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Saudi Heritage Commission Announces New Archaeological Discoveries in Jurash

The Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash in Saudi Arabia's Asir region. SPA
The Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash in Saudi Arabia's Asir region. SPA
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Saudi Heritage Commission Announces New Archaeological Discoveries in Jurash

The Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash in Saudi Arabia's Asir region. SPA
The Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash in Saudi Arabia's Asir region. SPA

The Saudi Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash, Asir region, the result of strenuous excavations taking place during its 15th season in 2023, nominating “Jurash Archaeological Site” as one of the most important archaeological sites in the south of the Kingdom.

The scientific team at the site revealed on Monday new architectural residential units whose walls were built with stones and clay.

The units are an extension of what was unveiled during archaeological excavations in previous seasons, specifically on the northern side of the site.

The Heritage Commission also announced the discovery of a new irrigation technology consisting of a well built using the method of stacked stones, connected to water channels built with two rows of stones with a channel between them for distributing water to the residential units, and other channels branching out from it that flow into water basins adjacent to the units.

Also discovered were stoves and terraces built of stones and clay.
A large number of stone tools for daily use were also found, in addition to a collection of beads made of fine stones.

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Japan’s Sado Mines Added to World Heritage List

This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)
This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)
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Japan’s Sado Mines Added to World Heritage List

This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)
This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)

A network of mines on a Japanese island infamous for using conscripted wartime labor was added to UNESCO's World Heritage register Saturday after South Korea dropped earlier objections to its listing.

The Sado gold and silver mines, now a popular tourist attraction, are believed to have started operating as early as the 12th century and produced until after World War II.

Japan had put a case for World Heritage listing because of their lengthy history and the artisanal mining techniques used there at a time when European mines had turned to mechanization.

The proposal was opposed by Seoul when it was first put because of the use of involuntary Korean labor during World War II, when Japan occupied the Korean peninsula.

UNESCO confirmed the listing of the mines at its ongoing committee meeting in New Delhi on Saturday after a bid highlighting its archaeological preservation of "mining activities and social and labor organization".

"I would like to wholeheartedly welcome the inscription... and pay sincere tribute to the long-standing efforts of the local people which made this possible," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said in a statement.

The World Heritage effort was years in the making, inspired in part by the successful recognition of a silver mine in western Japan's Shimane region.

South Korea's foreign ministry said it had agreed to the listing "on the condition that Japan faithfully implements the recommendation... to reflect the 'full history' at the Sado Gold Mine site and takes proactive measures to that end."

Historians have argued that recruitment conditions at the mine effectively amounted to forced labor, and that Korean workers faced significantly harsher conditions than their Japanese counterparts.

"Discrimination did exist," Toyomi Asano, a professor of history of Japanese politics at Tokyo's Waseda University, told AFP in 2022.

"Their working conditions were very bad and dangerous. The most dangerous jobs were allocated to them."

Also added to the list on Saturday was the Beijing Central Axis, a collection of former imperial palaces and gardens in the Chinese capital.

The UNESCO committee meeting runs until Wednesday.