Roads of Arabia

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ROADS OF ARABIA
The Oasis of Tayma
Fig. 5. The outer wall of Tayma
25. On this subject see Uerpmann, Potts and Uerpmann
2009, pp. 212–14.
26. Klasen et al., forthcoming.
From the Neolithic to the Bronze Age
The archaeological evidence of occupation from the sixth period (from the Neolithic to the
Early Bronze Age) includes arrowheads found on the surface and crafted according to the “Arabian
Bifacial Tradition”. 25 A more precise location can be given for the remains of cornelian
beads, workshop-made with flint tools similar to other tools from Chalcolithic sites in the Middle
East. This production must predate the 2nd millennium BC, since worn-out drills have
been found in the bricks of the outer city wall – the drills must have been brought to Qraya
along with clay from the sabkha. The location of these ancient production sites near the sabkha
is indicated by concentrations of drills and fragments of cornelian beads.
The numerous rock carvings in north-western Arabia attributed to this period shed light
on the means of subsistence during the Neolithic Age. They include representations of shepherds
with their animals, including cattle. Extending a hypothesis of development often proposed
for the Sahara, it is easy to imagine – although it remains pure supposition – that these
nomadic groups watered their herds in the freshwater lakes of what is now the Arabian Desert,
before the region’s desertification.
Based on the timeline for the reconstitution of the environment described above, it seems
determinant that the construction of the main outer wall of Tayma can be dated, at least for
certain sections, to the 3rd millennium BC, the Early Bronze Age. This estimate seems likely
considering the results of physical dating methods (optically stimulated luminescence, OSL)
applied to the aeolian sediments that have accumulated against this wall, as well as carbon dating
(C14) of the organic remains contained in these sediments. 26 At the time, the defensive
walls were built of mud bricks on sandstone slab foundations. This type of wall probably surrounded
certain parts of the palm grove and the central habitation zone. The walls from this
early occupation period were at least 6 metres tall (fig. 5).
The chronological differentiation of these walls is based for the moment on the construction
materials (mud bricks/stone), independently from the discoveries made within the
perimeter of this defensive wall. The sections built of stone are characterized by a type of
modular construction that probably reflects the organization of labour, as well as by high narrow
niches (or sometimes openings) at regular intervals, whose function remains unknown. 27
Unlike the remains of the outer wall, no remains of any settlement from the 3rd millennium
BC have been identified in Tayma. On the other hand, in 2003 a team of archaeologists led
by M. al-Hajiri unearthed bronze weapons in the “Industrial Site” zone. These weapons correspond
precisely to the fenestrated axes and ribbed daggers found under similar circumstances
in so-called “warrior tombs” and that appeared in Syria and the Levant at the end of
the Early and beginning of the Middle Bronze Age. 28 Although these weapons were found in
a clearly secondary context and provide no further information on the significance of their
presence in Tayma, the oasis is the southernmost discovery site of such objects, which could
attest to a history of contact between the oasis and the Early and Middle Bronze Age population
centres of the Levant and Syria.
For the period between the early and late 2nd millennium BC, the archaeological discoveries
have not been able to clearly determine the configuration of the settlement of
Tayma. This period corresponds to the fifth occupation period. By this time the neighbouring
regions (Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia) had already developed a palatial civilization of
which no trace has yet been found in Tayma. During or after the first half of the 2nd millennium
BC, the outer wall of Tayma was enhanced with superstructures and annexes built on
the sand parallel to the wall, as indicated by the carbon dating of organic remains found in
the unfired mud bricks. Recent carbon dating of materials from a tower inside the northwestern
section of the wall (W41) also indicate that it could have been in use starting in the
Late Bronze Age (fig. 6).
27. Schneider, forthcoming.
28. Nigro 2003.
Fig. 6. A tower inside the north-western section
of the outer wall (site W 41)
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