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Dûmat al-Jandal. 2800 years of History in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Ouvrage bilingue anglais-arabe / English and arabic wide audience book
... It was an important destination along the Incense Road since the tenth century BC (Wellbrock et al. 2012). Mention of caravans arriving in Assyria from Tayma and Saba is present in the Assyrian texts from the eighth century BC, suggesting that the trade route must have passed through "Adummatu," the Assyrian name for Dumat Al Jandal (Charloux and Loreto 2013). The presence of a large number of wells close to a nearby wadi indicates the presence of shallow groundwater as the main source of water supply in the region, which was used for irrigation as well as domestic purposes. ...
... Exploration of the wells by Thomas et al. (2013) made it possible to discover the qanāts, as the surface expression of these qanāts are not very well preserved. As described by Charloux and Loreto (2013), some wells at Dumat Al Jandal have staircase integrated in their masonry, which leads to opening at regular heights, providing access for the maintenance of the wells and the qanāt system. Although the qanāt system at Dumat Al Jandal has not been dated so far, the presence of water flowing through these qanāts has been mentioned during the time of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him [pbuh]) (Charloux and Loreto 2013). ...
... As described by Charloux and Loreto (2013), some wells at Dumat Al Jandal have staircase integrated in their masonry, which leads to opening at regular heights, providing access for the maintenance of the wells and the qanāt system. Although the qanāt system at Dumat Al Jandal has not been dated so far, the presence of water flowing through these qanāts has been mentioned during the time of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him [pbuh]) (Charloux and Loreto 2013). No evidence of the use of surface runoff has been reported (Wellbrock et al. 2012), thereby giving an indication that the region was dependent on groundwater supplies since its early human occupation. ...
... The trajectory indicated by these new camps suggests an expedition toward Dûmat al-Jandal and Sakaka in the Jawf region at the eastern extent of the Nabataean kingdom. Charloux and Loreto (2013) suggest the existence of a minor caravan route linking Bayir and Dûmat al-Jandal, which would mirror the route implied by the camps. The use of such a peripheral route could have been part of a strategy to bypass the more obvious route down the Wadi Sirhan, adding an element of surprise to any attack on the Jawf region, or as a flanking manoeuvre as part of a broader campaign, with a second force in the Wadi Sirhan possibly responsible for the camp built at Azraq. ...
Remote sensing survey in southern Jordan has identified at least three Roman temporary camps that indicate a probable undocumented military campaign into what is today Saudi Arabia, and which we conjecture is linked to the Roman annexation of the Nabataean kingdom in AD 106.
... Mentioned in the annals of the Neo-Assyrian kings in the seventh century BC, Dūmat al-Jandal lies in a remote desert environment in the Jawf province of northern Saudi Arabia, halfway between the Levantine coast and lower Mesopotamia. The oasis probably went through three main phases of occupation in its history, first during the Nabataeo-Roman period at the beginning of the Christian era, then at the beginning of the Islamic era, and finally in the modern era (Charloux and Loreto 2013). Several monumental buildings testify to this: the western stone and mud-brick wall, the Qasr Mārid, a fortress dominating the heart of the oasis, and the Omar bin al-Khattab mosque located nearby (Charloux 2012) (see Fig. 1). ...
As an obsolete underground water supply system, the qanāt is particularly affected by the destruction and demolition taking place within the oases of Saudi Arabia. In a period of economic and demographic growth, the oasis of Dūmat al-Jandal (province of Jawf) is a good example of such an evolution. Qanāts have been replaced by everdeeper pumping systems since the mid-twentieth century, and the series of shafts associated with these monumental structures, well known elsewhere in the Middle East, are no longer visible from the surface, primarily for reasons of security. The investigation conducted since 2011 by the Saudi–Italian–French archaeological project in Dūmat al-Jandal provides a first image of the ancient hydraulic network through a combination of complementary analyses integrated into a GIS: field surveys, oral information gathering, underground exploration, analysis of old aerial photographs and comparison with recent satellites images.
No political system could ever evolve in isolation fr om the environment in which it emerged. Similarly, no particular system can be understood as stagnant. It is actually the culmination or an improved form of a long historical growth. Keeping in view this synopsis, Islamic political institutions could be placed in the time and space in which the salient political features and social trends of the Jahiliyah Arabia and the neighboring political cultures contributed to their foundation and evolution. In addition to the compact political structures of Aksum, Rome and Persia, and then Byzantine and Sassanid on the borders, internally the pre-Islamic Arabs had a diverse mechanism for managing their affairs. The Arabian South experienced organized governance as compared to the north and central regions. This diversity can be attributed to the geo-strategic location and ecological environment of the peninsula. The fertile South was more supportive to the growth of a political mechanism than the arid, geopolitically more vulnerable north and central regions. In a nutshell, a proper study of the less discussed Jahiliyah politics could minimize assumptions about the complete lawlessness and political unawareness of the Arabs in politics and governance.
We conducted rock varnish measurements at four rock art sites in north‐western Saudi Arabia, including Kilwa and the Camel Site near Sakaka. We determined the areal densities of Mn and Fe in rock varnish that had accumulated on petroglyph surfaces since their creation, complemented by a detailed analysis of varnish samples. We inferred varnish accumulation rates by relating the Mn areal density on inscriptions to their ages estimated based on the type of script used. Applying these rates to the varnish densities on the rock art indicated that the art was produced during two distinct periods, corresponding to the Pre‐Pottery/Late Neolithic and the Bronze/Iron Age, respectively, with different artistic traditions, reflecting distinct socioeconomic and ecological conditions. Our dating approach, while admittedly burdened with substantial uncertainties, yields ages consistent with archaeological and historical evidence and it provides a unique quantitative tool to obtain at least rough ages for otherwise undatable rock art.
This paper presents a study of an unpublished Nabataean funerary inscription from Dûmat al-Jandal in Saudi Arabia. The inscription, in the Blaihed Museum private collection in al-Jawf District in Saudi Arabia, is an important addition to the study of Nabataean funerary inscriptions, as it gives the first and only indication of the sale of a tomb, a practice that is considered abnormal for the Nabataeans. Parts of the inscription are missing or eroded. It is our hope that the publication of this article will lead to further research concerning the missing parts of the inscription.
Two reports on excavations carried out in 1985–1986 by archaeologist Khaled Abdulaziz al-Dayel and published in the journal Atlal (1988, 1986) have revealed the existence of ‘Hellenistic tombs’ in the Dūmat al-Jandal oasis (ancient Adummatu/Dumat/Dumata) in northern Saudi Arabia. Although attributed more precisely to the Nabataeans by Khalil al-Muaikel (1994), these tombs nevertheless appear not to have interested specialists of this historical period in the least. Moreover, a re-examination of the architectural data and of the grave-goods indicates the difficulty of establishing a link between the unearthed remains and a purely ‘Nabataean’ cultural sphere (i.e. of the Petra type). This study therefore attempts to reassess published archaeological data, formulate questions on the Nabataean presence in the oasis, and also to demonstrate the relations connecting Dumat to the great Levantine and Mesopotamian cultural spheres between the first century BC and the second century AD.
Known and Unknown Archaeological Monuments in Dûmat al-Jandal. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
- G Charloux
Charloux G. 2012. Known and Unknown Archaeological Monuments in Dûmat al-Jandal.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 2011.
Archaeological Monuments in the Oasis. The
- G Charloux
Charloux G. et al. 2012. Archaeological Monuments in the Oasis. The 2010 Survey.
In G. Charloux & R. Loreto (eds). Dûma I. 2010 Report of the Saudi-Italian-French Archaeological Project at Dûmat al-Jandal. Riyâdh: Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities:
61-90.
The faunal remains. Preliminary results
- H Monchot
- Forthcoming
Monchot H. Forthcoming. The faunal remains. Preliminary results. In G. Charloux & R. Loreto (eds). Dûma II. 2011 Report of
the Saudi-Italian-French Archaeological Project at Dûmat al-Jandal. Riyâdh: Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.
The Saudi-Italian-French Archaeological Mission at Dûmat al-Jandal (Ancient Adumatu). A first relative chronological sequence for Dûmat al-Jandal. Architectural elements and pottery items
- R Loreto
Loreto R., 2012. The Saudi-Italian-French Archaeological Mission
at Dûmat al-Jandal (Ancient Adumatu). A first relative chronological
sequence for Dûmat al-Jandal. Architectural elements and pottery
items. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 42: 1-18.
The Saudi-Italian-French Archaeological Mission at Dûmat al-Jandal (Ancient Adummatu). A first relative chronological sequence for Dûmat al-Jandal. Architecture and pottery. Proceedings of the Seminar for
- R Loreto
Loreto R. 2012. The Saudi-Italian-French Archaeological Mission at Dûmat al-Jandal (Ancient Adummatu). A first relative chronological sequence for Dûmat al-Jandal. Architecture and pottery. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 42: 1-18.