During the fourth and third millennia BC, settled communities lived in the oases of the northern Arabian desert. Scientists from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Royal Commission for Oura (RCU) recently discovered a fortification around the Khaibar Oasis, marking it as one of the oldest structures of its kind known from this era.
This new walled oasis, along with the Oasis of Thelema, is one of the two largest oases in Saudi Arabia. While many walled oases have been documented as early as the Bronze Age, this significant discovery sheds new light on human habitation in northwest Arabia and better captures the complexity of local society in the pre-Islamic period.
Enhanced analysis
By cross-referencing field surveys and remote sensing data with architectural studies, the research team estimated the original dimensions of the fortifications to be: 14.5 kilometers long, 1.70 to 2.40 meters thick, and about 5 meters high. This giant fortification retains less than half of its original length (41%, 5.9 kilometers, 74 forts) and enclosed nearly 1,100 hectares of rural and residential areas. Based on radiocarbon dating of samples collected during excavations, the fortification is estimated to have been built between 2250 BC and 1950 BC.
This study confirms that Khaibar Oasis clearly belongs to a network of walled oases in northwest Arabia, but the discovery of the wall also raises questions about why the wall was built and the nature of the inhabitants who built the wall, particularly their relationship to those outside the oasis.
This archaeological discovery paves the way for insights into the prehistoric, pre-Islamic and Islamic history of northwestern Arabia.
Compiled source: ScitechDaily