Archaeological Studies Have Revealed the Historical Depth of The Arabian Peninsula
By
Tareq Al-Thaqafi
December
19, 2020
Hidden
beneath the sands of the Arabian Peninsula lie secrets dating back thousands of
years that tell the story of the people of Arabia.
Ancient stone carvings and other discoveries in the peninsula show a
land that once flourished with life. Archaeologists have found proof that the
historical roots of the people of Arabia go back more than 120,000 years. (AFP)
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Ancient
stone carvings and other discoveries in the peninsula show a land that once
flourished with life and ancient civilizations. Like detectives, historians and
archaeologists have found proof that the historical roots of the people of
Arabia go back more than 120,000 years.
Dr. Salma
Hawsawi, professor of ancient history at King Saud University, said in an
interview with Arab News that the geographical location of the Arabian
Peninsula, at the center of the ancient world — Asia, Africa, and Europe —
provided ancient civilizations with an added advantage to connect East and
West.
She
explained that from the beginning of the first millennium BC, the southern part
of the Arabian Peninsula witnessed the rise of several kingdoms and
civilizations, such as Ma’in, Hadramout, Awsan, Qataban, Sheba, and Himyar. Due
to their strategic locations, as trade flourished, so did the civilizations
that controlled the land and sea trading routes.
The
kingdoms of the north and northwest of the Arabian Peninsula such as Dadan,
Lihyan, Nabatea, the Palmyrene Empire, Tayma, and Qedar flourished around the
same period.
In the
eastern region of the peninsula, the kingdoms of Dilmun and Magan, Gerrha and
Thaj were active, while in the central region there was the Al-Magar
civilization and Qaryat Al-Faw.
Hawsawi
pointed out that the Kingdom, which occupies about a third of the Arabian
Peninsula, is full of architectural and written proof, from buildings to
inscriptions and rock drawings.
She noted
that rock drawings can be found in Hail, the ancient fort in Tabuk dating back
to 3500 BC, Fadak’s palaces and Khaybar’s forts, the Marid Castle in Dumat
Al-Jandal dating back to the first century AD and ancient cemeteries. She also
mentioned statues, some still intact, dolls, bas-relief decorations and
pottery. “If the above mentioned items are not enough, we have the Holy Kaaba,
which is the oldest place of worship on earth.”
She went on
to say that the Saudi Arabia and international archaeological missions are
still excavating and constantly announcing their findings, the latest of which
was a joint discovery by the international and Saudi archaeological missions of
human, elephant and predatory animal footprints around a dry lake in Tabuk, in
the northwest of the Kingdom, dating back more than 120,000 years.
Dr. Marwan
Shuaib, professor of Ancient History at King Abdul Aziz University, said: “The
ancient Near East region is considered the home of mankind’s first
civilizations. Western scholars have been interested in studying it for more
than two centuries, since the arrival of the French under Napoleon in Egypt and
the Levant (1798-1801 AD). The need to study and explore this important region
increased with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, which made it easy for
scientists to decipher hieroglyphics.”
The
prevailing view was that the Nile River region and Mesopotamia were the oldest
civilizations known to humanity, alongside the Chinese and Indian
civilizations.
“Visits
from Western travelers to the Arabian Peninsula increased: Swiss traveler
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt who discovered Petra in 1812, the capital of the
Nabataeans in southern Jordan, and English traveler Charles Doughty who visited
the Arabian Peninsula between 1908 and 1909 and discovered the famous Tayma
Stone, which contains important information about the stay of the Babylonian
king, Nabonidus, in Tayma for 10 years. These discoveries have drawn the
attention of scholars to the ancient history of the Arabian Peninsula.”
He said:
“King Abdul Aziz led the way for Western scholars to study the archeology of
the Arabian Peninsula. The English traveler John Philby, also known as Abdullah
Philby later on, was friends with the founding king and was allowed to tour the
lands of the Arabian Peninsula, where he visited the ancient village of Faw in
1949 AD, north of Najran. He mentioned in his writings that it is an
archaeological area containing many important historical proofs. The Belgian
scholar Ryckmans also visited the Arabian Peninsula in 1951-1952 and copied a
large number of its inscriptions. Successive exploration campaigns, drillings
and excavations later took place in the archaeological areas of the Arabian
Peninsula.”
“Archaeological
studies have also revealed many archaeological areas within the Arabian
Peninsula, for example Dumat Al-Jandal, which was mentioned in ancient biblical
sources as the fortress of Dumat Bin Ismail, meaning that it dates back to the
10th century BC.”
AlUla, in
the northwest of the Kingdom, contains a large number of Dadanitic, Lihyan, and
Thamudic inscriptions, in addition to a large number of residences with
Nabataean features.
Scholars
have found inscriptions and drawings dating back 10,000 years in AlUla and
Hail, specifically in Jubbah and Al- Shuwaymis, which indicates that the people
of the area developed a writing system earlier than archaeologists believed. He
concluded by saying that these findings show the historical depth of the
region.
Original
Headline: Uncovering secrets hidden beneath the sands of the Arabian Peninsula
Source: The Arab News
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