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Archaeological Town from Bronze Age Discovered at Saudi Arabia’s Khaybar Oasis

The discovery is proof of the Kingdom's commitment to safeguarding its cultural and historical heritage, as well as its desire to exchange knowledge and experience with the international community. (SPA)
The discovery is proof of the Kingdom's commitment to safeguarding its cultural and historical heritage, as well as its desire to exchange knowledge and experience with the international community. (SPA)
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Archaeological Town from Bronze Age Discovered at Saudi Arabia’s Khaybar Oasis

The discovery is proof of the Kingdom's commitment to safeguarding its cultural and historical heritage, as well as its desire to exchange knowledge and experience with the international community. (SPA)
The discovery is proof of the Kingdom's commitment to safeguarding its cultural and historical heritage, as well as its desire to exchange knowledge and experience with the international community. (SPA)

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) announced that archaeologists discovered a Bronze Age town in the Khaybar Oasis, in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

The discovery was published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE and announced on Saturday at a press conference held by the RCU in Riyadh. The conference highlighted the significance of the discovery to the Kingdom's standing in the field of antiquities, as well as on its cultural richness.

The discovery is proof of the Kingdom's commitment to safeguarding its cultural and historical heritage, as well as its desire to exchange knowledge and experience with the international community, and promote awareness about the common human heritage, consistent with the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

It also underscores the need to strengthen international partnerships, to present such a rich heritage to future generations globally.

The transition from a mobile pastoral life to a settled urban life in the region during the second half of the third millennium BC is illustrated by the discovery, which was made in the framework of the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project, led by Dr. Guillaume Charloux, researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, and Dr. Munirah AlMushawh, archaeological survey manager at RCU.

This change in paradigm challenges the previous notion that pastoral and nomadic society was the dominant socio-economic model in northwestern Arabia during the early and middle Bronze Age.

The research points out that regions such as Khaybar were significant urban centers that permanently maintained the stability of their communities, particularly with the introduction of agriculture. They also served as centers of trade and commerce for nomadic communities. The emergence of this urban design significantly influences the socio-economic paradigm of the region.

In the Bronze Age, the northwestern Arabian Peninsula was home to a significant number of nomadic pastoral communities, but the region also had a number of walled oases that were connected to one another and were located around fortified cities like Tayma.

The discovered town, called Al-Natah, provides evidence of a clear division, within forts and cities, of residential and funerary areas. The site encompassed an area of 2.6 hectares, was inhabited by 500 individuals between 2400 and 2000 BC until 1500 and 1300 BC. The Khaybar Oasis was surrounded by a 15-km-long stone wall to ensure its protection.

The study was conducted by the Royal Commission for AlUla in collaboration with the French Agency for the Development of AlUla (AFALULA) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

The commission's Department of Archaeology, Collections and Conservation manages one of the largest archaeological research programs globally as part of its mission to elevate AlUla's status as a premier cultural heritage destination.

The Khaybar Oasis, located on the edge of the Harrat Khaybar volcanic field, formed at the meeting point of three valleys in a highly arid area. The remains of the town were discovered on the northern edge of the oasis, buried beneath layers of basalt rock for thousands of years.

The research team identified the archaeological site in October 2020, but distinguishing the structures and layout of the town proved challenging. In February 2024, the team employed field surveys, in-depth research, and high-resolution imaging to uncover more details of what lay beneath. Future excavations are expected to provide an even clearer understanding of the site.

The study offers an initial view of life in Al-Natah, where residents lived in traditional multi-story dwellings, typically using the ground floor for storage and the upper floors for living quarters. Narrow pathways ran between the dwellings, leading to the town center. Residents buried their dead in graves and tiered towers, signifying high social status by including valuable items like pottery or metal tools such as axes and daggers.

Town life was marked by skilled craftsmanship, with residents making pottery, trading it, working with metal, and adorning their clothing with beads. Their diet, based mainly on mutton, lamb, and grains, reflected a cooperative lifestyle, with the community reinforcing walls using dry stones and clay.

Besides Charloux and AlMushawh, historian Saifi Alshilali, a native of Khaybar, contributed to the discovery. The new findings add to a series of studies begun in 2018, which explore the history of ancient AlUla and Khaybar, including massive stone structures known as mustatils, stone traps, extensive funerary roads linking settlements and pastures, and stone circles used as dwellings.

Collectively, these studies reveal that Bronze Age societies in northwestern Arabian Peninsula were more sophisticated and interconnected with the wider region than previously believed.

RCU is currently supervising 10 archaeological projects, to which 100 archaeologists and specialists working in AlUla and Khaybar contribute.

This new discovery bolsters AlUla and Saudi Arabia's role as a global hub for archaeological research and cultural dialogue. It is announced immediately after AlUla World Archaeology Symposium 2024, which brought together archaeologists and cultural heritage experts from all over the world.

Themed "Moving Forward: Past, Present and Future in the Archaeology and Heritage of Mobile Communities", the symposium underscored AlUla's growing role in the global archaeological community.

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Culture

Study Shows Marvels of the Roman Empire’s Road Network

A street in Ostia, the ancient seaport of Rome, Italy, at the mouth of the river Tiber, is pictured in this photograph released on September 14, 2026. (Tom Brughmans/Handout via Reuters)
A street in Ostia, the ancient seaport of Rome, Italy, at the mouth of the river Tiber, is pictured in this photograph released on September 14, 2026. (Tom Brughmans/Handout via Reuters)
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Study Shows Marvels of the Roman Empire’s Road Network

A street in Ostia, the ancient seaport of Rome, Italy, at the mouth of the river Tiber, is pictured in this photograph released on September 14, 2026. (Tom Brughmans/Handout via Reuters)
A street in Ostia, the ancient seaport of Rome, Italy, at the mouth of the river Tiber, is pictured in this photograph released on September 14, 2026. (Tom Brughmans/Handout via Reuters)

Augustus, ancient Rome's first emperor, placed a gilded monument called the Milliarium Aureum, or Golden Milestone, in the Roman Forum in 20 BC to mark the symbolic starting point for all roads in the sprawling empire. These roads indeed were the backbone of the world's first continental-scale transportation system.

Now, researchers have conducted a detailed structural analysis of the empire's road network, spanning roughly 190,000 miles (300,000 km) of routes crisscrossing Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

The study showed the old adage "all roads lead to Rome" was not exactly true, and the empire's later imperial capital Constantinople — present-day Istanbul — was a better fit for that maxim. While the Romans preferred building straight roads, difficult terrain sometimes frustrated that goal, it found.

The researchers also documented a correlation in many regions between the old Roman roads and modern highways.

The Romans, master engineers and builders, constructed roads stretching from the Moroccan and Arabian deserts in the south and east, all the way to Scotland and the Atlantic Ocean in the north and west. These roads were linked ‌to navigable rivers ‌and sea lanes to form a comprehensive transportation web.

"This infrastructure meant that a vast region became ‌more tightly ⁠integrated: it provided ⁠a continent-sized platform for people, animals, pathogens, goods and ideas to spread," said classical archaeologist Tom Brughmans of Aarhus University in Denmark, who helped lead the study published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

"The Roman legions marched over roads to respond to threats, relieve colleagues and colonize new territories. Radical new ideas like early Christianity moved with people over land and sea. But the roads themselves were most used for the frequent commutes between farm and field, or to local markets for selling produce," Brughmans said.

Some roads were very durable, constructed with a combination of materials including crushed stone, lime cement, gravel and paving stones. Traffic consisted mostly of people walking and riding on animals including horses, donkeys, mules and camels, as well as pack ⁠animals and animal-drawn carts and carriages.

Road distances from Rome were measured from the Milliarium Aureum. But ‌was this ancient megalopolis really the center of the network?

"All roads lead to Rome? Not ‌really," Brughmans said. "Rome is centrally located for Mediterranean shipping, but not particularly central in the Roman road system. We found that provincial capitals were exceptionally well ‌located on the roads in their province, facilitating effective provincial administration and tax collection."

Some of these provincial capitals included Ankara in Turkey, London ‌in Britain and Corinth in Greece.

"Rome itself was centrally located on the roads on the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. But when we consider all movement within the entire Italian peninsula, we were shocked to discover that the most central road actually follows the opposite Adriatic coastline, bypassing Rome altogether," Brughmans said.

A NEW CAPITAL

In the early fourth century AD, the Emperor Constantine moved the capital to Constantinople.

"This new capital was strategically located where Europe and Asia meet, and our ‌research has revealed that it was exceptionally central for empire-wide overland travel — way more so than Rome," Brughmans said. "It's on the Bosporus, and we know of ferries that crossed this strait in ⁠antiquity, effectively connecting European and Asian road ⁠traffic."

Roman engineers used tools and techniques to make roads as straight as possible, with the Via Appia south of Rome a prime example.

"But even the Romans had to bow to nature. We found that Roman roads tend to be straight only if the local topography allows for it, such as in the rather flat areas of Belgium, northern France or the Po Valley in Italy. On the whole, they did not move mountains just to build a road," Brughmans said.

These ancient roads structured interactions among hundreds of millions of people for more than two millennia, given the continued use of many long after the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD and the Eastern Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, succumbed in 1453.

"The persistency of the Roman road network can be demonstrated for many regions, from Britain to the Near East," said Adam Pazout, a postdoctoral fellow at the Autonomous University of Barcelona who helped lead the study. "And these roads in many places served as the main communications throughout the medieval period until development of the railroads in the 19th century and highways in the 20th century."

Many modern highways trace ancient roads.

"A great example is the Via Augusta, which goes from Cadiz in the south of Spain to the Pyrenees. The road passes under a triumphal arch called the Arc de Bera between Tarragona and Barcelona, where you can clearly see it has the same course as the modern N-340 motorway," Brughmans said.

Culture

On Arab Palm Day, AlUla Celebrates Agricultural Heritage Spanning Generations

AlUla is home to more than 4.2 million palm trees covering 16,484 hectares - SPA
AlUla is home to more than 4.2 million palm trees covering 16,484 hectares - SPA
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On Arab Palm Day, AlUla Celebrates Agricultural Heritage Spanning Generations

AlUla is home to more than 4.2 million palm trees covering 16,484 hectares - SPA
AlUla is home to more than 4.2 million palm trees covering 16,484 hectares - SPA

Palm trees are an integral part of AlUla Governorate's agricultural landscape and social and economic history. They remain a prominent feature of the governorate as a major crop and a source of food and income, coinciding with Arab Palm Day, observed annually on September 15.

According to SPA, AlUla is home to more than 4.2 million palm trees covering 16,484 hectares, while the governorate produces around 130,000 tons of dates annually.

These figures reflect the importance of palm trees to the governorate's agricultural sector and the significance of dates within its food production system.

Arab Palm Day highlights the importance of the palm tree in the Arab environment and culture. The designation of Arab Palm Day originated from a proposal submitted by Iraq's Ministry of Agriculture to the Arab League in 1981 to establish an annual day highlighting the palm tree and its importance across Arab countries.

In Saudi Arabia, the palm tree holds a firmly established place in the agricultural, cultural, and economic landscape. AlUla is among the most prominent examples, with its long-standing association with palm cultivation and its oases reflecting an agricultural heritage passed down through generations.

Culture

Huge Van Gogh Collection Reunited for First Time Since 1984

Vincent Van Gogh's "The Potato Eaters." (Getty Images)
Vincent Van Gogh's "The Potato Eaters." (Getty Images)
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Huge Van Gogh Collection Reunited for First Time Since 1984

Vincent Van Gogh's "The Potato Eaters." (Getty Images)
Vincent Van Gogh's "The Potato Eaters." (Getty Images)

A Dutch museum Tuesday put its entire collection of 88 paintings by Vincent Van Gogh on display for the first time since 1984, featuring masterpieces such as "The Potato Eaters".

The Kroller-Muller museum in central Netherlands holds one of the world's largest private collection of paintings by the 19th century Dutch master, but they are rarely displayed together.

"This makes it one of the largest Van Gogh exhibitions of this century," the museum said in a statement, with the display opening to the public from Tuesday until January.

Alongside "The Potato Eaters", the artist's world-famous depiction of peasant life from 1885, the collection includes "Terrace of a Cafe at Night" (1888) and "The Old Tower at Neunen" (1884).

"The exhibition presents all the paintings in relation to the three divine virtues: faith, hope and love," said the museum.

"These three themes play a central role in Van Gogh's life and work. Through his art, he aims to offer hope and comfort to others."

The post-Impressionist painter is among the most celebrated and prolific artists in history, creating around 900 paintings over a short career.

He produced many of his best-known works during his time in France, where he painted masterpieces, including the famous "Sunflowers" series and a number of well-known self-portraits.

The artist died in 1890 at the age of 37, two days after shooting himself in the chest following well-documented mental health struggles.

Most of the works acquired in Tuesday's exhibition, entitled "Van Gogh, All Our Paintings", were acquired by the museum's founder Helene Kroller-Muller between 1908 and 1930.