Overview

Since Antiquity, the natural pearls of the Gulf have been celebrated as the world's finest, most lustrous and most plentiful. From the early days of maritime trade until the 1920s, they were the primary commodity of Arabia and Persia's coastal communities and were traded across the globe, becoming one of the most sought-after luxury commodities in the world. Rising international demand between the 17th and 20th centuries led to the Gulf's pearling becoming their economic mainstay. Pearls, fished in their millions, became the pillar of the regional economy, dominating lives, health and expectations of entire sheikhdoms and fledgling states. This influx of people and wealth to the coast permanently reshaped the social, economic, and cultural fabric of the Gulf, providing manpower and capital that germinated and nurtured the city-states—notably Bahrain, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah—that endure there today. Despite its formative role, little is written about this seven-thousand-year-old industry. In this newly designed edition of Dr Robert Carter's ground-breaking work, the full evolution of pearling on both the Arabian and Persian sides of the Gulf is uncovered, revealing its profound influence on the region's political, social, and urban configuration. The study also draws striking parallels between the Gulf's dependence on pearls and the oil industry that would later replace it. With updated maps, photography, and archival imagery, the new edition covers, in unprecedented detail, the history, development, conduct, florescence and catastrophic collapse of the industry in the early 20th century. It will fascinate not only those wishing to understand the growth and conduct of the pearl fishery but also those interested in the broader history of the region, the origins of the Gulf states, and the colourful story one of mankind's most highly prized precious gemstones.

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9781911487999

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Dr. Robert Carter took a first-class degree in Modern History at St Anne's College, Oxford, before obtaining his MA and Ph.D. at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (UCL), where he began his archaeological career. He has since worked throughout Arabia and the Gulf, conducting surveys and excavations in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran. He has taught and researched at various British universities, and from 2011 to 2019 was Senior Lecturer and then Full Professor at UCL Qatar. Following this, he held senior advisory roles at the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, where he provided most of the content and narrative for the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Muharraq Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy, and then at Qatar Museums, dealing with numerous aspects of archaeology, cultural heritage, and strategic planning. He has been awarded various scholarships, grants, and prizes, was chair of the Seminar for Arabian Studies from 2005 to 2011, and is a Trustee for the International Association for the Study of Arabia (IASA). His interests are wide, covering a time span from the 6th millennium BCE to the mid-20th century, and focusing chiefly on the archaeology, history, and heritage of the Gulf, the Arabian Peninsula, and ancient Mesopotamia. Dr. Carter has a rare perspective on long-term trends in settlement and trade in Arabia and is as comfortable dealing with the archaeology of the Stone Age as with the heritage of recent times. The disparate threads of his research are woven together by his fascination with the Gulf's immense history of maritime and mercantile endeavor. He has published nearly 80 scholarly articles and books on these topics, with many more to come.

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