Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies: Volume 55, 2026

The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the longest-running academic forum for the presentation of research on the cultural heritage of the Arabian Peninsula. Since its first meeting in 1968, the Seminar has covered a wide range of subjects, including archaeology, epigraphy, history, ethnography, art, architecture, linguistics, and literature from prehistory to the present. In recent years, the Seminar has developed as an increasingly international forum, bringing together scholars working on Arabia and its wider connections across different institutional and geographical settings. The 58th Seminar marked a particularly significant moment in this trajectory, as it was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, bringing the Seminar to the Arabian Peninsula for the first time.

The 58th Seminar for Arabian Studies, held from 12 to 14 December 2025, was hosted at Zayed National Museum, in Abu Dhabi, in association with the Department of Culture and Tourism, to whom everyone associated with this Seminar is deeply grateful. The museum offered a particularly appropriate setting for a meeting devoted to the scholarly study of the cultural and natural heritage of Arabia. Its wonderful galleries explore the history, landscapes, communities, and long-term development of the United Arab Emirates and the wider region, many of which were also addressed in the Seminar programme. The reconstructed Bronze Age ‘Magan Boat’ provided a particularly relevant point of connection, recalling the maritime networks, technical knowledge, and long-distance exchanges that have shaped the history of Arabia and the Gulf. Holding the Seminar in this setting thus gave the meeting a particular resonance, bringing scholarly discussion into close contact with the material and historical worlds that form the focus of its research.

The meeting brought together scholars working across a wide chronological, geographical, and disciplinary range. The programme included ninety-two papers and sixteen posters, covering periods from the Palaeolithic to the recent past, alongside new technological and scientific approaches. The breadth of the programme reflects the vitality of current research across Arabia, with contributions addressing field archaeology, epigraphy, bioarchaeology, landscape studies, heritage management, museum collections, scientific analyses, and digital methods.