Oxford, 13/03/2014

MBI Al Jaber Foundation Sponsors Lecture ‘Arabia, The Central but Missing Link in World Prehistory’ by Professor Michael Petraglia

An audience of academics, students and other interested parties gathered at Oxford University’s Corpus Christi College yesterday evening for a lecture on the role played by the Arabian Peninsula in the development of early civilisation in Africa and Asia.

Society for Arabian Studies member Ionis Thompson (left) with the Society’s President, Beatrice de Cardi (right)	Prof. Michael Petraglia speaking on Palaeolithic Arabia

Despite the common perception of the modern Middle East as having a predominantly desert climate, recently obtained satellite images show that the Arabian Peninsula was ‘well-watered’ in the past. The lecture, ‘Arabia, The Central but Missing Link in World Prehistory’, was delivered by Professor Michael Petraglia, Co-director of the Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art, and Culture at the University of Oxford and a Senior Research Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford, who examined this new information and explained its significance along with that of other recent archaeological discoveries.

Stone tools and rock art, from ancient rivers and lakes in Arabia are some of the new archaeological discoveries which demonstrate that Arabia was a central crossroads in the remote past and a key geographic link between early human cultures in Africa and Asia.

The public lecture, presented by the British Foundation for Study of Arabia, was supported by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, and is one of a number of initiatives sponsored by the British registered charity which aims to promote cultural dialogue and exchange between the Middle East and wider world.

For more information on the British Foundation for the Study of Arabia visit www.thebfsa.org
For more information on Professor Petraglia’s project visit www.palaeodeserts.com

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