Uncovering the secrets of a mysterious civilization in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Electronic Museum
Jun 14, 2021
5 min read

For the first time, a team of archaeologists is conducting an archaeological survey in an area in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to shed light on a mysterious civilization that once flourished there, the Nabataean civilization that left traces of which many have yet to be discovered.

The Al-Ula desert in Saudi Arabia is known for its dark nights, allowing stargazers to study celestial bodies without problems caused by any light pollution.

But the area is becoming more and more attractive to archaeologists. The Nabataean civilization flourished in this region starting from the first century BC and lasted for about 200 years.

Although the Nabataeans ran their empire from their capital, Petra, in Jordan, they established a stone city (present-day Madain Saleh) in the Al-Ula desert, and it served as their second capital.

Archaeologists plan to conduct the first archaeological excavation in an area the size of Belgium.

The team, which includes more than 60 experts, started a two-year project to explore the heart of the region in an area of about 3,300 square kilometers in northwest Saudi Arabia.

This is the first time that an area of this size has been subjected to an archaeological scientific study in Saudi Arabia.

Image source, RICHARD DUEBEL

Commenting on the photo, the Nabataean civilization occupied the north of the Arabian Peninsula and the south of the Levant

Excavations have been carried out in Mada'in Saleh and other Nabatean sites for some time by a group of Saudi experts, including Abdul Rahman Al-Suhaibani, a lecturer at King Saud University in Riyadh.

Al-Suhaibani said, "Earlier, I focused on the Dadaani and Lihyanite civilizations, and now the Royal Commission for Al-Ula is working with a broader perspective to better understand how early societies developed in the region."

The authority is working to put the latest technologies at the disposal of archaeologists at the site.

While Google Earth and a trained naked eye can distinguish natural rocks from human intervention, it is light aircraft equipped with specialized cameras that provide the greatest possible detail of the area, which includes the Al-Ula Valley and the surrounding valleys.

According to Rebecca Foot, the American archaeologist responsible for the excavation for the Royal Commission in Al-Ula, previous efforts focused on excavations because a comprehensive excavation requires a lot of time and resources that are now available.

Foote believes that this study will put Saudi Arabia on the map of ancient history.

Image source, RICHARD DUEBEL

Commenting on the photo, archaeologists are studying the Al-Ula desert region

She adds: "We know a lot about the period between the first and third millennium BC, we know a lot about ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia), and in comparison, we know very little about the Arabian Peninsula in ancient history, so how our discoveries will affect our understanding of ancient history, we do not know yet. But it is likely that it will reshape the view of the world in ancient history."

Foote spent many years working in Petra, the ancient city in Jordan that still represents the most famous relic of the Nabataean civilization. She says that aerial surveys are important to discover unconventional sites, which may take many years to discover.

"The technology now provides a comprehensive view that can be relied upon, as nothing like this has happened on this scale before," she said.

A French mission had previously discovered a network of incense trade routes in western Saudi Arabia that crossed the Al-Ula desert, and Rebecca Foote wants to build on this information and learn more about the role of water in the prosperity of the region.

She commented, "We can guess that they had a successful agricultural economy, but were there taxes on incense? How did they manage their water resources?"

Image source, RICHARD DUEBEL

Comment on the photo, many civilizations inhabited the area and left their markصمت

And when the hydrological studies begin, the answers come in, thanks in part to the meteorological team that helps locate specific sites.

The aerial exploration team (which analyzes aerial images) led by Jimmy Quartermain of the University of Oxford in Britain, covered half of the 11,500 target sites with light aircraft equipped with specialized cameras, flying at an altitude of between two thousand and three thousand feet. Such work is usually done to ensure that future buildings are not built near archaeological sites, and is known as a preventive survey.

"We have learned from the mistakes of the past made by other countries, and we are trying to avoid them here to prevent damage," Quartermain says.

This prospective study provides answers for professionals in fields such as rock art. "Five years ago, GPS was not accurate enough, and today we use multiple methods of photography, including drones, cameras suspended under light aircraft, and the latest aerial photography technology," according to Jimmy Quartermain.

It is noteworthy that the production of an image modified every two or three seconds provides thousands of images that measure the true dimensions, which is a treasure for topographers. And specialists blend these images at a high resolution, revealing the finest details of the scene.

The cameras are placed at an angle of 45 degrees Celsius under the planes, and burial sites and funeral scenes from the Bronze Age have been discovered until now.

"This allows us to see the scene clearly both horizontally and vertically. This enables us to reveal some of the sites of stone carving," says Jimmy Quartermain.

In the final stage of the study, a specialized team will be sent, such as the expert in rock sculpting, Maria Guagnin, who has already spent five years in northwest Arabia, and has expressed her fascination with the large database that became available for all periods.

Image source, RICHARD DUEBEL

Commenting on the photo, Amr Al-Madani works with the Royal Commission for Al-Ula

"For the first time we are looking at the archaeological scene in all its aspects, and our information is based on the distribution of animal species in the prehistoric period and on archaeological study sites from the air and Stone Age sites," Guagnin said.

She continued, "It was believed that many animals did not have a trace in the Arabian Peninsula, but the stone art paintings showed the opposite."

The presence of types of mammals drawn on the rocks in Al-Ula provides information related to their spread, way of life, and food that was available to them in prehistoric scenes.

Animal illustrations also help in determining dates. It was unlikely, for example, that there were knights on horses or camels 1200 years ago.

The domesticated livestock of sheep and goats was known to the Arabian Peninsula between 6800 and 6200 BC. The Levant had known it first, and then it moved to the Arabian Peninsula. This is one of the means of determining the date, as it is unlikely that there were animals in this region at this date.

The extensive information that the Al-Ula international team will obtain is likely to reveal the routes that linked Petra to Mada'in Saleh.

Abd al-Rahman al-Suhaibani had been excavating for a few years at Dadan, a site that indicates the existence of a previous civilization of the Nabateans. He said: "It may take generations for the result of this work to appear, and what makes this work important at the global level is that it is not limited to Mada'in Saleh and Petra only, but also includes previous civilizations unknown to us."

Among the tasks assigned to Abdul Rahman is the training of students of King Saud University in the Al-Ula site. He says, "They are learning within the framework of one of the most important studies of exploratory excavation. Today's students may make discoveries that we cannot imagine."

Who are the Nabataeans?