London, 25/07/2014

MBI Al Jaber Foundation Sponsors 48th Seminar for Arabian Studies

The 48th Seminar for Arabian Studies (SAS) organised by the British Foundation for the Study of Arabia (BFSA) and supported by both the MBI Al Jaber Foundation and the British Museum, took place on Friday 25th July to Sunday 27th July, 2014. Approximately fifty papers were presented at the three-day event, the only annual international forum for the presentation of the most up-to-date academic research on the Arabian Peninsula.

The papers covered a variety of subjects including archaeology, history, epigraphy and languages as well as literature, art, culture, ethnography and geography with research covering a broad time-scale, from the earliest periods to the present day. In the field of archaeology alone, topics ranged from ‘Rock Art from the Dahaisi Cave, Socotra, Yemen’, and ‘Indus Style Artifacts from Interior Oman’ to ‘The Reuse Tombs in the Necropolis of Bat’ and ‘The Trade in Aromatics during the Islamic Period’.

The event, held in the Clore Centre at the British Museum, attracted a large number of participants on each of the three days and the presentations stimulated interesting and lively debate between speakers and the audience. A highlight of the Seminar on the third day was the presentation for Beatrice de Cardi OBE, FBA, FSA, pioneering archaeologist and expert on the pre-Islamic cultures of the Arabian Gulf and Baluchistan. Beatrice, who launched several expeditions in the Gulf region that yielded the first examples of Ubaid pottery in the area, celebrated her 100th birthday earlier in the year. Derek Kennet, representing SAS, presented her with flowers and a gift to mark the occasion.

The dates of the 49th Seminar are: 24th – 26th July, 2015.
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