Traces of a Colourful Past

The main focus of this research project is to investigate why people in Eastern Arabia chose to reuse ancient tombs and how this can be linked to collective memory.

The Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia aims to promote research on the ancient languages and cultures of Arabia, and to disseminate this knowledge to the broader public.

This project aims to open up the pre-Islamic linguistic history of Arabia through the systematic study of the Thamudic inscriptions within a digital humanities framework.

This research focuses on figurative Byzantine mosaic-floors that have been excavated in the geographical area of the ancient provinces of Palestina and Arabia (current Israel, PA and Jordan) dating to the Late 5th, 6th and early 7th centuries C.E.

The relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia is worse than ever. According to Iran specialist Maaike Warnaar, it will be difficult to achieve peace in the region if there is no rapprochement between the two countries.

This PhD research aims to trace the impact of the Arab conquest, both immediate and long-term, on the material and social organization of Central Asia from 651 to 821 through an “urban change” perspective in four cities: Merv, Paikent, Balkh and Samarkand.

The Ra’s al-jinz project tackles economic diversification and social complexity in non-urban societies, from the perspective of Eastern Arabia, by exploring the Early Bronze Age settlement of Ra’s al-jinz RJ-3.

The Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia (LeiCenSAA) announces a new open access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the epigraphy of Arabia and its cultural and linguistic context: Arabian Epigraphic Notes

War and terrorism overshadow interest in the pre-Islamic heritage of the Arabic peninsula. The new Leiden Centre for the Study of Ancient Arabia aims to make the general public more aware of the ancient history of this region.

Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia

The Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia aims to promote research on the ancient languages and cultures of Arabia, and to disseminate this knowledge to the broader public.

See more information below.

LeiCenSAA is dedicated to the study of Ancient Arabia and the sharing of knowledge and expertise on this topic. Thefore it aims to collaborate closely with other research in the field.

The board of LeiCenSAA consists of international experts in the field of Ancient Arabia.

Calendar of Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia.

Lecture

See more information below.

Address and contact details of LeiCenSAA

The executive tasks of LeiCenSAA are performed by the director of LeiCenSAA, Ahmad Al-Jallad. He is assisted Marijn van Putten who oversees the office.

Lecture

In the following you will find a list of courses that are offered at Leiden University that are relevant to the study of Ancient Arabia.

How have Muslims imagined the world before Muhammad? Stories about pre-Islamic times feature across all genres and periods of Arabic literature, and while many writers have derided the pre-Islamic past as disorderly paganism, others celebrate its memory as a time of Arab nobility and fine literature.…

The Leiden | Islam interview series contains short documentary-style videos including interview flashes with leading scholars in the field of Islam and Muslim societies. With this series, LUCIS aims to show the value of unconventional insights related to Islam and Muslim societies, and to relate them…

The Archaeology and Epigraphy of Jordan’s North-Eastern Desert and Beyond

The Wadi al Jizzi Archaeological Project is a systematic and long term archaeological surface survey project, investigating the rich archaeological heritage of the Wadi al Jizzi region (Oman) from the Paleolithic until the early Modern period.

Programme management of research programme “Strengthening knowledge of and dialogue with the Islamic/Arab world”

Every year the Leiden Univeristy faculty of Humanitites organizes a linguistic summer school. This year Dr. Alessia Prioletta (Paris) will be teaching a class titled 'Non-Sabaic Ancient South Arabian languages'. The Summer school will be held from July 11 to July 22 at the faculty of Humanities of Leiden…

The research addresses the question of “what is the impact of geopolitical changes to the pivot states in the Middle East? With special focus on Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia.”

LeiCenSAA publishes its own online, peer reveviewed journal: Arabian Epigraphic Notes (AEN). It is essential reading for all interested in the languages and scripts of the ancient Near East, and is of interest to students of Northwest Semitic epigraphy, Cuneiform studies, Egyptology, and classical antiquity.…

Lecture, What did you do last summer?

Diede Farhosh-van Loon defended her thesis on 18 October 2016

The Near East, situated at the nexus of Europe, Africa, and Asia, was central to the development of ancient societies in all three continents.

Master

Conference

Uncovering ancient Arabian inscriptions feels like pioneering detective work, says Arabist Michael Macdonald in a video interview with Leiden Islam Centre LUCIS. 'First you have to learn the alphabets that they're written in, and then you have to try and work out what they say.'

Mr. S. Al Daghistani defended his thesis on 30 November 2017

The edited volume 'Arabic in context: celebrating 400 years of Arabic at Leiden University' edited by Ahmad Al-Jallad is out. The volume contains the contributions to the 2013 conference with the same title, held at Leiden University and was published as part of Brill's the Studies in Semitics Language…

Abdessamad El Amraoui defended his thesis on 6 Mai 2015.

The Ancient Worlds Network brings together staff and graduate students in LIAS working on the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern world.

The Classics and Ancient Civilizations programme offers many extracurricular opportunities to enrich your study experience.

Debate

Recently, Valentina Azzarà joined the Faculty of Archaeology as a postdoc in the Archaeology of the Near East research group. She mostly focuses on the archaeology of Eastern Arabia, especially Oman. “I literally fell in love with the place.”

The NVIC has published a series of scholarly publications in Arabic and several European languages.

What inspires scholars who study the history, cultures, religions and languages of the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia? LUCIS interviewed scholars about their work and research in the video project “Passion in Profession”. The videos are available online now.