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CC BY-SA 2.0 GENERIC, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

ARABS AND ASSYRIANS. During the first millennium BCE, the trade and transport of goods along the desert routes that crisscrossed North Arabia was dominated by local tribes, including the Qedarites, who are also mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 25:13). In the seventh century, the Qedarites were sufficiently prominent to warrant the attention of the Assyrian kings, who frequently campaigned into the desert to bring these tribes—and the Arabian trade—under imperial control. In this relief from Ashurbanipal’s palace at Nineveh, Arab tribesmen are shown on camelback being pursued by Assyrian troops.