The remains of the city, called al-Natah, were long hidden by the Khaybar oasis, a green and fertile patch surrounded by desert in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula.
Then an ancient wall 14.5 kilometers long was discovered, according to research led by French archaeologist Guillaume Charloux. A Franco-Arab team of researchers has provided “proof that these walls are organized around a habitat,” Charloux said.
The great city, which housed up to 500 inhabitants, was built around 2,400 BC. during the Early Bronze Age, the researchers note Noi.md with reference to .
“It was abandoned about a thousand years later. No one knows why,” said Charloux. When al-Natah was built, cities were flourishing in the Levant region along the Mediterranean Sea, from present-day Syria to Jordan.
At the time, northwest Arabia was believed to be a barren desert, criss-crossed by nomadic herders and littered with tombs. That was until 15 years ago, when archaeologists discovered walls dating back to the Bronze Age in the Tayma oasis, in northern Khaybar.
This “first pivotal discovery” prompted scientists to take a closer look at these oases. Observation of the site from above revealed potential pathways and house foundations.
