This book is the fourth and final collection of Professor R.B. Serjeant's articles on the trade, commerce and society of South Arabia and the Yemen. The early articles concern trade; customary law is the next subject represented with social history and one or two incidental articles completing the volume.

This volume brings together a set of widely scattered articles spanning some thirty years of research on early and medieval Yemen and South Arabia. They cover the political and military history of the area, from the beginning of Islam to the Ottoman conquest in 1517, with the establishment of the Zaydis and then the Ayyubids as key events. Particular attention is given to the 13th century, and questions of trade and historical geography. The work of the traveller Ibn al-Mujawir, the subject of a series of studies, also provides much information on the society and beliefs of the period, including magic and sexual practices.

New Arabian Studies is an international journal covering a wide spectrum of topics including geography, archaeology, history, architecture, agriculture, language, dialect, sociology, documents, literature and religion. It provides authoritative information intended to appeal to both the specialist and general reader. Both the traditional and the modern aspects of Arabia are covered, excluding contemporary controversial politics.

Contributions by
Hussein Abdullah al-Amri, Hamid I. Al-Mazrou, W. J. Donaldson, Ali Tigani ElMahi, Caesar E. Farah, Ulrike Freitag, David Insall, Eric Macro and Hanne Schonig