A land transformed: the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Aramco

Preface

Introduction

ch. 1.

A land transformed

"Put your trust in God and sign!"

Adapting to change

Landscape and geology

Water sources : ancient and modern

The land the oilmen entered

Najd : heartland of Saudi Arabia

The eastern province

The Hijaz and the holy cities

ʻAsir and the southwest

The north

Nomadic tribes and diverse townspeople

Forging a new state

Related topics

Najd

King ʻAbd al-ʻAziz Historical Center

Before the oil era

Old Jiddah

Architecture of ʻAsir and Tihamah

Handicrafts

The Bedouin

ch. 2. Arabia before Islam

The people of Arabia

In the beginning

The Neolithic revolution

Bronze Age Arabia

The 2nd millennium BC : camel domestication, nomads and settlers

The first "Arabs"

Kingdoms and caravan cities

Najran

Bir Hima

The Hijaz and ʻAsir

Al-ʻUla and Madain Salih

Tayma

Al-Jawf and Wadi al-Sirhan

Qaryat al-Faw

Southern Najd

Gerrha

Qatif

Thaj

Central and northern Najd

The "age of ignorance"

Religion during the Jahiliyah

Related topics

Neolithic tools

Who is an Arab?

Frankincense

The Tayma stone.

ch. 3. The revelation and the Ummah

Contributions to world civilization

The life of the Prophet Muhammad

The first revelation

Persecution and the Hijrah

The first Muslim community in Madinah

Battles with Quraysh

The first attempt to revisit Makkah

The death of the Prophet

The question of succession

The unification of Arabia and expansion

The partisans of ʻAli

The Umayyads

The ʻAbbasids

The translation and transmission of science

Related topics

The prayer rug

The five pillars of Islam

The Hijri calendar and the two festivals

The rightly guided caliphs

The holy Quran

Arabic writing

Qasr ʻAmra

How Islamic science reached Europe

Arabic numerals

The Arabic language

Arabic literature

ch. 4. Arabia since the revelation

The heartland

Arbia in ʻAbbasid times

Arabia in Fatimid times

Arabia in Ayyubid times

The Karimi merchants

Arabia in Mamluk times

The coming of the Portuguese

Arabia in Ottoman times

Tribal activity

Related topics

The development of Islamic law

The Dinar

Two travelers

Zheng He and the Ming voyages

Ahmad ibn Majid

Arabian coffee takes over the world

Western knowledge of Islamic lands.

ch. 5. The emergence of the Saudi state, 1700-1932

A historic meeting

The reform movement and the Muwahhidun

The first Saudi state, 1744-1818

The siege and fall of al-Dirʻiyah

The second Saudi state, 1824-91

Exile, 1891-1902

Riyadh recovered, January 1902

The unification of the kingdom, 1902-27

The Battle of al-Dilam, 1902

Al-Qasim, 1904-06

Consolidation, 1906-12

The Ikhwan : harnessing the nomadic tribes

Expansion into al-Hasa, 1913

World War I, 1914-18

The Khurmah dispute, 1919

ʻAsir, Hayil and the northern border, 1919-22

Annexation of the Hijaz and international recognition, 1924-27

Crisis and final triumph

Related topics

Tribal settlers and nomads

Early European visitors to the Hijaz

Rulers of the House of Saʻud

Early travelers to Riyadh

The Maria Theresa Thaler

Captain William Shakespear

The pilgrimage under the new Saudi Order.

ch. 6. Tradition and modernization, 1932-present

A 'modest' step

World War II

The postwar years

King Saʻud

International relations

Social change

King Faysal

International relations

King Faysal's last years

King Khalid

Development

Internal tensions

International relations

King Fahd

Development

Foreign relations in the 1980s and ʼ90s

Reforms of 1992-93

Provincial administration

Stern challenges

King ʻAbd Allah

Challenges of the future

Related topics

Food

Dress

Money

Music

Expanding the Holy places

Saudi women today

ch. 7. Wildlife and conservation

A unique ecology

Deserts

Oases

The Arabian Gulf

The Red Sea

The Western Mountains

Related topics

Climate

Falconry

ch. 8. Tapping the treasure

The worldʼs biggest business

The golden corridor

Ancient oil seeps

The oil industry in the Middle East

World War I

The red line

Bahrain

The concession agreement

Discovery!

Entering the oil era

Postwar expansion

People and production

New arrangements

Becoming Saudi Aramco

A new century

Global reach

Technological revolution

How long can oil last?

Related topics

Crude oil

Gasoline

The search for oil and gas

Masjid-i-Suleiman

Charles R. Crane

ʻAbd Allah al-Sulayman

Mapping the future

Geology of Arabia

The Jabal School

A pioneer outside the oil fields

NYMEX trading

History of the concession area

Environmental accountability

Oil and gas operations

An expanding enterprise

"Let the genie out of the bottle"

Saudi Arabia and world energy

The people of Saudi Aramco

Charts & diagrams

Government revenues

Employees

Oil operations

Gas operations

Oil consumption/production/reserves.

Maps

Saudi Arabia today

Geographic regions and ancient river systems

Tribes of Arabia on the eve of unification (early 20th century)

Sea trade routes (3rd and early 2nd millennia BC)

First Arab tribes (early 1st millennium BC)

Countries of the Arab League

Pre-Islamic trade routes (100 Common Era)

Nabataean Kingdom (100 BC-100 Common Era)

Archeological sites of the Gerrha Period (300 BC-300 Common Era)

Tribes at the time of the Prophet (570-632)

Expansion of Islam (634-751)

Major pilgrimage routes of Arabia in pre-modern times

Indian Ocean-Pacific trade routes (c. 1000)

Trade network (c. 1250)

Extent of the first Saudi state (1808)

Ibrahim Pasha's invasion route (1816-18)

Unification of Saudi Arabia (1902-34)

Saudi Arabia's provinces

Saudi Arabian wildlife habitats

The golden corridor

Red line agreement

Surface geology of the Arabian Peninsula

The concession area (1933-86)

Prospective areas (1986-present)

Joint-venture gas exploration

Saudi Aramco operations

Saudi Aramco subsidiaries, affiliates, joint ventures and principal export routes

Index

Further reading

Acknowledgments

Photo credits.