The ramparts of Khaybar. Multiproxy investigation for reconstructing a Bronze Age walled oasis in Northwest Arabia (Gold Open Access) (original) (raw)
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Arabian Archaeology & Epigraphy, 2021
The present article focuses on a long-lasting phenomenon that has not yet been treated from a regional and comparative perspective, despite its exceptional character: the walled oases of north-western Arabia. It appears that several oases in the region (Al-Ḥuwayyiṭ, Dūmat al-Jandal, Ḥāʾiṭ, Khaybar, Qurayyah and Taymāʾ) were entirely, or in large part, enclosed by outer walls prior to the Islamic era. These compounds comprised not only densely populated areas but the whole oasis territory, including rural zones and sometimes burial grounds. Measuring several kilometres in length, these immense defensive schemes required considerable investment by indigenous populations for their construction and maintenance until their disuse. According to our research, the walled oases phenomenon in north-western Arabia originated sometime in the late fourth−early third millennium BCE, possibly inspired by Early Bronze Age southern Levant defensive concepts, and further expanded in connection with the emergence of the trans-Arabian trade and the caravan kingdoms. These conclusions are based on the detailed technological study of the ramparts of the oasis of Dūmat al-Jandal and on the analysis of satellite imagery and scientific literature on other sites in northwestern Arabia.
Supplement of the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 2022
The Khaybar oasis is a cultural landscape that has been shaped over thousands of years by human occupation and where communities continue to live to the present day. It lies on the edge of a large lava field called Ḥarrāt Khaybar in north-west Saudi Arabia and combines unique geology, rich archaeology, and spectacular traditional heritage. It has been preserved for millennia, and human presence seems to have been continuous from the earliest prehistoric times to the birth of Islam and beyond. This article presents a preliminary general assessment of the archaeology of this major Arabian oasis. It aims to introduce the objectives and methods of our new survey and excavation project, the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project (2020–2024), supported by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), the French Agency for AlUla Development (AFALULA), and the French Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It also highlights the preliminary results of field surveys carried out inside the RCU oasis core zone in Khaybar in November 2020 and June 2021. The project yielded important discoveries in its first seasons of activity, such as the presence of Palaeolithic and Neolithic occupations, the identification of specific patterns of local desert kites, the first analyses of protohistoric funerary structures, the discovery of a monumental pre-Islamic outer wall that surrounded the oasis in the past, new pre-Islamic and Islamic sites, as well as a significant number of inscriptions and rock art from different periods and traditions.
Antiquity, 2020
Prehistoric stone structures are prominent and well studied in the Levantine desert margins. In northern Arabia, however, such structures have received less attention. This article presents the results of investigations of a 35m-long stone platform, first constructed in the mid sixth millennium BC, overlooking the oasis of Dûmat al-Jandal in northern Saudi Arabia. Excavation of the platform has yielded bioarchaeological and cultural remains, along with evidence for several phases of construction and intermittent use down to the first millennium BC. Analysis of the platform and nearby tombs highlights the persistent funerary and ritual use of this area over millennia, illuminating nomadic pastoralist lifeways in prehistoric Arabia.
In Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 43, p. 285-308., 2013
Archaeologically, only little is known of the prehistoric, ancient, and medieval periods of central Arabia, the Riyadh Province in particular. And yet, as one of the few watered areas in the Najd, it has played a significant role in the political, economic, and religious history of the Peninsula. In order to throw new light on this region, in 2011 a French-Saudi archaeological mission started work in the Kharj oasis, surveying the area. Several types of site have been located: middle Palaeolithic workshops, Bronze Age necropoleis, and late antique/early Islamic settlements and irrigation systems. The main results of this survey are presented here, focusing on two sites: al-Kharj 22, a middle Palaeolithic site, and the late antique/early Islamic site of al-Yamāma, which was one of the major settlements in central Arabia for almost half a millennium (fifth–twelfth centuries) and was occupied until the eighteenth century.
Journal of Maps, 2019
The archaeological site Qurayyah, situated in the NW of the Tabuk Province of Saudi Arabia, has been repeatedly described as one of the largest and most significant oases of Northwestern Arabia. Human occupation in the oasis started at least from the early Holocene and continued to the Nabatean, Roman and late Byzantine period. The hydrologically favored position results from its specific geomorphological location where the plateaus fade towards the east and the landscape opens towards the Tabuk Basin so that a balanced water supply was ensured. We present a geomorphological map (1:20,000; main map) based on the interpretation of a high-resolution satellite image and detailed control in the field. The map integrates archaeological, hydraulic and natural features in order to show how the people at Qurayyah structured their landscape and developed water management strategies in relation to prevailing geomorphological processes during the incipient phase (Bronze Age) of the oasis.
Little is known about the archaeology of prehistoric, ancient and mediaeval Central Arabia, particularly the Riyadh Province. And yet, as one of the few watered areas in the Najd, it has played a significant role in the political, economic and religious history of the Peninsula. In order to throw new light on this region, in 2011 a French-Saudi archaeological mission started work in the Kharj oasis, surveying the area. Several types of site have been located: Middle Palaeolithic workshops, Bronze Age necropolises, and Late Antique/Early Islamic settlements and irrigation systems. The main results of this survey are presented here, focusing in two sites: al-Kharj 22, a Middle Palaeolithic site, and the Late Antique/Early Islamic site of al-Yamāma, which was one of the major settlements in central Arabia for almost half a millennium (5th–12th centuries), and was occupied until the 18th century.