Archaeologists find 4,000-year-old fort city hidden under Saudi oasis

Northern Arabia was likely dotted with similar small fortified towns, scientists say

Vishwam Sankaran
3 hours ago

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Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of an ancient Bronze Age town under an oasis in Saudi Arabia’s Madinah province that was slowly occupied from 2400 BC.

Researchers say the ancient town, dubbed al-Natah, was a city transforming from a nomadic cattle-herding lifestyle into a complex urban settlement. The town’s remains are concealed by the walled oasis of Khaybar, a fertile land surrounded by desert in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula.

Urbanization has been difficult to study in northern Arabia due to a lack of well-preserved archaeological sites compared to better-understood areas such as the Levant and Mesopotamia.

However, recent digs in northern Arabia provide fresh insights into the early stages of urbanisation in this region.

The ancient al-Natah town with around 500 residents, covered about 1.5ha, and had a central district and nearby residential district surrounded by protective ramparts, according to the study published in the journal PLoS ONE.

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/ancient-fort-city-saudi-oasis-b2640726.html


3D virtual reconstruction of the Bronze Age site of al-Natah (Charloux et al., 2024, PLOS ONE)

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/ancient-fort-city-saudi-oasis-b2640726.html