The “walled oases” phenomenon. A study of the ramparts in Dūmat al‐Jandal and other pre‐Islamic sites in north‐western Arabia

Abstract

The present article focuses on a long‐lasting phenomenon that has not yet been treated from a regional and comparative perspective, despite its exceptional character: the walled oases of north‐western Arabia. It appears that several oases in the region (Al‐Ḥuwayyiṭ, Dūmat al‐Jandal, Ḥāʾiṭ, Khaybar, Qurayyah and Taymāʾ) were entirely, or in large part, enclosed by outer walls prior to the Islamic era. These compounds comprised not only densely populated areas but the whole oasis territory, including rural zones and sometimes burial grounds. Measuring several kilometres in length, these immense defensive schemes required considerable investment by indigenous populations for their construction and maintenance until their disuse. According to our research, the walled oases phenomenon in north‐western Arabia originated sometime in the late fourth−early third millennium BCE, possibly inspired by Early Bronze Age southern Levant defensive concepts, and further expanded in connection with the emergence of the trans‐Arabian trade and the caravan kingdoms. These conclusions are based on the detailed technological study of the ramparts of the oasis of Dūmat al‐Jandal and on the analysis of satellite imagery and scientific literature on other sites in north‐western Arabia.

The Middle Holocene ‘funerary avenues’ of north-west Arabia

“…The settlement histories of most other avenue-associated oases during and preceding the third millennium BCE are currently largely unknown, although this situation is anticipated to change as intensive ongoing fieldwork yields results. 7 In the interim, it is noteworthy that many were, like Tayma’, wholly or partially enclosed by monumental, probably pre-Islamic perimeter walls (Charloux et al, 2021a). 8 At Khaybar, al Ha’it, al Huwayyit, al ‘Ayn and Wadi al Waqit oases, where these walls intersect with funerary avenues, all overlay avenue monuments and must therefore post-date them.…”

“…8 At Khaybar, al Ha’it, al Huwayyit, al ‘Ayn and Wadi al Waqit oases, where these walls intersect with funerary avenues, all overlay avenue monuments and must therefore post-date them. These walls are hypothesised to have been built to protect their more settled inhabitants from incursions by outsiders, to mitigate environmental threats, and to invoke territorial claims more generally, amongst other complex factors (Charloux et al, 2021a). The monumental funerary evidence presented above currently argues against any dichotomous relationships between notional ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ during preceding ‘avenue’ timeframes.…”

“…Edgell, 2006), associated with potentially complex and dynamic anthropogenic interventions such as wells, spring enlargements, irrigation structures and horticulture (cf. Charloux et al, 2021a; Wilkinson, 2003: 155–165). The prehistoric hydrology and human development (if any) of most water sources within our study areas are currently unknown.…”

From Dilmun to Wādī al‐Fāw: A forgotten desert corridor, c. 2000 BC

“…Inland transport further northwest on the Arabian Peninsula may have been conducted between the coastal Dilmunite communities on Failaka island and the Bronze Age ‘Culture’ of the oases to the south and west of the Nafud desert (Figure 1) (Charloux et al, 2021; Hausleiter, 2012; Luciani, 2021). Current lack of knowledge on the material culture connections between the 3rd and 2nd millennium Oasis ‘Culture’ and the Arabian Gulf makes it impossible to verify if this route was active.…”

Landscapes of Mobility and Movement in North-West Arabia: A Remote Sensing Study of the Neom Impact Zone

“…Investigations have taken place immediately west of the survey area at Qurayyah where a substantial settlement and agricultural landscape supported by complex watermanagement systems was established by the 2nd millennium BCE [16,17]. The latter site has been seen as part of a wider tradition of walled oasis sites including Tayma, Dumat al-Jandal and Khaybar continuing to the west and south-east, potentially beginning in the late 4th or early 3rd millennium BCE and possibly influenced by broad settlement forms coming down from the Levant region [18].…”