On Sunday morning,13/11/2022, in the Department of History at the College of Arts at the University of Basrah a master thesis entitled (Means of transportation in the Islamic state until the end of the Umayyad era (132 AH - 751 AD) was discussed.
The thesis presented by the student Lina Yassin Ali included an introduction and four chapters.The introduction dealt with the scope of the research and the presentation of the sources.The first chapter discussed the concept of means of transport and its historical dimensions , the second chapter discussed the types and forms of means of transport ,the third chapter included the uses and benefits of means of transport , and the fourth chapter dealt with the development of means of transport.
The thesis aims to focus on the role of means of transportation in economic, social, military, and religious life. At that time, the man realized their importance and that his stability and progress in all aspects of life are linked to their development and attention to them.
The thesis concluded that environmental and spatial factors play an essential role in determining the type of animal used for transportation, so the camel was considered one of the most important means of transportation in desert areas. It also became clear that one of the factors that helped the growth and prosperity of trade in the Arabian Peninsula is its important geographical location, which is located between Africa and Asia, overlooking warm waters with good and significant benefits for World Trade. Through what we discussed about ships and their manufacture, it became clear to us that the ancient Iraqis were the first to invent this industry, not the Pharaohs, as archaeologists mentioned. This came based on the construction of the ship of the Prophet Noah, peace be upon him.
