Archaeology Magazine - March/April 2021 - 26

rom high above,

Saudi Arabia's Al Ula oasis
and a network of religious structures linking the city to sancappears as a green swath of date palm groves in the
tuaries high in the mountains nearby show that Dadan was
midst of red-tinted sandstone mountains. Closer
wealthy and sophisticated and had a religious identity with its
in, it's possible to make out a string of ruined
own patron god that set it apart from other oases in the region.
settlements dotting the length of the narrow valDadan was particularly well situated to prosper, controlling
ley. One of the largest is an expanse of cut-stone
a prominent gap in the surrounding mountainous landscape.
rubble nearly half a mile long. These are the ruins of ancient
For caravans traveling north from the incense groves and spice
Dadan, an oasis settlement that became the capital of the
ports of Yemen, bypassing Dadan meant a much longer journey
little-known Kingdom of Lihyan, which ruled this part of the
through difficult terrain. Over time, inscriptions indicate, the
Arabian Desert some 2,500 years ago.
settlement leveraged its wealth and influence to control neighThe first millennium b.c. was a time of prosperity on the
boring city-states. By 500 b.c., Dadan was the center of the large
Arabian Peninsula. It was crisscrossed by caravan routes that
northern Arabian Kingdom of Lihyan, which ruled the area
linked frankincense and myrrh groves on the Arabian Sea to
for centuries, says archaeologist Jérôme Rohmer of the French
the great civilizations of the Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and
National Center for Scientific Research, who codirects the curbeyond. Contemporaneous written sources and a boom in the
rent project as part of a larger effort to explore the past of the
construction of large, well-appointed settlements in the region
Al Ula oasis. Hoping to better understand the site's progression
around this time offer clear evidence that the caravan trade
from a stand-alone trading center to the capital of a regional
brought tremendous wealth to the scattered oases of Arabia.
kingdom, as well as how and when it collapsed, researchers plan
Inscriptions at Dadan and other sites that refer to the city
to spend five years excavating the site and its surroundings, along
and its rulers make it possible to reconstruct a rough time line of
with surveying the mountains and desert nearby.
the site's history, which began as early as 2000 b.c. Dadan flourished as a city-state beginning around 900 b.c. But evidence
oday, none of dadan remains standing. Over the
of people's lives, from their architecture and social structure
centuries, villagers in the nearby town of Al Ula
to details of their religious and political organization, remains
took stones from ancient residences and temples
largely undiscovered. " Dadan and Lihyan are not well known, "
to use as building materials. In the early twentieth century,
says Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani, an archaean Ottoman railway project called the
JORDA N
IRAQ
ologist at King Saud University who has
Hejaz Railroad (see " Behind the Lines
J O R DA N
been working at the site for 15 years.
of the Great Arab Revolt, " January/
Petra
These cultures were first identified by
February 2021), connecting Istanbul and
French, English, and German explorers and
Medina, skirted the edge of the ancient
SAU DI
ARABIA
scholars, and what little evidence archaetown. Rail workers used the remains of
ologists have discovered since then has
Dadan as a quarry, harvesting stones to
YEMEN
largely come from inscriptions and carvings
shore up the train tracks. The resulting
found over the last century and from excarubble discouraged previous generations
vations conducted by Saudi archaeologists
of archaeologists, and Alsuhaibani notes
Tayma
from King Saud University during the past
that just 5 percent of the site has been
decade and a half. But because archaeolexcavated. The current project's early
Dadan
ogy in Saudi Arabia has not been the
results, however, suggest that Dadan was
priority it has been in neighboring Jordan
once an impressive sight, with a skyline
SAUDI ARABIA
and Syria, the region's ancient merchant
several stories tall. Small test excavations
kingdoms and trade routes remain poorly
have revealed stone foundations six feet
understood. This is beginning to change. In
thick or more, an indication that some
Medina
2019, researchers from France and other
of Dadan's houses might have risen to
100
200 miles
European countries, together with Saudi 0
three or four levels.
colleagues and students, worked at Dadan
In one location, locals quarrying the site
for 10 days. They were back in the spring of 2020 for three weeks.
penetrated the thick layer of stones that cover the ground today
" Until now, real, full, systematic investigations have never taken
and left a hole 25 feet deep. The pit let Rohmer's team peek at
place at Dadan, " says German Archaeological Institute archaea cross-section of the town's accumulated layers, and they were
ologist Arnulf Hausleiter, head of excavations at Tayma, an early
able to identify multiple abandoned stories reaching all the way to
caravan-route kingdom 100 miles north of Dadan. " I would expect
the bottom. This suggests that as the debris and accumulated dirt
and hope that the local history becomes visible and understandof centuries of urban occupation slowly raised the ground level,
able by unveiling the ancient culture. "
Dadan's residents compensated by making their houses ever taller.
What researchers have found thus far makes it clear that
As they dig down in other parts of the town in years to come, the
Dadan was more than just a pit stop along a well-traveled trade
team hopes to identify organic remains that can be radiocarbon
route. A newly discovered funerary shrine, the collapsed stone
dated, potentially helping to clarify the site's chronology.
remains of tall tower houses, the abundance of inscriptions,
Hundreds of newly identified inscriptions, most of which are

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ARCHAEOLOGY * March/April 2021

Archaeology Magazine - March/April 2021

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