Eastern Arabia

The Achaemenid Empire (/əˈkiːmənɪd/ ə-KEE-mə-nid; Old Persian: 𐎧𐏁𐏂, Xšāça, lit. 'The Empire' or 'The Kingdom') was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. At peak, its territorial extent was roughly 5.5 million square kilometres (2.1 million square miles), making it the largest empire of its time. Based in the Iranian plateau, it stretched from the Balkans and Egypt in the west to the Indus Valley in the east, including Anatolia, Cyprus, Mesopotamia, the Levant, parts of Eastern Arabia, and large parts of Central Asia.

By the 7th century BC, the region of Persis, located in the southwestern part of the Iranian plateau, had been settled by Persians. From Persis, Cyrus rose and defeated Media, Lydia, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, thus marking the establishment of a new imperial polity in the ancient Near East. While its conquests were largely successful in most regions, the Achaemenid Empire's attempts to expand into Greece proved extremely difficult over the course of decades of wars and multiple kings, ultimately resulting in its defeat in the Greek mainland.

Dilmun, or Telmun, (Sumerian: , later 𒉌𒌇(𒆠), NI.TUK = dilmun; Arabic: دلمون) was an ancient East Semitic–speaking civilization in Eastern Arabia mentioned from the 3rd millennium BC onwards, covering the transition from Prehistoric Arabia into the historic period. Based on contextual evidence, it was located in the Persian Gulf, on a trade route between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilisation, close to the sea and to artesian springs. Dilmun encompassed Bahrain, Kuwait, and eastern Saudi Arabia.

The great commercial and trading connections between Mesopotamia and Dilmun were strong and profound to the point where Dilmun was a central figure to the Sumerian creation myth. Dilmun was described in the saga of Enki and Ninhursag as pre-existing in paradisiacal state, where predators do not kill, pain and diseases are absent, and people do not get old.

Gerrha (Koine Greek: Γέρρα, romanized: Gérrha) was an ancient and renowned city within Eastern Arabia, on the west side of the Persian Gulf. Known from Greek sources, it has been identified with a few candidate archaeological sites in Eastern Arabia, with the main candidates being Hagar (modern-day Hofuf) and Thaj.

In the aftermath of the conquests of Alexander the Great and the subsequent Seleucid Empire in the region, Gerrha became a site of central importance in the Hellenistic world and the major site of trading in the Persian Gulf. It was a major source of Arabian aromatics and for the transport of goods from India.

Piracy in the Persian Gulf describes the naval warfare that was prevalent until the 19th century and occurred between seafaring Arabs in Eastern Arabia and the British Empire in the Persian Gulf. It was perceived as one of the primary threats to global maritime trade routes, particularly those with significance to British India and Iraq. Many of the most notable historical instances of these raids were conducted by the Al Qasimi tribe. This led to the British mounting the Persian Gulf campaign of 1809, a major maritime action launched by the Royal Navy to bombard Ras Al Khaimah, Lingeh and other Al Qasimi ports. Some critics of the historical narrative, such as Sharjah ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi in his book The Myth of Piracy in the Gulf, argue that the allegations of piracy were exaggerated by the East India Company to cut off untaxed trade routes between the Middle East and India.

Piratical activities were common in the Persian Gulf from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, particularly in the area known as the Pirate Coast which spanned from modern-day Qatar to Oman. Piracy was alleviated from 1820 with the signing of the General Maritime Treaty, cemented in 1853 by the Perpetual Maritime Truce, after which the Pirate Coast began to be known by the British as the Trucial Coast (present-day United Arab Emirates).

The Achaemenid Empire (/əˈkiːmənɪd/ ə-KEE-mə-nid; Old Persian: 𐎧𐏁𐏂, Xšāça, lit. 'The Empire' or 'The Kingdom') was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. At peak, its territorial extent was roughly 5.5 million square kilometres (2.1 million square miles), making it the largest empire of its time. Based in the Iranian plateau, it stretched from the Balkans and Egypt in the west to modern day Pakistan in the east, including Anatolia, Cyprus, Mesopotamia, the Levant, parts of Eastern Arabia, and large parts of Central Asia.

By the 7th century BC, the region of Persis, located in the southwestern part of the Iranian plateau, had been settled by Persians. From Persis, Cyrus rose and defeated Media, Lydia, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, thus marking the establishment of a new imperial polity in the ancient Near East. While its conquests were largely successful in most regions, the Achaemenid Empire's attempts to expand into Greece proved extremely difficult over the course of decades of wars and multiple kings, ultimately resulting in its defeat in the Greek mainland.

Eastern Aramaic refers to a group of dialects that evolved historically from the varieties of Aramaic spoken in the core territories of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq, southeastern Turkey and parts of northeastern Syria) and further expanded into northern Syria, eastern Arabia and northwestern Iran. This is in contrast to the Western Aramaic varieties found predominantly in the southern Levant, encompassing most parts of modern western Syria and Palestine region. Most speakers are Assyrians (including Chaldean Catholics), although there is a minority of Bavlim Jews and Mandaeans who also speak modern varieties of Eastern Aramaic.

Qatif (Arabic: ٱلْقَطِيف‎, romanized: al-Qaṭīf) is a governorate located in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. It extends from Ras Tanura and Jubail in the north to Dammam in the south, and from the Arabian Gulf in the east to King Fahd International Airport in the west, The governorate includes three major cities Qatif City, Safwa City, and Saihat City along with numerous towns, villages, and the island of Tarout. Each city and town has its own sub-municipality operating under the main municipality

Qatif is one of the oldest settlements in the Arabian Peninsula; its history goes back to 3500 BC, more than 5,000 years ago, and was a key part of the Eastern Arabia also known as Greater Bahrain which was called Dilmun at that time and the Sumerians knew it as the land of paradise, immortality.