Guillaume Charloux

Mapping an ancient qanat system in a northern Arabian urbanized oasis

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 Qanāts have been replaced by everdeeper pumping systems since the mid-twentieth century, and the series of shafts associated with these monumental structures, well known elsewhere in the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.

Banqueting in a Northern Arabian Oasis: A Nabataean Triclinium at Dûmat al-Jandal, Saudi Arabia

A large U-shaped building made of stones discovered in 2011 at the top of a promontory in Dûmat al-Jandal (modern Dumat, Saudi Arabia) is interpreted as a vast freestanding open-air Nabataean triclinium. Radiocarbon dating and pottery readings set the main occupation of this triclinium during a relatively short period, between the late first century b.c. and the late first century/early second century a.d. Excavation of the structure reveals pottery dishes and fireplaces regularly distributed throughout the occupation surface. Multidisciplinary studies of the archaeological material (pottery, bone, and plant remains) provide an opportunity to focus on the activities carried out within this type of cultic structure. By comparing the data with that of other studies undertaken in similar Nabataean triclinia found in Petra, Jordan, and Hegra, Saudi Arabia, in particular, this article seeks to give new insights into the question of “ritual meals.” Moreover, this discovery of a first typical Nabataean building in Dûmat al-Jandal confirms Nabataean control over trade routes north of the Arabian Peninsula at the turn of the Christian era.