Droughts and societal change: the environmental context for the emergence of Islam in late Antique Arabia

Fleitmann, D., Haldon, J., Bradley, R. S., Burns, S. J., Cheng, H., Lawrence Edwards, R., Raible, C. C., Jacobson, M. and Matter, A. (2022) Droughts and societal change: the environmental context for the emergence of Islam in late Antique Arabia. Science, 376(6599), pp. 1317-1321. (doi: 10.1126/science.abg4044) (PMID:35709263)

Abstract

In Arabia, the first half of the sixth century CE was marked by the demise of Himyar, the dominant power in Arabia until 525 CE. Important social and political changes followed, which promoted the disintegration of the major Arabian polities. Here, we present hydroclimate records from around Southern Arabia, including a new high-resolution stalagmite record from northern Oman. These records clearly indicate unprecedented droughts during the sixth century CE, with the most severe aridity persisting between ~500 and 530 CE. We suggest that such droughts undermined the resilience of Himyar and thereby contributed to the societal changes from which Islam emerged.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants PP002-110554/1 and CRSI22_132646/1 to D.F.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant NSFC41888101 to H.C.), the National Science Foundation (grant NSF1701628 to R.L.E.), and the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SNF grant DBI-1639145 to J.H.).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Jacobson, Mr Matthew

Creator Roles

Jacobson, M.: Investigation, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Fleitmann, D., Haldon, J., Bradley, R. S., Burns, S. J., Cheng, H., Lawrence Edwards, R., Raible, C. C., Jacobson, M., and Matter, A.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Archaeology
• Journal Name: Science
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• ISSN: 0036-8075
• ISSN (Online): 1095-9203