The IASA exists to promote research relating to the Arabian Peninsula and, in particular, its archaeology, history, epigraphy, languages, literature, art, culture, ethnography, geography, geology and natural history.
It does this by…
– Awarding research grants,
– Producing its own publications and supporting others,
– Disseminating news of new research and events connected with Arabia, and
– Organizing lectures and conferences, in particular the annual Seminar for Arabian Studies.
Become a member
You can join The IASA as a Corporate, Individual or Student member. Benefits are detailed on our membership page and include a copy of our twice yearly eBulletin, free lectures and discounts on some events.
The 2026 Seminar will be held at the University of Bologna
30th July – 1st August
The deadline for the Call for Papers is 30th March 2026. Please see the Seminar page for more details.
Recent research
A Multi-Isotopic Approach to Examining Mobility and Social Reorganization during the Bronze Age Transition in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
In December 2023 through January 2024, research funded in part by an IASA Main Research Grant was undertaken to identify Wadi Suq-period (ca. 2000-1600 BCE) teeth from the Shimal Necropolis in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah for isotopic sampling. Here, three different isotopes (strontium, oxygen, and carbon) from human teeth provide insight into the complexity of responses to climate change at the end of the third millennium BCE in the UAE....
Mapping al-Qadisiyyah: surveying a famous Early Islamic conquest site at the edge of Arabia
A recent remote sensing survey precisely located two historically significant sites on the fringe of the North Arabian Desert in Iraq al-Qadisiyyah and al-‘Udhayb (Deadman et al.2025). Both were central to an Arab-Sasanian battle in the Early Islamic conquests and formed part of the Darb Zubaydah Hajj pilgrimage route. ...
Of Shells and (wo)men: an analysis of aquatic resources from Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq domestic structures in the Wadi al Jizzi, Oman
The International Association for the Study of Arabia was kind enough to award me a Small Research Grant to conduct research in Oman as preparation for a future PhD trajectory regarding archaeological shells. This grant allowed me to travel to Oman to conduct the research and to buy the materials necessary for the project....
Recent videos
The Imam, the Pasha and the Englishman by Michael Crawford
This lecture may be viewed on our YouTube channel
Al Baladhuri’s account of the Muslim conquest of Arabia by Professor Hugh Kennedy
This lecture may be viewed on our YouTube channel
High Jinks in Arabia: Julius Euting’s Epigraphic Adventure, 1883–1884 by William Facey
This lecture may be viewed on our YouTube channel