The AlUla inscriptions and the Lihyanites: documenting ancient belief and symbol
An anthropological analysis of rock texts and doctrinal symbols in the north-west of the Kingdom.
For teachers and researchers
Teaching
Ready-made units for teaching anthropology, each built from work published in Anthro.
5 ready-made units
1
The Human Body
3 pieces
Arabic coffee: a social ritual that outlasts its era
The small cup of Arabic coffee condenses every value of hospitality, generosity and tribal belonging. A study of daily ritual in Saudi life.
Traditional dress between identity and performance
The thobe and the ghutrah are not merely clothing. They are a daily performance of identity that declares belonging and negotiates presence in Saudi social space.
2
Material Culture
3 pieces
Saudi coffee: an anthropology of hospitality and social symbolism
An anthropological reading of what coffee means, and of the rituals of serving it in Saudi society across generations.
The AlUla inscriptions: a human archive in the rock of the Hijaz
The rocks of AlUla hold a history alive with feeling, names and fear — human texts that outlast time and tell what the official archive left out.
Social change in Saudi cities: field notes
Between 2015 and 2025 Saudi cities went through rapid social change that deserves careful anthropological observation — neither blind celebration nor despairing critique.
3
Language & Society
2 pieces
The Rawshan of the Hijaz: an architecture of light and privacy
A field study of the Hijazi rawshan and its relationship to social structure and climatic adaptation in historic Jeddah.
Mud houses in Qassim: an architecture that lets you answer the climate
Mud architecture in Najd is not primitive. It is a sophisticated environmental engineering system that answers climate, society and economy with an efficiency modernity has yet to match.
4
Place & Memory
1 pieces
Generosity in the Saudi tribal structure
Generosity in Saudi tribal culture is not merely an individual virtue. It is a complete socio-economic system that redistributes resources and produces standing and belonging.
5
Fieldwork Methods
2 pieces
The Hijazi rawshan: a window onto a philosophy of social contact
The rawshan is more than a decorative architectural element. It is a complete social system that governs the relation of inside to outside, and private to public, in the traditional Hijazi environment.
The old souq: the city’s theatre and its memory
The old souq in the Arab city is not only a place of buying and selling. It is a social theatre, a civilisational archive, and a map of identity drawn in people, smells and sounds.
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