3) Based on your readings from Reilly, which Arabian agricultural technologies were most (or least) responsible for spreading malarial infections in Arabia? Köhler-Rollefson, "Camels and Camel Pastoralism in Arabia." Study Terms: dromedaries, camel pastorlism 1) Based on this article, how did the camel transform human life within the Arabian Peninsula? 2) To what degree does Köhler-Rollefson agree Richard Bulliet s earlier work on camel domestication and camel usage? Reilly, Revisiting Bedouin Adaptations Study Terms: LP, gene-culture co-evolution 1) According to this author, what effect did the emergence of LP have on the Arabian Peninsula s social structure? 2) Studying the Arabian Peninsula populations is always a challenge due to limitations of the sources. What sources does the author rely on, and how reliable do you think those sources might be? Bowen, "Marine Industries of Eastern Arabia." Study Terms: weirs, rock mining, pearls

5 1) Based on this article, to what degree is the social system of Arabian coastal communities similar to that of the desert interior? 2) Although Bowen is describing the traditional marine industries of Arabia, he himself is a representative of a new and highly non-traditional industry in the region: the oil industry. To what degree have these traditional industries been changed by the new petroleum economy? Abdullah, Merchants, Mamluks, and Murder [Excerpts] Study Terms: Ottomans, Persians, monsoon 1) Based on this text, which force has done more to shape Basra s fortunes, climate, geography, or politics? 2) Was Basra an Iraqi city, an Arabian city, or an Indian Ocean city? Support your answer. Hourani, Arab Seafaring. [Excerpts] Study Terms: entrepôt, Byzantines, Abyssinians, Sassanids 1) To what degree did climate and geography favor Arab seafaring? 2) What role did trade route shifts play in influencing the political and economic development of the Arabian Peninsula? 3) What role did trade play in decisions of the Abyssinians and Persians to expand political control in the Arabian Peninsula? Issar, Climate Change [Excerpts] Study Terms: NAO, ENSO 1) What is the relationship between natural and human desertification, according to Issar?

6 2) How does climate change lead to different impacts on pastoral vs. agricultural peoples? 3) How convincing do you find Issar s attempt to link climate change to the Arab conquests? 4) Overall, how convincing do you find Issar s attempt to reconcile scientific and historical data? Sweet, Camel Raiding of the North Arabian Bedouin Study Terms: ghazzu, asiil, harb, 1) Why does Sweet argue that the ghazzu, or raid by camel nomadic tribes against other camel nomadic tribes, is different from harb, or war? 2) To what degree do you agree with Sweet s contention that reciprocal raiding clearly solves fundamental ecological problems of survival of the camel herds in the desert? Lindholm, The Islamic Middle East: An Historical Anthropology [Excerpts] Study Terms: khuwa, egalitarianism, hospitality 1) To what degree does Lindhoml argue that Bedouin cultural traits are a direct consequence of Bedouin lifestyles? 2) How convincing do you find Lindholm s argument that Middle Eastern cities are infused with the same cultural values as the countryside? Reilly, Blood and Milk Study Terms: Consanguineous Marriage 1) Based on this author, what role did genetic factors play in influencing Bedouin marriage choices? 2) How convincing do you find the author s contention that modern Middle Eastern marriage practices originated with the Arabian Peninsula s Bedouins?

7 3) To what degree is the author an environmental determinist: in other words, to what degree does the author focus on environmental explanations of history in exclusion of alternative explanations? Eph'al, The Ancient Arabs [Excerpts] Study Terms: Arab, Fertile Crescent 1) On the basis of this text (all of it, mind you), what is an Arab, exactly? 2) On the basis of this text, what strategies did the established states on the margins of the Arab world attempt to control the Bedouin nomads on their borders? 3) What do we learn from this text about patterns of Arab settlement outside of the Arabian peninsula over time? Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests. [Excerpts] Study Terms: Islam, Jizya, ata- 1) Based on this text, to what degree was the nomad problem a threat to the stability of the early Islamic state? 2) How did the nomad problem help to shape the decisions and policies of the early Islamic elite during the era of Islamic conquests? 3) What does this text tell us about the relationship between town-dwelling Arabs and Bedouin tribesmen? Cunnison, Baggara Arabs [Excerpts] Study Terms: Baggara Arabs 1) To what degree is the cattle-dependent lifestyle of the Baggara Arabs fundamentally different from the camel-dependent lifestyle of the Arabian Bedouin?

8 Salim, Marsh Dwellers of the Euphrates Delta. [Excerpts] Study Terms: Marsh Arabs, Ma dan 1) Most marsh dwellers, according to Salim, were migrants from the Arabian Peninsula. To what degree is this legacy still visible in marsh dweller lifeways? 2) Based on both of these readings (Salim and Cunnison), what is the core of Arab identity- in other words, what remains unchanged, whatever changes occur in the environment or lifestyle of the Arab tribe? Peters, The Hajj. [Excerpts] Study Terms: Hajj, the Mahmal, Cholera 1) Based on this text, to what degree were inhabitants of Arabia able to benefit financially from the Mecca pilgrimage? 2) What role did the Hajj pilgrimage play in the political life of the Egyptian and/or Ottoman states? 3) To what degree did economic motives and religious motives combine in the traditional Hajj pilgrimage? 4) To what degree did the Hajj pilgrimage, and its rituals, contribute to the proliferation of Cholera in the 19 th century? Hiyari, "The Origins and Development of the Amirate of the Arabs Study Terms: amir al- Arab 1) To what degree is the existence of amir al- Arab in the north Arabian desert during the medieval period an example of historical continuity? 2) What does this document tell us about the balance of power between desert Arab tribes and the established states of the fertile crescent?

9 Pouwels, "Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean to 1800 Study Terms: Hadhramawt, Swahili 1) What factors contributed to the close relationship between the southern Arabian coastal populations and the East African coastal populations? 2) How would you characterize the relationship between Arabs and the East African coastal populations during the period discussed by this document? 3) To what degree did the coming of the Portuguese change long-established Arab and Swahili patterns of life in East Africa? Chatty, Mobile Pastoralists [Excerpts] Study Terms: Nomadic Pastoralists, Badia 1) Based on this text, what attitudes have guided the Omani policies designed to solve the nomad problem? 2) How has the coming of the modern world, and modern technology, impacted nomadic life? Cole, "Where Have the Bedouin Gone?" Study Terms: dirat 1) Based on this article, which factor has been more responsible for the dramatic recent changes in Bedouin lifestyles: economic changes, or the rise of the modern nation-state? 2) To what degree have local circumstances particular to specific states created different pathways for the Bedouins into the modern world? 3) What steps have Arab Bedouins taken in order to re-affirm their traditional identity in the modern world? Anscombe and Fuccaro (two articles)

10 Study Terms: Transnational, cosmopolitanism, nationalism 1) Why does Anscombe label the Al-Hasa oasis community an anational state? 2) Based on the Fuccaro article, what role did the British play in breaking down cosmopolitanism in Bahrain? Onley and Khalaf Study Terms: Sheikh 1) Based on this article, what forces limited the powers of the Sheikh in pre-oil eastern Arabia? Losman, The Rentier State and National Oil Companies Study Terms: Rentier State, NOCs, resource curse 1) Based on this text, what political characteristics are common to rentier states? 2) What are the most important characteristics differentiating NOCs (National Oil Companies) from IOCs (Independent Oil Companies). 3) The author hints at the end that problems specific to NOCs, combined with their importance in controlling a large share of the world s petroleum sources, might be highly painful for the rest of the world. To what extent do you agree with this assessment? Allan, The Middle East Water Question [Excerpts] Study Terms: virtual water 1) What does the author mean by the statement that the middle east is the first region in the history of the world to run out of water? 2) To what degree does the symbolic value of water in the Middle East complicate solutions to the region s serious water shortage problems?

Islam in Arabia. The Religious Homeland

Islam in Arabia. The Religious Homeland Islam in Arabia The Religious Homeland How/Why did Islam arrive in Arabia? The era of the prophet Muhammad lasted from 570-632, who spread his word of God, initially, to the people of Mecca before being