Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia

Mission Statement

The Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia aims to promote research on the ancient languages and cultures of Arabia, and to disseminate this knowledge to the broader public.

LeiCenSAA organization

The executive tasks of LeiCenSAA are performed by the director of LeiCenSAA, Ahmad Al-Jallad. He is assisted Marijn van Putten who oversees the office.

Network

Leiden is home to several active research projects on Ancient Arabia, including the following: NWO-funded Landscapes of Survival: Pastorial Societies, Rock Art and Literacy in Jordan’s Black Desert, c. 1000 BC to 500 AD, PI: Prof. dr. P. Akkermans; Co-PI: Dr. A. Al-Jallad; PhD students: H. Huigens, N. Brusgaard, C. Della Puppa. NWO-funded VENI-Grant The Writing on the Rocks: Thamudic and Arabia’s Linguistic Past, PI Dr. A. Al-Jallad. A partnership with AHRC-funded Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia project, based at the Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford, PIs Prof. dr. J. Johns and Mr. M.C.A. Macdonald. NWO-funded PhD project Linguistic Variation at Ancient Dadan, PhD student F. Kootstra. And other PhD projects, covering Nabataean and early Arabic.

Steering committee

LeiCenSAA The board of LeiCenSAA consists of international experts in the field of Ancient Arabia.