Dilmun in the context of "Arab people"

Arabs (Arabic: عَرَب) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Before the spread of Arabic language in the wake of the Arab conquests, "Arab" largely referred to the Semitic inhabitants—both settled and nomadic—of the Arabian Peninsula and the Syrian Desert. In modern usage, it includes people from across the Greater Middle East that share Arabic as a native language.

Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years. In the 9th century BCE, the Assyrians made written references to Arabs as inhabitants of the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Arabia. Throughout the Ancient Near East, Arabs established influential civilizations starting from 3000 BCE onwards, such as Dilmun, Gerrha, and Magan, playing a vital role in trade between Mesopotamia, and the Mediterranean. Other prominent tribes include Midian, ʿĀd, and Thamud mentioned in the Bible and Quran. Later, in 900 BCE, the Qedarites enjoyed close relations with the nearby Canaanite and Aramaean states, and their territory extended from Lower Egypt to the Southern Levant. From 1200 BCE to 110 BCE, powerful kingdoms emerged such as Saba, Lihyan, Minaean, Qataban, Hadhramaut, Awsan, and Homerite emerged in Arabia. According to the Abrahamic tradition, Arabs are descendants of Abraham through his son Ishmael.

The Akkadian Empire (/əˈkeɪdiən/) or kingdom of Akkad/Agade was an ancient kingdom, often thought to be the first known empire, succeeding the long-lived city-states of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad (/ˈækæd/ or /ˈɑːkɑːd/) and its surrounding region in modern-day Iraq, the empire united the Semitic Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule and exercised significant influence across Mesopotamia, the Levant, modern-day Iran and Anatolia, sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Magan (modern United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) in the Arabian Peninsula.

Established by Sargon of Akkad after defeating the Sumerian king Lugal-zage-si, it replaced the system of independent Sumero-Akkadian city-states and unified a vast region, stretching from the Mediterranean to Iran and from Anatolia to the Persian Gulf, under a centralized government. Sargon and his successors, especially his grandson Naram-Sin, expanded the empire through military conquest, administrative reforms, and cultural integration. Naram-Sin took the unprecedented step of declaring himself a living god and adopted the title "King of the Four Quarters." The Semitic Akkadian language became the empire’s lingua franca, although Sumerian (a language isolate) remained important in religion and literature. The empire was documented through inscriptions, administrative tablets, and seals, including notable sources like the Bassetki Statue. Enheduanna, Sargon’s daughter, served as high priestess and is recognized as the first known named author in history.

The era of pre-Islamic Arabia encompasses human history in all parts of the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of Islam. During the prehistoric period, humans first migrate and settle into the peninsula. In the early first millennium BC, writing and recorded history are introduced into the Peninsula, along with the rise of the first kingdoms in the south. In the early seventh century, the pre-Islamic period quickly comes to a close, from the beginning of Muhammad's preachings of Islam, to his establishment of the first Islamic state in 622 in Medina, and the subsequent conquest and political unification of the peninsula shortly after Muhammad's death, in the 630s. Some strands of Islamic tradition interpret the pre-Islamic period as a barbaric, morally un-enlightened period known as the "Jahiliyyah" (Arabic: جَاهِلِيَّة), but historians have not adopted this convention.

Pre-Islamic Arabia's demographics included both nomadic and settled populations, the latter of which eventually developed into distinctive civilizations. Eastern Arabia was home to the region's earliest civilizations, such as Dilmun, which is attested as a prominent trade partner of Mesopotamia during the Bronze Age; and its later pre-Islamic history is marked by the reign of consecutive Iranian empires, including those of the Parthians and the Sasanians. From the early 1st millennium BCE onward, South Arabia became home to a number of kingdoms, such as Sheba and Ma'in; while part of North Arabia became home to the Nabataean Kingdom, which was conquered and annexed by the Roman Empire in 106, thereafter being known as Arabia Petraea and initiating the centuries-long Roman period in Arabia.

Magan (also Majan) was an ancient region in what is now modern day Oman and United Arab Emirates. It was referred to in Sumerian cuneiform texts of around 2300 BCE and existed until 550 BCE as a source of copper and diorite for Mesopotamia. As discussed by The Archeology Fund founded by Juris Zarins, "The Sumerian cities of southern Mesopotamia were closely linked to the Persian Gulf. Archaeologists and historians have linked sites in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar to the Sumerian geographical term of Dilmun. Oman, was most likely the Sumerian Magan".

Ancient Semitic religion encompasses the polytheistic religions of the Semitic peoples from the ancient Near East and Northeast Africa. Since the term Semitic represents a rough category when referring to cultures, as opposed to languages, the definitive bounds of the term "ancient Semitic religion" are only approximate but exclude the religions of "non-Semitic" speakers of the region such as Egyptians, Elamites, Hittites, Hurrians, Mitanni, Urartians, Luwians, Minoans, Greeks, Phrygians, Lydians, Persians, Medes, Philistines and Parthians.

Semitic traditions and their pantheons fall into regional categories: Canaanite religions of the Levant (including the henotheistic ancient Hebrew religion of the Israelites, Judeans and Samaritans, as well as the religions of the Amorites, Phoenicians, Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites and Suteans); the Sumerian-influenced Mesopotamian religion; the Phoenician Canaanite religion of Carthage; Nabataean religion; Eblaite, Ugarite, Dilmunite and Aramean religions; and Arabian polytheism.