Archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old fortified town in northwest Saudi Arabia’s Khaybar Oasis, providing new insights into the historic shift from nomadic to urban life. The ancient settlement of al-Natah, located in the arid Khaybar oasis, exemplifies early social organisation and intricate urban planning. The study’s findings, published in PLOS One, show that the town could support up to 500 people and was divided into various zones for residential living, governance, and burial, emphasising its historical significance in the region.
Led by French archaeologist Guillaume Charloux, the study team unearthed a 14.5-kilometre wall that encircled the settlement, emphasising al-Natah’s ordered form. The village, estimated to have been founded between 2400 and 2000 BCE and occupied until 1500 or 1300 BCE, played an important role in encouraging contacts between pastoral nomadic communities. Researchers propose a region-specific “slow urbanism” process in which pastoral settlements progressively converted into settled life, linked by fortified oases.
The Royal Commission for AlUla conducted this study in partnership with the French Agency for the Development of AlUla (AFALULA) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), highlighting the town’s effect on early social and architectural developments in northwest Arabia.
