Cities of Salt (Arabic: مدن الملح, romanized: Mudun al-Milḥ) is a petrofiction novel by Abdul Rahman Munif.

The novel, and the quintet of which it is the first volume, describes the far-reaching effects of the discovery of huge reserves of oil under a once-idyllic oasis somewhere on the Arabian peninsula.

"[3] Abdul Rahman Munif was born to Saudi parents in 1933 in Amman, Jordan, which at the time was under British rule.

[4] These early hands-on experience with oil development in Arab countries provide Munif invaluable insights in his writings.

Cities of Salt, which is the first novel of a quintet, was written during his stay in France and originally published in Beirut in 1984.

Many Arab people deem this as a corruption of their soul, a psychological shock to the socially conservative and religious society, and something they can not easily forget.

Abdu Muhammad is surrounded in controversies by adorning the bakery with pictures of women from foreign magazines and falling in love with a portrait of an American woman.

One group, led by Miteb and working class Arabs are wary of the promises made by capitalists and the repercussions of drastic social transformations.

Material self-interests push another group, led by Ibn Rashed and Rezaie, to align themselves with the Americans and create a separate and different identity marked with better living standards, familiarity with modern technology, close relationship with the emir and a relentless desire to dominate.

[5] The book captures the nuanced moment of the emergence of class consciousness:"The shift ended, and all the men drifted home to the two sectors like streams coursing down a slope, one broad and one small, the Americans to their camp and the Arabs to theirs, the Americans to their swimming pools, where their racket could be heard in the nearby barracks behind the barbed wire.

When silence fell, the workers guessed that the Americans had gone into their air-conditioned rooms whose thick curtains shut everything out: sunlight, dust, flies, and Arabs.

[10] Despite that people remain in the same geographical space, the destructions or losses of any environmental surroundings are equivalent to the stripping of their cultural identities.

He then become the first resident in the emir's jail and eventually murdered by Johar when he refuses to work in stone quarry or leave.

Munif, like many others in his generation, possessed dreams of Arab ascendancy and considered the humiliating loss the most dangerous defeat of the 20th century.

The petrodollars not only brought economic prosperity and international political leverage, but also wasteful government spending and domestic suppression.

The large inflow of foreign workers, commodities, and capital also fundamentally transformed the religious and traditional society.

Authoritarian states like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and UAE in the Arab world have used petrodollars to uphold their political power-structures.

Britain made many important statements, such as the British Mandate for Palestine and the Balfour Declaration, that led to the creation of Israel.

"[12] After recognizing the connection between the oil age and its problematic externalities, economic, political, environmental, sexual, aesthetic, and even religious, Cities of Salt asks us to contemplate the human effects of its eventual passing.

[13] Being both an epitome and a reminiscence of the traumas brought by colonial and imperial exploitations that persist until today, the novel pushes us to re-evaluate the gains and losses, especially lives, self, and love.

Cities of Salt was banned in Saudi Arabia and few other countries because it satirizes Arab elitist government, exposes Americans' cruel treatment,[5] and has the potential of evoking rebellious emotions.

--- Graham Greene[citation needed] "A powerful, untold story, done with humor, grace, and a resonant depth of feelings" --- Kirkus Reviews[14] "Brings to life many of the political issues that have plagued the Nideast for most of this century ... Theroux's sensitive translation conveys the subtleties of ambiguity and nuance inherent to the Arab language and culture ... Munif writes from a unique vantage point; English-languages readers have been given few opportunities before now to look at this situation through native eyes."