The Arabian Peninsula is almost an island of sand surrounded by the sea on three sides, with the desert itself as a connection to the continent. This immense desert region, apparently empty, is dotted with numerous oases with underground water collected by wells, date palms and fruit trees that were resting points for caravans. Originally, the region would have been a fertile territory and home to many Semitic peoples, but over time it suffered a natural process of increasing drought.

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               Among the peoples who inhabited the region were the Arameans, Syrians, Canaanites, Hebrews, Phoenicians and Nabateans. The local populations were distributed in tribes throughout the peninsula. The term "Arab" almost always referred to the nomadic desert Bedouin who lived off his livestock, often from looting, and from the caravan trade that made use of the oases and cities as interconnection points. 

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               From the north to the south of the peninsula, the primitive religiosity of the Arab tribes varied in the worship of gods and goddesses who symbolized planets, stones, trees and natural phenomena. Despite the variety of cults and the plurality of gods, there seems to have been a tendency towards unity in the adoption of some deities by a large part of the tribes, especially regarding the goddesses Manat, Uzza and Al-Lat who were topped by a superior deity, Allah, the god, the divinity.

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                   However, even in this original, protected and almost magical world, Arabia was not a closed off. At that time, it was already a route for caravans that crossed the peninsula loaded not only with silks and spices but also with Persian, Indian, Jewish, Christian and Hellenistic influences brought by merchants. 

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