Mavia

In the 12th century BC, the collapse of the complex state system in the Near East led to the rise of ethnic group cohesion that had previously been largely fragmented. These ethnic groups morphed into political units which were mostly organized along ethnic‐tribal lines. They included the Phrygians, Hebrews, Aramaeans and the Arabs. The large-scale introduction of domesticated camels in southern Syria and on the Arabian Peninsula allowed the Arabs to traverse the desert that had been previously impassable and therefore engage in a newly emerging international trade in spices, precious materials, as well as in politics. In the ninth century BC, when the Assyrians expanded their military force beyond the Euphrates River, they came into contact for the first