gems, archaeology, archaeogemology, Saudi Arabia

This book is an introduction to the work carried out by us so far at Qaryat al-Fau; it is also a portrayal of the high level of civilisation which the Arabian Peninsula achieved during one particular period of its history. The University of Riyadh can claim to be the pioneer of archaeological research in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as when work at Qaryat al-Fau first started, nothing had been undertaken elsewhere by Saudi nationals. The University, in its role as a centre of education and scientific research, found it entirely natural to support such an archaeological exploration. The work at al-Fau concerns our roots, and these are very deep; our recorded history extends back for thousands of years. The combined effort of our University and the Department of Archaeology and Museums in the Ministry of Education have, over the years, given scholars a clearer picture of the many and varied civilisations which occupied the Arabian Peninsula during the last few thousand years. Arabia was, after all, a meeting point between the early civilisations of China, India, Persia, Iraq, Syria, the Mediterranean world, Egypt, and the area which is now Ethiopia. It is possible to visualise Arabia as the centre of a planetary system with many forces and influences acting upon it; it was involved in give and take, influencing and being influenced by neighbouring civilisations which, although in many cases more advanced in several ways, had nevertheless often grown from the same roots as the civilisations of the Arabian Peninsula. There is no doubt that Arabia, as revealed by the archaeological work so far carried out, contains evidence of some of the earliest flowering of civilisation in the history of mankind. One particular manifestation was very much the product of Arabia itself. Its links with the ancient centres of civilisation were strong, for because of its geographical position, it was at various times the generating force for trade and trade routes, as well as a point of departure for successive migrations to the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, Syria, and the Nile Valley.