Do you have any recommendations for reading about Arabic civilizations? I was under the impression that Arabia was, until Mohammed, an unimportant, remote backw

Do you have any recommendations for reading about Arabic civilizations? I was under the impression that Arabia was, until Mohammed, an unimportant, remote backwater, vastly overshadowed and sometimes controlled by nearby (sorta) empires - Egypt, Rome, Persia, Sumeria, Lydia, Akkad, Babylonia, Assyria, et cetera.