ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND 4,000-YEAR-OLD BRONZE AGE TOWN IN SAUDI ARABIA

Fri 29 November 2024:

Archaeologists have made a stunning discovery of a 4,000-year-old Bronze Age town in the Arabian Peninsula where nearly 500 people used to live.

The discovery has shed light on how ancient societies transitioned from nomadic lifestyle to urban living.

French archaeologist Guillaume Charloux, along with Saudi researchers, discovered the al-Natah settlement close to the Khaybar Oasis.

According to the researchers, al-Natah spans around 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres) and was constructed in 2400 BCE. The town remained inhabited till roughly 1300 BCE.

Archaeologists have found a Bronze Age settlement known as al-Natah in Saudi Arabia that reveals how slowly urbanization proceeded in this part of the world.
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“Our findings suggest that the people of al-Natah engaged in a slower, region-specific process of urbanisation,” Charloux said while speaking to AFP.

He emphasised that the structure and stone barriers of the town suggested that inhabitants were socially organised and the area was traditionally dominated by nomadic communities.

All about al-Natah

The site near the city of Al-Ula in western Saudi Arabia’s Hejaz region was found by the archaeologists and it was named “al-Natah.”

A 9-mile-long (14.5 kilometre) wall is believed to have encircled Al-Natah and protected it.

تعلن @RCU_SA عن التوصل إلى اكتشاف أثري في واحة #خيبر والذي يغير المفاهيم القديمة حول الحالة الرعوية في العصر البرونزي، حيث يعد هذا الاكتشاف الأول من نوعه في المنطقة من خلال قرية #النطاة التي تبرز الحياة الاجتماعية والاقتصادية خلال ذلك العصر. pic.twitter.com/P7uVI6SPnX

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According to the archaeologists, a carefully planned settlement was created which had a central administrative zone, walled gardens, a necropolis and a residential district with interconnected streets.

There were circular stepped tower tombs and multiple artefacts in the necropolis.

Archaeologists also discovered axes, daggers, precious stone rings made of agate and pieces of pottery on the site.

In the research conducted in al-Natah and other sites, it was found that urbanisation was slow in the Arabian Peninsula.

“Settlements in northern Arabia were in a transitional stage of urbanisation during the third to second millennium [B.C.],” said the researchers, in the statement.

العثور على بلدة قديمة يعود تاريخها إلى 4000 عام مخبأة في واحة سعودية.

ظلت آثار هذه المدينة التي اطلق عليها اسم “النطح” مختفية لقرون في واحة خيبر المسورة، وتم التعرف على جدار يمتد بطول 14.5 كيلومترًا ضمن الموقع، وفقًا لدراسة أجراها عالم #الآثار الفرنسي Guillaume Charloux وفريق من… pic.twitter.com/AO2wjVb6Zi

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This phase was called “low urbanisation” because it described a transitional stage between pastoralism and complex urban settlements.

“While urbanisation began in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the 4th millennium B.C., our study tends to show that social complexity increased late in north-western Arabia,” said Charloux.

A similar fortification from the same epoch was found by the archaeologists in the neighbouring Tayma Oasis in January.

Archaeologists have still not figured out why al-Natah was abandoned between 1500–1300 BCE. “It’s a pertinent question that we can’t answer at the moment,” said Charloux, adding that extensive work is still required in this area.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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