New Ruins Found in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Faw

A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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New Ruins Found in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Faw

A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

A team of archaeologists from Saudi Arabia and around the world have discovered new archaeological sites in the Al-Faw Archaeological Area, the capital of the ancient Arab Kindah Kingdom, the Heritage Commission announced on Tuesday.

The Commission confirmed that it has recently discovered more secrets about the capital of the Kindah Kingdom, the Archaeological Area in ​​Al-Faw, which is located 700 kilometers southwest of Riyadh.

The Commission added that strenuous efforts would be exerted to organize new site visits to discover and better understand the Archaeological Area in ​​Al-Faw.

The team found evidence of human settlements that date back to the Neolithic period, including over 2,800 tombs, several agricultural fields, religious inscriptions engraved on rocks, and other ruins that help us better understand the religious rituals of the era, including the remains of a stone temple and an altar.

The researchers also uncovered irrigation systems and hundreds of underground reservoirs.

The Commission explained that the team used topographic surveying, lasers, probe distribution, ground-penetrating radar and other techniques to make those discoveries.

The Kindah Kingdom is an ancient Arab kingdom that arose in Najd in the pre-Islamic era and was a vassal state with the village of Dhat al-Khal as its capital, Al-Faw in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today.

Fieldwork at Al-Faw began in the 1970s through initiatives by the King Saud University. Since then, many significant artifacts and ruins have been found, most notably ancient residential and market areas, temples, and tombs.

Meanwhile, the new findings come as the Commission and Saudi Arabia step up their efforts to uncover the secrets of the country’s heritage.



Australian Hiker Found Alive after Surviving for Two Weeks on Berries and Muesli Bars

A general view of Cooma Hospital where hiker Hadi Nazari was transferred to for a health check in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
A general view of Cooma Hospital where hiker Hadi Nazari was transferred to for a health check in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Australian Hiker Found Alive after Surviving for Two Weeks on Berries and Muesli Bars

A general view of Cooma Hospital where hiker Hadi Nazari was transferred to for a health check in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
A general view of Cooma Hospital where hiker Hadi Nazari was transferred to for a health check in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

An Australian student missing for two weeks near the country's tallest mountain was found on Wednesday, after surviving by foraging for berries, drinking water from a creek and finding two muesli bars left behind by other hikers, police said.

Hadi Nazari, a 23-year-old university student from Melbourne, went missing from his group of friends on December 26 in the Kosciuszko National Park.

Nazari was found on Wednesday afternoon by a group of hikers who alerted the authorities, police in the state of New South Wales said.

“This is the fourteenth day we've been looking for him and for him to come out and be in such good spirits and in such great condition, it’s incredible," NSW Police Inspector Josh Broadfoot said.

The student was in "really good spirits" with no significant injuries, he added.

More than 300 people had searched for Nazari across rugged bushland, police said. The national park is home to the 2,228 meter (7,310 foot) Mount Kosciuszko.