Where: Bldg 9. Lecture Hall # 2325
Description
This course will examine the ancient civilizations of Saudi Arabia who inhabited and traversed one of the greatest and most diverse trade routes of ancient history. Starting with the early emergence of civilization and the obsidian trade (8,000-7,000 BCE) leading up to the collapse of the lucrative Frankincense caravan routes (ca. 300 AD), we will survey Saudi Arabia’s ancient history over the longue durée (eng. long term) analyzing as a whole the enduring structures and technologies repeated and built upon from one civilization to the next. The course will also explore the origins of famous civilizations such as the Sabeans (e.g Queen of Sheba), Midianites, and Nabateans (e.g. Mada’in Saleh). Sources for this course will rely upon the wealth of ancient historical writings and discoveries made through ongoing archaeological excavations conducted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I. Introduction to Studying History from a longue durée (eng. long term) approach II. The Neolithic period in Saudi Arabia and emergence of Trade Systems and Obsidian technology(8,000-7,000 BCE) III. The Iron Age Kingdoms (Midian, Dedan, Lihyan),their locations, trade system, and technology IV. Who was the Queen of Sheba? Who were the Sabeans? V. The Nabatean Civilization and their technology VI. The Emergence, Rise and Collapse of the Incense Trade in Saudi Arabia VII. The Islamic Kingdoms, their Technologies, and renewal of Trade
Neil G.Smith
Dr. Smith’s research over the past ten years has been in computational cultural heritage and archaeology. Prior to his appointment at KAUST, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), University of California, San Diego (UCSD) (2011-2013). He played a critical role in developing novel software and hardware applications for archaeology and cultural heritage through Calit2’s Center of Interdisciplinary Science of Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3). Dr. Smith has extensive archaeological field experience as a supervisor and excavation director in Southern Jordan. He is also the co-director of the Lowlands to Highlands Edom Project in Southern Jordan. This project’s main focus is to understand the social, historical, and ceramic interconnections between the Iron Age Lowlands (Faynan), the highlands (Showbak area) of Edom and neighboring regions. Currently, Dr. Smith is a research scientist at GMSV Center where he is spearheading the merger of archaeology with computer science, scientific visualization, computer vision, and virtual reality. He has also begun archaeological research in KSA focusing on the ancient civilizations that were neighbors and trade partners with Ancient Edom and the later Nabatean Empire.
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