Jakarta –
Archaeologists confirmed the discovery of four ancient oases in northwestern Saudi Arabia that are estimated to be around 4,000 years old. This mysterious oasis is curious because it is surrounded by walls.
Quoted from Earth.com, this discovery reveals a new picture of people’s life in the desert during the Bronze Age. This walled oasis complex shows that at that time there was already a large coordinated system of housing and water resource management in a harsh environment.
The wall frames surrounding the oasis were discovered through a combination of satellite image mapping and field surveys. From above, the lines of the walls look like continuous curves that form the boundaries of the integrated community that once lived in the desert.
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The walled oasis apparently was not just a settlement point, but formed the full scope of the desert community’s living system, including wells, livestock pens, crop fields, even during the date palm gardening period. This walled agricultural system allowed the population to regulate the distribution of resources such as animal feed and irrigation in difficult seasons.
The researchers noted that their findings changed the understanding of social life on the Arabian Peninsula at that time. The walled oasis model reflects a more complex socio-economic development than simply scattered nomadic communities.
“This walled oasis was not just a defense, but a model of socio-economic development that marked the complete control of the watery and agricultural rural landscape by a political entity,” wrote archaeologist Dr. Guillaume Charloux, from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), was involved in the study.
Reasons Surrounded by Walls
Research also shows that this walled oasis model is not single or local. Traces of it are found at several other oasis sites in the region, indicating that this strategy is a recurring response to the challenges of water management and agriculture in difficult desert environments.
These walled oases are also likely on the map of ancient trade routes, as many oases in the region served as important rest and supply posts for caravans transporting goods around the Arabian Peninsula.
The existence of the wall was not only for defense, but also as a way to regulate who could enter and exit the resource-rich territory. The discovery of a 4,000-year-old walled oasis opens new insights into the archaeological study of the area.
These archaeological findings show that the lives of desert dwellers were much more organized and complex than previously thought. This oasis complex is now a new focus for further study of human adaptation to extreme environments in ancient times.
(rns/rns)
date:2026-02-12 12:30:00
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