In what may be seen as a stunning discovery, archaeologists have found a 4,000-year-old Bronze Age town in the Arabian Peninsula! It is believed that around 500 people used to live in that town. Reports suggest that the al-Natah settlement is situated near the Khaybar Oasis.

French archaeologist Guillaume Charloux, who discovered the town with the help of Saudi researchers, has claimed that the discovery shed light on the transition of ancient societies from nomadic lifestyle to urban living. He stressed that al-Natah, spanning around 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres) of land, was built in 2400 BCE and people used to live there till 1300 BCE. “Our findings suggest that the people of al-Natah engaged in a slower, region-specific process of urbanisation,” Charloux told AFP.

According to the French archaeologist, the structure and stone barriers of the town suggest that inhabitants were socially organised, and nomadic communities had traditionally dominated the area. He stated that researchers discovered the town in the first week of November 2024 while excavating a site near the city of Al-Ula in western Saudi Arabia’s Hejaz region. Interestingly, inhabitants had also built a 14.5km-long wall, encircling al-Natah, to protect the city.

The archaeologists are of the opinion that al-Natah was a carefully planned settlement as it had a central administrative zone, walled gardens, a necropolis and a residential district with interconnected streets! Also, there were circular stepped tower tombs and multiple artefacts in the necropolis. Archaeologists also found axes, daggers, precious stone rings made of agate and pieces of pottery in the newly-discovered town.

Meanwhile, Charloux has informed the press that the process of urbanisation was quite slow in the Arabian Peninsula, stating: “Settlements in northern Arabia were in a transitional stage of urbanisation during the third to second millennium BCE.” This particular phase, called Low Urbanisation, describes a transitional stage between pastoralism and complex urban settlements. “While urbanisation began in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the 4th millennium BCE, our study tends to show that social complexity increased late in north-western Arabia,” added Charloux.

In January 2024, the archaeologists discovered a similar fortification from the same period of time in the neighbouring Tayma Oasis. However, researchers have still not figured out why the inhabitants had abandoned al-Natah between BCE 1500 and BCE 1300. Charloux told the media: “It is a pertinent question that we cannot answer at the moment.” He believes that extensive work is required in this region.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das