Dûma 1. 2010 Report of the Saudi-Italian-French Archaeological Project at Dûmat al-Jandal (Saudi Arabia) (original) (raw)
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The present paper intends to give a preliminary overview of the activities carried out by the joint Saudi-Italian-French archaeological project at Dūmat al-Jandal (ancient Adummatu), between September 20th and November 20th 2012. The fourth campaign focused on the continuation of the activities set up during the 2009-2011 campaigns, and on new systematic analyses of the archeological site and its surroundings. Research topics ranged from the identification of palaeo-environments in the ancient al-Jawf landscape to a better understanding of the site’s chronology, by means of extensive excavations, without omitting the use of many archaeometric methods and the setting up of fieldwork training activities, and also and above all, of the conservation of local ancient and Islamic monuments which are in danger of disappearance. The activities were realized with contributions by CNRS, UMR 8167, Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), Musée du Louvre, French Federation of Speleology (FFS), UNO, Cyprus Institute, Aix-Marseille University, University of Geneva, Centro Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR, Paris IV, the Labex Resmed (University of Paris IV), FFS. Financial and technical support for the 2012 archaeological season was provided by the Ministero Italiano degli Affari Esteri (MAE), the Università degli Studi di Napoli“ L’Orientale” (UNO), the Centro Interdipartimentale di Servizi di Archeologia (CISA) of UNO, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, , the French Embassy in Riyâdh, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS France). Further analyses will be conducted with the collaboration of the German Archaeological Mission at Rajâjîl of the Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Freie Universität in Berlin.
A second archaeological campaign was performed on the site of Dūmat al-Jandal, the ancient Adummatu, between the 30th September and the 7th November 2010. The fieldworks, after a preliminary campaign carried out between the 23rd April and the 7th May 2009, took place within the framework of a agreement between the Italian Archaeological Mission, represented by Prof. Alessandro de Maigret and Dr. Romolo Loreto, and the Riyadh‘s GOTA (General Organization for Tourism and Antiquities). The agreement was extended, starting from 2010, to a partnership with the French Archaeological Mission in Saudi Arabia, represented by Prof. Christian J. Robin and Dr. Guillaume Charloux. The project is sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Università degli Studi di Napoli “l’Orientale”, the Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente in Rome, the French Centre for Scientific Research, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French Embassy in Riyadh.
A first archaeological campaign has been carried out at Dûmat al-Jandal between April 23 and May 7 2009. The field work, which follows a preliminary visit of the site we could accomplish on June 2008, has been realized after the approval of an “Italian proposal of research at Dûmat al-Jandal” by the “Saudi General Organization for Tourism and Antiquities” (GOTA). The project is co-sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE/DGPC), Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” (UNO) and the Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente of Rome (IsIAO). The Italian Archaeological Mission carries on its researches under the patronage of the IsIAO. A formal Joint Cooperative Agreement for a five years period of activities was signed at Riyadh on May 5 at the presence of HH Prince Sultan ibn Salman ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz and the Italian Ambassador Eugenio D’Auria. The program of the first campaign was aimed to: 1) obtaining a first comprehensive map of the Archaeological Park around the Mârid castle; 2) starting some systematic excavations in the same Archaeological Park.
First mentioned in Assyrian annals, then in Nabataean and Roman inscriptions, Dūmat al-Jandal (ancient Adumatu) is, along with Taymā' and Hegra (Madā'in Sālih), one of the main pre-Islamic sites of north-west Saudi Arabia. A preliminary survey by the newly established Saudi-Italian-French Project in 2010 revealed numerous archaeological features and offered a first understanding of the layout and environmental characteristics of this wide oasis. This paper offers the opportunity to review and briefly describe its main monuments, most of them little known, as a basis for future field research.
Al-Kharj 2011–2012. 1st and 2nd seasons of the Saudi-French Archaeological Mission
2017
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Al-Kharj 2011–2012. 1st and 2nd seasons of the Saudi-French Archaeological Mission Jérémie Schiettecatte, Abdalaziz Al-Ghazzi, Abdalaziz Al-Hammad, Antoine Chabrol, Guillaume Charloux, R. Crassard, Eric Fouache, Bruno Gavazzi, Yamandú H. Hilbert, Rozan Alkhatib-Alkontar, et al.