A 4,000 year old city found hidden in an Arabian Oasis

French archaeologists have announced the discovery of a fortified city hidden in an oasis in Saudi Arabia. The city is believed to be 4,000 years old.

Reporting from Arabic News, Wednesday (31/10/2024), the remains of the city called Al-Natah are historical evidence that indicates how human life at that time slowly changed from religious (living from place to place) to urban life.

It is believed that Al-Natah has long been hidden behind the fortress walls of Khaibar, which is a piece of green and fertile land surrounded by desert, located in the north-west of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Khaibar Fort itself is known as the site of the Khaibar War, a fierce battle in the 7th century between the Prophet Muhammad SAW and local Jews.

According to research led by French archaeologist Guillaume Charloux, published in the PLOS One Journal in early 2024, the ancient wall found at the site was about 14.5 kilometers long.

In his statement to the French media, AFP (Agence France-Presse)the Saudi-French research team explained that the discovery of the fortified city was evidence that these forts were built around human habitation.

The city (Al-Natah) is thought to have been home to at least 500 inhabitants and was built around 2400 BC at the beginning of the Bronze Age.

“The city was abandoned about 1,000 years later, no one knows why,” Charloux said.

It is believed that at the time Al-Natah was built, the surrounding cities were growing rapidly, that is in the Levant region on the Mediterranean Sea, from today Syria to Jordan.

It is believed that at that time northwest Arabia was a barren desert with nomads and herdsmen full of burial places.

This finding regarding Al-Natah follows on from previous research. About 15 years ago archaeologists discovered a fort dating back to the Bronze Age in the oasis of Tayma, north of Khaibar.

The discovery of the fort in the oasis of Tayma was the first discovery that became a foreshadowing of archaeologists’ research for the surrounding oases, until Al-Natah was discovered.

According to Charlox, a black volcanic rock called basalt covers the walls of Al-Natah so well that the city site is protected from illegal excavation.

Based on research on the remains of the foundations of the fortified buildings of the city, it is suggested that the foundations were strong enough to support a house with one or two floors.

Although there are still many things to study from the remains, their initial findings indicate that Al-Natah was a city covering an area of ​​2.6 hectares with about 50 houses of the sitting on a hill, equipped with its own walls.

In addition, several graves were also found containing metal weapons such as axes and daggers as well as stones such as agate. This discovery shows that the people who live in this city have been very advanced for a long time.

The pieces of pottery found on the site show the relatively fair condition of the society. This can be seen from the ceramics they use which are very beautiful but also very simple.

The size of the fortress – which may have reached about five meters (16 ft) in height – suggests that Al-Natah was the seat of some powerful local authority.

These findings indicate a process of “slow urbanization” as the transition from a mobile life in the countryside to a more settled life in the city.

These fortified oases could be linked together in an area that was still largely inhabited by pastoral religious groups.

Trade between them may have even formed the basis of an “incense route” that traded spices, frankincense, and myrrh from southern Arabia to the Mediterranean.

Even though Al-Natah was a relatively small town compared to cities in Mesopotamia or Egypt at that time.

“However, Al-Natah points out that in this vast desert, there seems to have been another route of urbanization apart from the cities of Mesopotamia or Egypt, which had a simpler way of life, much more slow, and very specific to the north-western region of Arabia. ” said Charloux.

(inf/play)