Review of Grasso: PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA: POLITICS, CULTS AND IDENTITIES DURING LATE ANTIQUITY

From the beginning of the 21st century, and especially in the past decade, historians' attention to the importance of archaeological studies for recognizing and representing a more accurate image of the history of political, cultural, social, and religious developments in Arabia in the late ancient periods, which ultimately led to the emergence of Islam, has been attracted more than ever. The results of recent research, which are still increasing, have a significant impact on our deeper understanding of the origins and historical context of the Quran's revelation and dramatically enhance our understanding of the fundamental transformations that Islam brought about in this historical period. However, the diversity of topics, the multitude of studies conducted, and the different and sometimes conflicting perspectives of participants in this field are so abundant that evaluating the new achievements for less familiar audiences is not so straightforward. The present article is a critical review of one of the latest contributions to this field that entered the scientific publishing market last year. Valentina Grasso, in her monograph titled " PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA: POLITICS, CULTS AND IDENTITIES DURING LATE ANTIQUITY," based on epigraphic, archaeological, and literary sources, provides a comprehensive picture of pre-Islamic Arabia from the third to the seventh centuries AD. Ahmad Al-Jallad, a young and prolific researcher in this field, has endeavored to meticulously and critically examine the contents of the book based on his extensive knowledge and during the presentation of a short summary of the book's chapters, he reveals the methodological shortcomings in this research, reminds the author of ignorance or oversights in referring to primary sources and relevant literature, and corrects simplifications or misunderstandings. Al-Jallad's final evaluation of Grasso's book is as follows: This book could have been a readable introduction for audiences unfamiliar with complex and evolving studies in the history of pre-Islamic Arabia and the dawn of Islam if it were more firmly grounded in primary sources and benefited from a more extensive and ethical reference to the relevant literature. However, readers are still inevitably required to refer to previous books and articles to be informed of the latest developments, theories, and perspectives of researchers in this field.