For a long time, the Rub’ al-Khali—known as “The Empty Quarter”—has been synonymous with extreme aridity, endless dunes, and a relentless climate that makes this vast expanse in the southern Arabian Peninsula one of the most inhospitable regions on Earth. Covering nearly 650,000 square kilometers, primarily within Saudi Arabia, this desert has been viewed as […]
Arabia
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Exquisite Neolithic Arrowheads Discovered in Oman Mountains
An international team of researchers has discovered an ancient Neolithic settlement in Hayy Al-Sarh, near the city of Rustaq, in Oman. The excavation, part of the PrehistOman project, has revealed evidence of a prehistoric camp dating back to 3600–3400 BCE, with an impressive collection of finely crafted arrowheads. The PrehistOman project, led by archaeologist Niccolò […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
80,000-Year-Old Stone Tools Discovered in Arabia Puzzle Archaeologists, as No Human Remains Are Found
An international team of researchers, led by Dr. Knut Bretzke from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, has identified the oldest evidence to date of the systematic production of stone blades on the Arabian Peninsula. According to analyses conducted using luminescence techniques, these artifacts have been dated to approximately 80,000 years ago. The findings were made at […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
The Site of the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, which in 637 CE Pitted the Arabs against the Sassanian Empire and Was Key in the Expansion of Islam, Has Been Discovered
A team of archaeologists led by Dr. William Deadman from the Department of Archaeology at Durham University has successfully pinpointed the site of the historic Battle of al-Qadisiyyah. This battle, which took place between 637 and 638 CE, is known as a key confrontation in the expansion of Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula, culminating in […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
A Small Bronze Age Walled City Found in the Arabian Desert
A team of archaeologists led by Guillaume Charloux of France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) has revealed details of an ancient urban settlement in northern Saudi Arabia. According to the study published in PLOS ONE, the site of al-Natah, located in the Medina Province and dated between 2400 and 1500 BCE, shows how some […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
An Extraordinary 4000-Year-Old Prehistoric Seal Found in the Ancient City of Kalba in the Gulf of Oman
Extensive commercial networks stretching from the Indus Valley to the Aegean Sea can be traced back approximately 4500 years. Within these networks, the key role of land routes and sea lanes is evidenced by the discovery of objects made from exotic and precious materials at numerous sites that occupied important nodes along potential routes. It […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
Huge 4,000-year-old Fortification Discovered Surrounding the Khaybar Oasis in Northwestern Arabia
Archaeologists have discovered evidence of fortified settlements that inhabited the oases of northern Arabia between the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. A team of scientists from the CNRS research center and the Royal Commission for AlUla recently uncovered a fortification wall surrounding the Khaybar oasis in northwestern Arabia. The Khaybar oasis fortress, along with the […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Giant 200,000-year-old prehistoric stone axe discovered in northwestern Arabia
A prehistoric giant stone axe, dating back 200,000 years, was discovered in northwest Arabia by an archaeological expedition. This finding, made in the desert near Al-Ula, could potentially rewrite the human history of the region. The team unearthed what appears to be the largest stone bifacial tool ever found. Bifaces are stone tools worked on […]
Posted inModern Era
Carsten Niebuhr, the scientist who crossed the Middle East disguised as an Arab as the only survivor of the Royal Danish Expedition
Scientific travel became widespread among European countries from the mid-18th century following the establishment of the Enlightenment. And although the most famous were led by the great powers of the time (United Kingdom, France, Spain …), there were other nations that joined the trend. One of them was Denmark, which in 1761 organized an expedition […]
