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ABSTRACT This study presents a new epigraphic inscription from Ḥimā (Najrān, Saudi Arabia), which records the arrival of an individual from ʿUmān during the reign of Abīyathaʿ Ghaylān, king of the Amīr tribe. Written in a South Arabian script but showing non‐Ancient South Arabian—possibly Hasaitic—linguistic features, the inscription provides rare evidence of trans‐Arabian mobility and diplomatic relations during the Hellenistic period. By contextualizing this text alongside other inscriptions and coins from southern and eastern Arabia, the article explores the political role of Abīyathaʿ, the integration of the al‐Asd tribe and the significance of long‐distance networks involving Gerrha and Mleiha. A newly discovered graffito referencing the gentilic Ġr‐ite also contributes to ongoing debates on the ancient name of Gerrha. The use of regnal and Seleucid‐era dating in these inscriptions offers further insight into evolving chronological systems across pre‐Islamic Arabia.

Scholars and students of the history and politics of the Sultanate of Oman will in all likelihood acknowledge John E. Peterson as the doyen of their field, being active in the study of this Gulf state for just over fifty years. Oman’s Transformation after 1970 is a follow-up to his 2007 book Oman’s Insurgencies, which provided a detailed historical account of the Jebel Akhdar (1955–59) and Dhofar (1963–c.1976) rebellions and the counter-insurgency campaigns Sultans Said bin Taimur (1932–70) and Qaboos bin Said (1970–2020) waged with British support to defeat them.Over the past fifty-five years, Oman has evolved from an impoverished tribal state under Britain’s informal imperial influence to a fully sovereign, prosperous, but absolute monarchy. It has close ties to the Western powers and other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), while playing an active role in regional diplomacy and preserving a semblance of neutrality (Oman has, for example, acted as a mediator between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran and has tried to broker peace between the Houthis and their enemies in Yemen). Although the Sultanate did experience some internal unrest during the 2011 “Arab Spring” (442–44), it has not only emerged as one of the most stable states in the Middle East but also managed a peaceful transition of power after Qaboos’s death in January 2020. This was not an outcome that contemporary observers would have anticipated in the context of both Qaboos’s seizure of power in a palace coup in July 1970 or his regime’s struggle for survival against insurgent movements both in the Southern province of Dhofar and Northern Oman.1

المشروع في جوهرهِ تجسيد واضح لمبادرة الاقتصاد الاجتماعي التضامني، التي ترمي إلى وضع استراتيجية واضحة تمكِّن من الاستغلال الأمثل للموارد المادية والبشرية، وتقاوم هنّات المنوال الليبرالي ونقائصه الفادحة على مستوى تحقيق الإدماج المهني والاجتماعي لكافة الشرائح، خاصة غير الحاصلين على الشهادات منهم.

Abstract The East African coast has long been recognized as a cosmopolitan region, where different cultures and peoples met and exchanged ideas, goods and knowledge. The culture that developed there from the seventh century ce was shaped by these relations, often referred to under the term Swahili, and many of the coastal residents engaged in Islamic practice, long-distance trade, conspicuous consumption of valued goods, and spoke a common language. This paper investigates the presence of slaves and migrants from the East African interior, through pottery assemblages uncovered at two eleventh- to fifteenth-century ce sites in northern Zanzibar: Tumbatu and Mkokotoni. These are groups of people not usually discussed in relation to medieval Swahili towns, and slavery has been especially difficult to study archaeologically on the coast. Through a material culture of difference, I argue that enslaved and non-elite migrants can be recognized and allow for a fuller understanding of socio-economic and cultural complexity in Swahili towns.

Abstract This paper explores alternative political imaginaries, envisioned communities, and forms of resistance as articulated in the Arabic newspaper al-Umma: ǧarīda ʿarabīyya taṣduru kull yawm ǧumʿa (Al-Umma: An Arabic Newspaper published every Friday), published and edited by Sheykh Abū al-Yaqẓān (d. 1973), a former student of the Ibadite reformist scholar Muḥammad Aṭṭfiyaš (d. 1914), in Algiers in 1933. It examines how the periodical fashioned itself as an embodiment of the umma (nation) and how its readership formed a community around it. This analysis draws on Jutta Ernst and Oliver Scheiding’s perspective on periodicals, which posits that they function as assemblages that transcend their physical form, becoming expressions of social networks and communities. Focusing on the periodical’s characteristics and features, its language, editorials, symbols, and calls to action, the paper demonstrates how al-Umma was transformed into a subject associated with the umma for its readers. Using Birgit Meyer’s concept of aesthetic formations as a framework, this paper investigates how the newspaper helped construct and embody a pan-Maghrebian identity in 1930s Algeria, beyond the notion of a fixed, bounded social entity.

Un accord de financement de cinq ans a été récemment signé entre l’Agence de Protection et d’Aménagement du Littoral (APAL), l’ONG locale AJEM (Association Jlij pour l’Environnement Marin) et le Fonds &qout;The MedFund&qout; pour soutenir la cogestion de la zone de protection marine &qout;Jerba Ras Rmel&qout;, a…

The slave trade was a complex economic and political system closely connected to Omani influence along the East African coast, where Zanzibar became a major center for exporting enslaved people and employing them in the clove plantations that formed the backbone of the economy at the time. The Omani presence contributed to organizing this trade and developing its structure, making it an important source of wealth and power. In contrast, Britain and France approached the slave trade from purely colonial perspectives: Britain sought to use the slogan of "combating slavery" to expand its maritime and political influence, while France aimed to protect the interests of its agricultural colonies that depended on enslaved labor. As the rivalry between the two European powers intensified, the issue of slavery turned into a tool of political and economic pressure on the rulers of Zanzibar. Despite the treaties and imposed restrictions, the trade continued through covert methods, including smuggling and the use of foreign flags, until the late nineteenth century.

The history of the Yemeni island of Soqoṭrā from Late Antiquity to the European Age of Exploration is the history of an alternation between interconnectedness and insularity. On the one hand, Soqoṭrā was linked through commerce with other regions in the Indian Ocean, as well as with regions as far afield as the Mediterranean. Additionally, the Church of the East had, by the sixth century, put down roots on Soqoṭrā, a development that afforded the island a connection, however tenuous, to a wider world of eastern Christianity. A further link with the outside world was established in the mid-eighth century, when the Ibāḍī imamate of Oman briefly established rule over Soqoṭrā. On the other hand, Soqoṭrī history is also characterized by the equally strong pull of insularity. As a case in point, the indigenous islanders speak their own, unique Soqoṭrī language, which belongs to the Modern South Arabian branch of Semitic. As for Omani rule, this was ultimately overthrown through a revolt by Christian Soqoṭrīs, and while foreign merchants continued to visit the island, Soqoṭrā gained something of a reputation as a haven for pirates and an abode of magicians. It was also widely known as an outpost of Christianity. Over time, however, Soqoṭrā lost contact with the normative Christianity represented by the Church of the East, such that, by the time that the Portuguese first made contact with the island in the early sixteenth century, they found the indigenous inhabitants practicing a vestigial form of Christianity that centered on a veneration of the cross, but retained little else that could be deemed Christian.

This study examines the role of the Oman Al Makmur Mosque in empowering the local community's economy through a sharia-based cooperative. The research focuses on assessing two main aspects: the mosque's role as a center of economic activity and the impact of the cooperative on the welfare of its members and the surrounding environment. A qualitative descriptive method was used, with data collected through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation. The uniqueness of this study lies in its emphasis on the role of the mosque economy and the application of Qardhul Hasan in cooperative practices, which is rarely explored. The data were analyzed thematically to discuss issues of cooperative management, the implementation of the Qardhul Hasan mechanism, as well as the challenges and opportunities faced. This study also makes a significant contribution to the discourse on Islamic-based economic empowerment and provides practical guidance for mosque managers and financial institutions in supporting community-based MSMEs. The research results show that since its establishment in October 2022, the mosque cooperative has facilitated interest-free capital for more than 130 members to start and develop micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Bank Indonesia and BPRS Hikmah Wakilah have strengthened access to capital. This research makes an important contribution to the discourse on Islamic-based economic empowerment and offers practical guidance for mosque managers and financial institutions in supporting community-based MSMEs. The uniqueness of this study lies in the emphasis on the role of the mosque economy and the application of Qardhul Hasan in cooperative practices, which are still rarely explored.