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The Society for Arabian Studies is pleased to announce the next in its series of
biennial conferences, entitled Death, Burial and the Transition to the Afterlife in Arabia
and Adjacent Regions, to take place at the British Museum from November 27-29, 2008.
Click here to download these details as a pdf format document.
The conference aims to review, synthesise, and contextualise the evidence for burial
practices and associated beliefs in Arabia and neighbouring regions from earliest
prehistory to the present day. In order to adequately address an issue of such
fundamental importance to all societies, contributions are sought from a wide
range of disciplines, including archaeology, physical anthropology, history,
epigraphy, cultural anthropology, ethnography, and theology. It is envisaged
that the conference will cover a wide range of themes, including but not limited to:
• specific geographically or chronologically defined burial traditions
of Arabia and neighbouring regions (e.g. Umm an-Nar burial traditions, Nabatean burial traditions, etc.)
• beliefs surrounding death and the transition to the afterlife
• implications of burial data for society (e.g. religion; gender
and kinship; social complexity; cultural contact and interaction; occupations/professions, demography etc.)
• burial traditions and inter-cultural contacts
• landscapes of death and burial
• burial and pilgrimage
• health and disease
• the recording and preservation of burial sites
• recent and contemporary ideas and practices relating to death and burial
Geographically, the conference will focus upon the Arabian Peninsula, i.e. modern-day
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman.
In addition, we strongly encourage contributions discussing adjacent regions (including
Iran, Iraq, the Levant, Egypt, and South Asia) where specific burial traditions and
beliefs may relate to, inform, or expand our understanding of traditions in the Arabian Peninsula.
Contributions can be presented either as papers, which will not exceed 25 minutes
duration, or as posters. The language of the conference will be English.
Expressions of interest, suggestions for themed sessions, and other enquiries
can be directed to Dr. Lloyd Weeks, University of Nottingham (contact details below).
Abstracts for consideration by the conference organising committee should be
submitted to Dr. Weeks by November 30th 2007, either as email attachments
or in hard copy, and should not exceed 300 words in length.
Abstract submission and enquiries:
Dr. Lloyd Weeks
Dept. of Archaeology
University of Nottingham
University Park NG7 2RD
Nottingham, UK
Email: Lloyd.Weeks@nottingham.ac.uk
Tel: 0115-846-7355
Fax: 0115-951-4812
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