Summary: The discovery of a long defensive wall protecting the Khaybar Oasis of Saudi Arabia provides evidence of urbanization 4,000 years ago and testifies to descriptions in the Bible.
In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, O you traveling companies of Dedanites. – Isaiah 21:13b (NKJV)
Long-Lost Walled Oasis of Khaybar
Dating back to the early Bronze Age, the remains of a long-lost fortified town were uncovered in a Saudi Arabian oasis by archeologists who say the stunning discovery offers evidence of the region’s shift from nomadic roaming to settled urbanization much earlier than researchers previously thought. This find also aligns with the description given in the Bible of this area as a place with a more hospitable climate than today.
A French-Saudi research team unearthed the 4,000-year-old hidden town called al-Natah within the walled oasis of Khaybar, a fertile land surrounded by desert in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula, according to the new study.
The team uncovered a nine-mile defensive wall or rampart, dating between 2250-1950 BC, surrounding the area. With walls measuring approximately sixteen feet high and over seven feet wide in some places, the structure is believed to have been used for protection as well as a sign of strength to dissuade attacks.
The enclosed area contained at least one settlement and was also likely used as agricultural land. The settlement appears to have covered over six acres with about fifty multi-story homes.
Town Buried by Desert Sand
The rampart had remained undetected “due to the profound reworking of the local desert landscape over time,” according to the study published in the February edition of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
Even as recently as 20 years ago, no one knew settlements had existed in the area. Using new satellite images, researchers were able to see otherwise hidden clues that helped with the identification of the buried wall and town in Khaybar.
“We can really show that there was a kind of walled oasis complex in north-west Arabia during the Bronze Age,” said one of the authors of the study, Dr. Guillaume Charloux of the French National Center for Scientific Research. “This makes the thing very exciting.”
The multidisciplinary investigation was conducted between 2020 and 2023 by the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project. The study revealed that settled communities did exist during this early time period, revolutionizing the history of the Arabian Peninsula. Now, more than half a dozen walled oases have been identified, including Huwayyit, Dumat al-Jandal, Al-Wadi, Al-Ayn, and al-Tibq.
“Different to Our Initial Belief”
“Thanks to this discovery of Khaybar, we are now able to say it’s not [just] one place, it’s many places that were fortified with monumental architecture. [This is] absolutely exciting and very different to our initial belief,” explained Dr. Charloux.
“We can say that the main goal, the main purpose, was ostentation,” Charloux said. “It means that people really wanted to show their power and to demarcate their own territory, … what is inside and what is outside, which is the desert and the plateau and the very arid area.”
There are segments of the wall which display a number of bastions attesting to its defensive function. Bastions are a projective part of a fortification, built at an angle to the line of a wall, to allow defensive fire in several directions.
“Of course [the wall is] protective, but it’s not … active defense with archery or military units. It’s probably passive defense. People can enter only if they’re authorized to enter,” said Charloux.
Besides providing defense from enemies, the stronghold would have protected the residents from natural disasters and weather, including wadi floods and sandstorms.
Charloux calculated that the structure would have taken a group of 250 workers about four years to build. The population of the town is estimated to have numbered between 1,000 to 1,500 people. Based on seeds found in the area, the inhabitants farmed cereals for food.
Slow Urbanization of Arabia
According to archeologists, a “slow urbanism” process was revealed by the study.
Dating from the late third millennium BC, “the ramparts of Khaybar were probably built by indigenous populations as they settled down” and marked off their oasis territory.
The town lasted about a thousand years and was later abandoned between 1500 and 1300 BC, with few clues as to why, the researchers said. They theorize the town’s deterioration was caused by environmental shifts, limited resources, or changes in trade routes.
“These ramparts lasted for several centuries before being dismantled or replaced by more recent structures. In addition to the discovery of a unique and securely dated monument, the recognition of the Khaybar walled oasis constitutes a crucial landmark in the architectural and social heritage of north Arabia,” according to the study.
Biblical Connections
An interesting connection can be made with these discoveries of large and widespread development in Arabia and the Bible, which describes the southern region of Israel, called the Negev, as having a wetter climate than it does today, especially around the time of the Exodus and prior.
The Bible mentions forests in the region of the Negev, along with crops being planted there and some tree cover.
Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. – Ezek. 20:47 (ESV)
In Old Testament times this land was green enough to support the large flocks of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The area on the northwest side of the Negev, Gerar, produced grain crops during Isaac’s time.
So Isaac settled in Gerar. … And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. – Gen. 26:6, 12-13 (ESV)
The Bible also mentions the area as being susceptible to droughts that made life more difficult. This mention indicates that the area was not predominantly dry and arid. See also the verse at the top of the article.
This find also speaks to another issue that is contested by some scholars. These scholars criticize the Bible’s portrayal of the nation of Edom as a strong and organized kingdom as far back as the time of the Exodus (not to mention skepticism about the Israelites themselves). When the Israelites were traveling to the Promised Land they had to circumnavigate Edom, who would not allow Israel to pass through their territory. But because there is currently a lack of evidence for large cities and fortifications of that age in Edom (which lies just north of Arabia) some are skeptical of the Bible’s claims.
However, this skepticism reveals a strong bias against the idea that nomadic populations can be highly organized. Think of the Mongols under Ghengis Kahn in the 13th century AD, whose conquests resulted in the largest empire the world had seen, yet because they were nomadic they left little evidence behind in their homeland that indicates such power.
Additionally, the fact that nine miles of fortifications and towns can lie undiscovered under a layer of sand, shows that there could easily be remains of settlements in portions of Edom waiting to be found. This is especially true since the Exodus took place several centuries after the recent finds in Arabia.
This aligns with the well-known adage, “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” It is common for historians to jump to all sorts of conclusions based on the small percentage of ancient material culture that has survived and the even smaller percentage that has been discovered, only to have to change their views after a new discovery is made.
Conclusion
“As a result of a series of field surveys and archaeological and architectural investigations, despite the difficulties of the terrain and the very incomplete state of the ramparts, we are now in a position to confirm the hypothesis that Khaybar was an immense walled oasis, like other oases in northwest Arabia, such as Tayma and Qurayyah,” according to the study.
More excavations in Khaybar and other Bronze Age settlements in the region are needed to assess the level of socio-economic complexity during this period in more detail. Nevertheless, the researchers said: “We can affirm rather confidently that, alongside non-sedentary groups in the desert, the settlement morphology in Northwestern Arabia during the third millennium and early second millennium BCE, was characterized by the existence of small towns, such as the al-Natah site, within huge interconnected walled oases.”
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TOP PHOTO: Virtual 3D Rendering of Bronze Age site of al-Natah. (credit: Charloux et al. 2024 PLOS ONE)
