Saudi Arabia.. the home and meeting point of civilizations that struck in the history of humanity

It was inhabited by the first humans on a large scale

The strategic geographical location of the Kingdom has given it an important role since the dawn of history, as the civilizations of China, India, Abyssinia, the coast of the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, Iraq, the Levant and Egypt mediate the Kingdom’s land. It was also an important trade corridor and a route for convoys, which made it a meeting place for civilizations.

The Kingdom was home to many civilizations that flourished within its borders, including the civilizations of Al-Maqar, Midian, Aad, Thamud, and Dilmun, in addition to the Arab kingdoms that arose in different parts of the Arabian Peninsula along the trade caravan routes, and their beginnings were in the northwest of the island. In the second millennium BC.

Archaeological discoveries confirm the existence of Old Stone Age settlements in the Arabian Peninsula since one million years BC, such as the Shuwaihtiya site in the north of the Kingdom. Evidence of other settlements dating back to the Middle Stone Age (50,000) BC were also found in several sites, including (Bir Hama) in the Najran region. .

The discovered sites have proven that human settlement was not limited to a specific area in Saudi Arabia during the Mousterian era, but was in most parts of the Kingdom, where many sites were discovered, including the natural oasis of "Yebrin" dating back to (30,000) years BC. In addition to the continuation of settlement in the Neolithic period (10000) years BC, evidence of this is the site of Al-Thumama in Riyadh, where arrowheads and tools were found that were characterized by the association of their functional purpose with artistic and creative aspects.

headquarters civilization

The finding of archaeological finds in different regions in the Kingdom confirms the existence of stable human groups 9,000 years ago that depended on raising mammals and herds. Perhaps the “Al-Maqar” civilization, which was found in an intermediate area between Tathleeth and Wadi Al-Dawasir, is the best proof of this, as man lived before The recent desertification, and the people of the area practiced agriculture and animal husbandry. Statues of various animals domesticated by the human who lived in this site were found at the site, including horses, sheep, goats and ostriches, which challenges the theory that the domestication of animals took place 5,500 years ago in Central Asia. .

Civilizations that prevailed and perished

Many civilizations flourished in the Arabian Peninsula that prevailed and then perished, including the civilization of the people of Aad (4000 BC), who reached a great extent in power and authority.

Among the civilizations that emerged in that period is the Thamud civilization, which is considered one of the defunct civilizations, and it has reached a great extent of civilization and prosperity in the north of the Arabian Peninsula.

Saudi Arabia embraced the first centers of civil stability in the Arabian Peninsula during the third millennium BC, and its beginnings were concentrated along the coast of the Arabian Gulf. Dilmun was the center of a flourishing civilization, and the center of that civilization was on Tarut Island in Qatif in the Eastern Province, and the Bahrain Islands.

Tarut Island includes the famous Tarut Castle, which stands tall amid a palm forest in the center of the island, a witness to the ancient "Dilmun" civilization witnessed by the eastern region. The General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities is currently working on developing and preserving the castle, to be a tourist destination for visitors to the eastern region from different countries. Neighboring regions and countries.

Marid Castle in Al-Jouf

Arab kingdoms

The presence of a trade corridor and a road for convoys in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed to the establishment of Arab kingdoms, and the peoples of those kingdoms established states along the trade routes, after trade relations were strengthened between the regions of the Near East, East Africa, South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula.

And the peoples of Midian, Edom, Kedar, Lehyan, Kinda, Nabateans and Ma'in established their states, and the kings built cities, and they set up extensive systems to irrigate their fields and farms.

The cities of the early Arab kingdoms were established in various places in the Arabian Peninsula, and the first of these cities appeared in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula in the second millennium BC, and was known as the Kingdom of Midian, followed by the Kingdom of Edom, and then Kedar. On the peninsula, it has spread in a territory extending to the east and southeast of the Gulf of Aqaba, northwest of the city of Tabuk.

The Oasis of Al-Ula was home to the Kingdom of Lihyan. Al-Ula flourished thanks to its people combining agriculture, trade, architecture and sculpture. The Lihyanites, whose kingdom lasted from the sixth to the third century BC, left inscriptions and works of art indicating their superiority and ingenuity in agriculture and trade.

Nabatean domination

In the last centuries of the first millennium BC, the Nabataean kingdom appeared, which replaced the successive kingdoms, and its most important monuments were Petra in Jordan and Al-Hijr (Madain Saleh) in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Hajar is the second city of the Nabateans after Petra. The Nabataean monuments stand out in the sites of rock-cut tombs, places of social activity in Mount Athleb, niches carved in separate places on the rocky facades, in addition to wells carved in the rock and water collection systems.

Rock painting on the wall of Al-Ukhdood Castle in Najran

The site of Al-Hajar (Madain Saleh) is one of the most important archaeological sites in the Kingdom, and a number of archaeologists considered it the most important monuments of the entire Arabian Peninsula, in addition to a number of Islamic monuments such as the Islamic Al-Hajar Castle and the Hejaz Railway Station, and archaeologists call Madain Saleh the Open Museum. .

Because of the importance of the site of Al-Hajar (Madain Saleh), it has been registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List, as an exceptional value for human heritage.

The Nabataean kingdom began to decline and collapse until it was liquidated at the beginning of the second century AD to be the end of the intermediate Arab kingdoms in the northwest of the island.

Among the Arab kingdoms that also appeared in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Kinda, which was established in the fourth century BC, and its capital was the village of that of Kahl (Al-Faw) today, which is located in the Riyadh region, and its influence reached the north of the Najd region.

Islamic era

The emergence of Islam was a decisive turning point in the history of the Arabian Peninsula, where the Islamic state was established in Medina, and expanded and extended to every location reached by the Islamic religion.

The Arabian Peninsula was not immune to the development of civilization after the transition of the center of the Islamic caliphate to the Levant and Iraq, where studies and research revealed cities and archaeological sites dating back to the era of prophecy, such as the site of “Joatha” and its famous mosque in Al-Ahsa, as well as writings and inscriptions since the time of the Rashidun Caliphs, the Umayyads and the Abbasids are widespread. In different locations of the kingdom.

There are hundreds of Islamic sites scattered along the trade and pilgrimage routes, such as the stations and ponds of Darb Zubaydah, which are scattered along the road from Iraq to Mecca, and the site of Al-Rabza, north of Medina, one of the most prominent of these sites. Almabiat near the city of Al-Ula, and vid in the Hail region.

Sculpture of horses from Al-Maqar civilization - 9000 years before the present era