Image Credit : Timon Kipfer, University of Basel
Posted on 06/19/2022 9:18:11 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Extreme dry conditions contributed to the decline of the ancient South Arabian kingdom of Himyar... the droughts left behind a region in disarray, thereby creating the conditions on the Arabian peninsula that made possible the spread of the newly emerging religion of Islam.
On the plateaus of Yemen, traces of the Himyarite Kingdom can still be found today: terraced fields and dams formed part of a particularly sophisticated irrigation system, transforming the semi-desert into fertile fields. Himyar was an established part of South Arabia for several centuries.
However, despite its former strength, during the sixth century AD the kingdom entered into a period of crisis, which culminated in its conquest by the neighboring kingdom of Aksum (now Ethiopia). A previously overlooked factor, namely extreme drought, may have been decisive in contributing to the upheavals in ancient Arabia from which Islam emerged during the seventh century. These findings were recently reported by researchers led by Professor Dominik Fleitmann in the journal Science.
Fleitmann’s team analyzed the layers of a stalagmite from the Al Hoota Cave in present-day Oman. The stalagmite’s growth rate and the chemical composition of its layers (see box) are directly related to how much precipitation falls above the cave. As a result, the shape and isotopic composition of the deposited layers of a stalagmite represent a valuable record of historical climate...
Isotopic analysis of the stalagmites layers allows researchers to draw conclusions about annual rainfall amounts. For example, they discovered not only that less rain fell over a longer period, but that there must have been an extreme drought. Based on the radioactive decay of uranium, the researchers were able to date this dry period to the early sixth century AD, albeit only with an accuracy of 30 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at heritagedaily.com ...
from deep in the archives:Caves reveal clues to UK weatherAt Pooles Cavern in Derbyshire, it was discovered that the stalagmites grow faster in the winter months when it rains more. Alan Walker, who guides visitors through the caves, says the changes in rainfall are recorded in the stalactites and stalagmites like the growth rings in trees. Stalagmites from a number of caves have now been analysed by Dr Andy Baker at Newcastle University. After splitting and polishing the rock, he can measure its growth precisely and has built up a precipitation history going back thousands of years. His study suggests this autumn's rainfall is not at all unusual when looked at over such a timescale but is well within historic variations. He believes politicians find it expedient to blame a man-made change in our weather rather than addressing the complex scientific picture.
by Tom Heap
I like that closing sentence -- "future decision-making could be made based on scientific data and not on political expediency". I wouldn't count on it, but that would be great.
Women and minorities hardest hit.
White men to blame.
China's trying to fix a sizeable portion of their country that they turned into a desert.
An interesting theory, especially as droughts have been proven to cause populations to migrate.
Created by famine, spread by war and plague... the religion of peace.
Proving one again that variable weather conditions brings out the hysterical nut cases.
Technically the sixth century is medieval, not ancient.
...more evidence of academia prostituting itself before the altar of climate change.
Also, the plague of Justinian (541–549 AD) was the first major outbreak of the first plague pandemic (the Black Death, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis), collapsed the economies of the neighboring Sasanian (Persian) Empire and the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and especially its capital, Constantinople.
As well as the power vacuum in the neighboring areas, Arabia experienced a gold rush around that time, that empowered their elite to rise to prominence within the weakened former Persian Empire.
It occurred to me to check out Cassiodorus and his reports of strange weather and pale sun and moon in 536. Found a detailed Wikipedia report. Apparently there were 3 major volcanoes starting 535-536 and then followed at 3 or 4 years apart by 2 more. These could easily explain a number of world history disasters and upheavals like Justinian’s Plague, and the rise of Islam, and major droughts. This link lists a number of such occurences and References and possible volcanoes, as well as possibly some meteoric events.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_winter_of_536
LOL!.... I read that as Draughts!........
Drat!
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