The size, locations, and numbers of these monuments point to a degree of community cooperation previously undetected, and evidence that some of these sites were used for ritual may change our view of these prehistoric peoples’ interior life altogether. Using satellite imagery, aerial photography, ground survey and old-fashioned digging, archaeologists can now appreciate the sheer number of stone structures built in the late prehistoric period (circa 5200-1200 BCE) across AlUla’s lowlands, uplands and harrat (lava flows). New findings in the mysterious, vast, and previously unexplored, monumental landscape they and generations after left behind suggest their culture was far more complex than once thought. RCU’s discoveries have established that prehistoric peoples of AlUla hunted and grazed in AlUla in a greener land than today. Visitors will soon be able to journey through time and across one of the world’s largest archaeological sites, experiencing a landscape that has been inhabited for over 200,000 years. And, as 2021 approaches, more of AlUla’s heritage treasures will be revealed to the world through television documentaries, the touring Wonders of Arabia exhibition (previously hosted at the Institut du monde Arabe in Paris) and the re-opening of AlUla itself. Thanks to the recent work, this “jewel in the heritage crown of Saudi Arabia” is beginning to fill in the missing links of the region's development and the generations that have crossed it, and whose descendants still inhabit it. That has changed thanks to archaeologists of the RCU – the governmental body charged with developing and administering the region – and the teams it organizes, tapping experts from Saudi and international universities, research institutes, museums and other professionals, as well as the French teams that the Agence française pour le développement d’AlUla (AFALULA), a key partner, brings. Despite the geographical size of AlUla (22,561 sq km) and the scope of heritage contained within, it is only in the last few years that AlUla has seen more than limited archaeological exploration. However, we’re now learning that AlUla was more than just a place to transit, it was a true nexus and a home for complex communities across thousands of years.”Īrchaeologists, conservators, photogrammeters and other specialists are returning to AlUla, following the Covid-19 lockdown, and resuming their fieldwork. AlUla was seen as just a region people passed through. “For many years, its importance has been eclipsed by the nearby Fertile Crescent, riverine Mesopotamia, and Egypt, and the marine civilizations along the Red Sea. Rebecca Foote, Director of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Research at the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU). “Northwestern Arabia has often been overlooked as a place of cultural and civilizational importance in and of itself,” explains Dr. As a result, while AlUla is best known for the Nabataean tombs of Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site, over 27,000 other archaeological sites have been identified within its borders with more set to be discovered and recorded in the coming months. Yet, crucially, amid this hard landscape is a fertile oasis valley that has long sustained life and the wider area has drawn people and civilizations for more than 200,000 years. In what has become one of the world’s most active archaeological explorations, experts are beginning to fill in missing links in our understanding of the region’s human history with new discoveries – and further announcements are expected soon.ĪlUla is a region of deserts and arid mountains. As winter approaches and international travel allows, archaeological work is resuming in AlUla, a historically rich region that has been relatively untouched in comparison to similar places. Published 03 Nov,2020 via Asharq Alawsat (English Edition) - Amid a vast and enigmatic monumental landscape, forgotten kingdoms and layers of history, archaeologists are only just beginning to reveal the secrets of this heritage jewel in northwest Saudi Arabia.
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