One of the largest concentrations of ancient tombs discovered in KSA from space

[Saif al-Arab]

Thanks for posting the fantastic pics and the readings were quite interesting. I'm not an expert but couple of those rock arts were like an early Minoan painting. Hope to see more on this thread. Fascinating.

You are most welcome bro. May I ask, where you are from in Iran out of pure curiosity if you don't mind?

Huge Geometric Shapes in Middle East May Be Prehistoric​

By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | December 1, 2015 10:25am ET

Thousands of stone structures that form geometric patterns in the Middle East are coming into clearer view, with archaeologists finding two wheel-shaped patterns date back some 8,500 years. That makes these "wheels" older than the famous geoglyphs in Peru called Nazca Lines.

And some of these giant designs located in Jordan's Azraq Oasis seem to have an astronomical significance, built to align with the sunrise on the winter solstice.

Those are just some of the findings of new research on these Middle East lines, which were first encountered by pilots during World War I. RAF Flight Lt. Percy Maitland published an account of them in 1927 in the journal Antiquity, reporting that the Bedouin called the structures "works of the old men," a name still sometimes used by modern-day researchers. [See Photos of the 'Nazca Lines' in the Middle East]

The "works of the old men" include wheels, which often have spokes radiating out from the center, kites (stone structures used for funnelling and killing animals), pendants (lines of stone cairns) and meandering walls, which are mysterious structures that meander across the landscape for up to several hundred feet.

The works "demonstrate specific geometric patterns and extend from a few tens of meters up to several kilometers, evoking parallels to the well-known system of geometric lines of Nazca, Peru," wrote an archaeological team in a paper published recently in the Journal of Archaeological Science. (Peru's Nazca Lines date to between 200 B.C. and A.D. 500.)

They "occur throughout the entire Arabia region, from Syria across Jordan and Saudi Arabia to Yemen," wrote the researchers. "The most startling thing about the 'Works' is that they are difficult to identify from the ground. This stands in contrast to their apparent visibility from the air."

New research on the Middle East lines was published recently in the Journal of Archaeological Science and the journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. Live Science also got an advance copy of an article set to be published in the journal Antiquity.

Prehistoric date

Tests indicate that some of the wheels date back around 8,500 years, a prehistoric time when the climate was wetter in parts of the Middle East.

Using a technique called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), archaeologists dated two wheels at Wadi Wisad, in the Black Desert of Jordan. One wheel dated back 8,500 years, while the other wheel had a mix of dates that suggest it was built about 8,500 years and was remodeled or repaired around 5,500 years ago. [See Aerial Photos of the Giant Wheels]

At the time these wheels were built, the climate in the Black Desert was more hospitable, and Wadi Wisad was inhabited. "Charcoal from deciduous oak and tamarisk [a shrub] were recovered from two hearths in one building dated to ca. 6,500 B.C.," wrote researchers in a forthcoming issue of Antiquity.

Solar alignments?

Spatial analysis of the wheels showed that one cluster of wheels, located in the Azraq Oasis, has spokes with a southeast-northwest orientation that may align with sunrise during the winter solstice.

"The majority of the spokes of the wheels in that cluster are oriented for some reason to stretch in a SE-NW direction," researchers wrote in the Journal of Archaeological Science. This points to "where the sun rises during the winter solstice."

Whether this alignment was intentional is unknown, researchers wrote in the journal article. "As for the rest of the wheels, they do not seem to contain any archaeoastronomical information."

What were they used for?

The two dated wheels "are simple in form and not very rigidly made, according to geometric standards," said Gary Rollefson, a professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. "They contrast sharply with some other wheels that appear to have been set out with almost as much attention to detail as the Nazca Lines."

It's possible that different wheels may have served different uses, Rollefson said. In the case of the two dated wheels, "the presence of cairns suggests some association with burials, since that is often the way of treating people once they died." Rollefson is careful to point out that "there are other wheels where cairns are entirely lacking, pointing to a different possible use."

Rollefson is co-director of the Eastern Badia Archaeological Project. His team is hoping to excavate a few of the cairns, which are located within the wheels, in the next few years.

Visible from the sky

Why people in prehistoric times would build wheel-shaped structures that can't be seen well from the ground remains a mystery. No balloon or glider technologies existed at that time. Additionally, researchers say that climbing to a higher elevation to view them was probably not possible, at least not in most cases. [In Photos: Google Earth Reveals Sprawling Geoglyphs in Kazakhstan]

Though the wheels are often difficult to make out on the ground, they are not invisible. "Granted, one can't see the finished product standing at ground level, but one can still determine a general geometric configuration," Rollefson told Live Science.

He said that to create the more precisely designed wheels, people might have used a long rope and stake.

Saudi Arabia wheels

Wheels located in Saudi Arabia and Yemen look different than those found farther north, a team with the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East (APAAME) has found.

They've been investigating wheels, and other "works of the old men," by using free satellite imagery that is available through Google Earth and Bing. They are also using historical aerial images taken of Saudi Arabia and Yemen during the 20th century.

The circles tend to be small and have only one or two bars instead of spokes, said David Kennedy, of the University of Western Australia, who co-directs the project. Some of the "wheels" are actually shaped like squares, rectangles or triangles, he said.

Some of the "wheels" found in Saudi Arabia have a bull's-eye design.
Credit: Image courtesy Google Earth
​

One type of wheel structure actually looks like a bull's-eye, according to an image of the structure that Kennedy sent to Live Science. Three triangles point toward the bull's-eye wheel, and there are small piles of stones that lead from the three triangles to the wheel. Kennedy calls it "a central bull's-eye tomb with, in this case, three triangles each with at least a part of a connecting line of stone heaps running to the center."

At present, the archaeologists are not able to conduct fieldwork or aerial imaging (using planes or helicopters) in Saudi Arabia or Yemen.

Desert gates

Four "gates" were found on the slope of a volcano in Saudi Arabia. What they are and what they were used for is unknown. We can expect to hear more about them in 2016.
Credit: Image courtesy of Google Earth​

Another form of "works of the old men," which Kennedy and his team have found in Saudi Arabia, is of structures that he calls "gates."

So far, 332 gates have been found in Saudi Arabia (none are known to exist farther north). The gates "consist of two short thick walls or heaps of stones, between which one or more connecting walls stretch," wrote researchers in an article published recently in the journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. The researchers note that, "from above, these features resemble an old-fashioned barred gate laid flat." The longest gate is over 500 meters (1,640 feet), but most are much smaller.

Scientists don't know how far back the gates date, nor their purpose. "I coined the term 'gate' for no better reason than that I needed a convenient label to describe them and they reminded me of the sort of field gates I saw all around in my rural childhood in Scotland," said Kennedy.

The researchers found that gates tend not to be located near kites (which were used for hunting). Indeed, some of the gates were built in places, such as barren volcanic slopes, which were unlikely to support large animal herds. Archaeologists found "five [gates] on the outer slopes of the bowl of one of the volcanoes [called Jabal al-Abyad]" in Saudi Arabia, they wrote in the Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy journal article.

Kennedy said that his team is finishing up its research on the gates and will be publishing another journal article in the future describing the team's findings in greater detail.

Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

http://www.livescience.com/52944-huge-geometric-shapes-in-middle-east-revealed.html

Simply amazing.

Lecture at University of Oxford.

http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/MP1.html

http://www.shh.mpg.de/178394/petraglia

Amazing.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Arabian archeology images revealed from the air​

Ancient rock camps, cairns, tombs, traps and more, appear in the hundreds of thousands in aerial views of the Arabian desert.

The structures are very hard to see from the ground, but apparent when seen flying over the desert.

Here's a sampling of archeological views of the structures increasingly observed from "harrat" volcanic rock regions and a Q&A with study leader David Kennedy of the University of Western Australia in Perth:

First, here's a map of the harrat regions of the Arabian desert, to start off the Q& A.

Q: Who were the 'Old Men' of the Arabian Desert? Did the same culture make all these structures?

A: Several western travellers in 'Arabia' in the 19th century onwards asked beduin about some of the stone-built structures they could see and were told they were the 'work of the old men/ old people'. By that the beduin meant they were pre-Islamic – not part (they thought) of an Islamic tradition. The term was given a high profile when Flt Lt Maitland of the RAF published an article in 1927 called 'The Works of the Old Men' in Arabia, about the stone structures he saw as he flew over the Jordanian Panhandle.

Dating the structures is problematic although prehistorians date various structures to periods ranging from the 7th millennium BC down to the Early Roman period (1st c. BC to 3rd c. AD). There is no reason to think these structures are all part of a single long cultural episode. Indeed, as an Aerial Archaeologist I can see that a site type B often overlies site type A but never the other way round. And, of course, some burial cairns are frequently associated with Safaitic graffito which are dated to the Early Roman period.

Q. What was the function of the keyhole tombs? Were they family groupings of burials?

A: The type is very unusual. A few examples had been seen in Saudi Arabia half a century ago at least but now a view from space of large areas has revealed they are extremely common in west central Arabia around Khaybar and Al-Hiyat. They occur most commonly alongside tracks leading to settlements and are interspersed with what seem to be simple burial Cairns and the cairn with tail we call Pendants. So my guess is they are funerary or commemorative. The shape is only paralleled – to my knowledge, in the keyhole tombs of Korea and Japan. In crude terms they mimic the form of the numerous animal traps called Kites …. but a form found hundreds of miles to the north in Jordan and Syria rather than the variant seen in the region of the Keyholes.

Most Keyholes are found as single structures though often with others nearby; a few overlap one another to create an amalgam.

Q. The more recent paper suggests a very large number of these structures exist. What conservation efforts are needed for them at this point?

A: The huge numbers and the great extent of the region over which these Works are found – from northern Syria to Yemen, is their greatest source of vulnerability: it will seem acceptable to allow development to sweep away or damage examples simply because there are still many more. We can already see numerous examples of Kites – to take the physically largest category, which have been damaged recently including in quite remote desert areas and comparison of aerial photos of the 1950s with the same region today has revealed that dozens of Kites in one region alone have been removed entirely by agriculture during the intervening half century.

Conservation will require – ultimately, an international effort by Syria, Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman. In the immediate future individual countries need to recognize the existence and significance of these Works … and that they are steadily disappearing. That in turn requires the definition of What and Where and the only feasible – i.e. cost-effective, way is to use aerial and satellite imagery as the APAAME project is doing in Jordan and testing elsewhere when only satellite imagery is available. Identifying, photographing to create a permanent record and mapping is the underpinning for research by experts. This is unlikely to halt the rapid growth and development in these countries but it will help to slow a process. It is urgent that this be pursued.

Q: From an archaeologist's viewpoint, what are the key questions raised by the structures? What should be done in terms of investigation?

A: There is no complete agreement on two key questions: When were they built? and What for? Dating the structures is very difficult and few prehistorians have ever worked in these areas. The interpretation of aerial imagery to determine associations and relationships of structures over a wide area can point to at least relative chronologies – e.g. Wheels overlie Kites but never vice versa therefore Wheels are probably younger than Kites.

Some Cairns are plainly burial sites. Some Kites seem clearly to be intended to trap animals but others are more puzzling – very complex, located in puzzling places and existing in huge numbers – over-kill. Wheels have been viewed as domestic ('houses') but explaining their form is problematic. Pendants do seem to be funerary – a burial Cairn and small commemorative cairns creating a tail. Gates are not explained – though now over 100 have been identified.

And a natural question is: Why there? In some of the more inhospitable parts of Inner Arabia? Was the climate (and environment) more favourable in the distant past?

Aerial imagery can take research so far but is NOT an end – merely a means to an end. What is needed is more intensive and extensive field research by experts who may be in a better position if armed with extensive detailed mapping and preliminary interpretation.

Q: Some of the more puzzling features you describe as perhaps monumental art. Are there other explanations for them? Salvaged trap walls, pens or the like?

A: I am thinking of some Kites whose tails are so complex that it is hard to see how they could have functioned as traps. And some Walls run in a meandering fashion across the landscape for kilometres in some cases. Investigated on the ground their precise locations may reveal a mundane practical explanation – which I would prefer. But there are others that seem to be simply a tangle of intersecting walls and in one case walls forming a saw-tooth pattern.

Q:. How surprising is it that Google Earth has opened this window on antiquity? Is it a function of the desert throwing these structures into relief (compared to say Maya ruins under a tree canopy)?

A: Not really surprising as the quality of the highest-resolution imagery is superb and can rival traditional vertical photography. And it is in colour and part of an easily explored seamless-photography over immense areas. Google Earth offers the best tool at the moment in terms of extent and quality but Bing Maps now has a growing archive of superb imagery although it is far less user-friendly than Google Earth.

The role of Aerial Archaeology in Europe in revealing tens of thousands of hitherto unknown archaeological sites transformed our understanding of the past. Most were sites only visible from the air, revealed as crop or vegetation marks. The Works are all structures on the surface in regions with little vegetation to obscure them. They can be seen at ground level but are often unintelligible … until you get up high.

Q: What regions would you most like a Google Earth view of?

A: More of what we already have. The number of high-resolution 'windows' onto the landscape of Saudi Arabia is still limited; most imagery is too poor for our purposes. We need the high-resolution coverage to be considerably extended and ideally to be as good as the best quality now available on Bing.

As soon as digging takes place ancient secrets come to life. I can only imagine that we have only seen a tiny, tiny bit so far considering the fact that less than 0,001% of the Saudi Arabian territory has been excavated by archaeologists, local as foreign.

We are talking about the second longest inhabited area of the planet by humans outside of Eastern Africa. There is much to look forward for historians and archaeologists across the world.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Next page.

Some of the ancient artifacts found in recent years in KSA:

'Roads Of Arabia' Exhibition At The Nelson Reveals Layered Past ​

By LAURA SPENCER • APR 25, 2014

Standing near the entrance of the new exhibition, Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, Julián Zugazagoitia, director and CEO of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, called the more than 200 recently discovered artifacts a "revelation for humanity."

Two roads are explored: the incense trade routes, caravans transporting frankincense and myrrh from Arabia to Mesopotamia and the Greco-Roman world, as well as the network of roads for travelers on religious pilgrimages to Mecca.

Excavated from more than 10 archaeological sites along these roads, the works span more than 6,000 years from the neolithic period to early in the 20th century, and shine a light on a previously unknown cultural history from the Arabian Peninsula — both before and after the rise of Islam.

"So what we see here is how sophisticated, what a rich culture, what a depth of appreciation there was and how the peninsula was always a crossing path," said Zugazagoitia.

A fledgling archaeology

The first archaeological explorations in the Arabian Peninsula started in the early 1970s. And the unearthed artifacts — from prehistoric tools to gold jewelry to giant statues — didn't travel until 2010, when Roads of Arabia launched its first tour at the Louvre in Paris.

Ali al-Ghabban, vice President of the Saudi tourism commission, has been described by Prince Sultan bin Salman as "our Indiana Jones." He was part of a team that discovered antiquities from the first century BCE.

During a tour of the exhibition, al-Ghabban said there are now more than 50 Saudi scholars trained in the discipline, and work continues, in coordination with other countries, to uncover more artifacts each day.

"In Saudi Arabia, we have more than 30 teams ... in excavation and surveying," he said. "We are like Egypt in the 19th century."

'Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,' April 25 – July 6, 2014, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, Mo. 816-751-1278. The North American tour of the exhibition is organized by Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution, in association with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA).

Here is a very interesting documentary. I can highly recommend it as it deals with the ancient history (of course only partially) of modern-day KSA. Numerous ancient artifacts are shown.

 

[Aryzin]

@Saif al-Arab , thank you. I am from Ahvaz in Kuzestan province.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Next page:

Some ancient artifacts found by hunters recently.

Video:

Amazing. I can spot Arabian Jewish, Christian and ancient pre-Abrahamic Semitic pagan religious symbols.

Private individuals, as soon as they start digging, appear to find treasures all over KSA.

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Does this finger prove our ancestors left Africa earlier than believed? 90,000-year-old human bone discovered in Saudi Arabia​

• The bone is the middle section of the middle finger, measuring 1.2 inches
• It was found near to the northwestern city of Tayma in Saudi Arabia
• It could be the oldest trace of human life in the Arabian Peninsula
• This could prove that humans ventured out of Africa earlier than believed

By SHIVALI BEST FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 16:58 GMT, 19 August 2016 | UPDATED: 17:11 GMT, 19 August 2016

Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia believe they have discovered the Middle East’s oldest human bone during an excavation.

The bone is the middle section of the middle finger of a human that scientists claim lived 90,000-years-ago.

If this estimate is correct, it would make the bone the oldest trace of human life in the Arabian Peninsula and predate the time when humans are thought to have migrated out of Africa to spread around the world.

Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia believe they have discovered the Middle East’s oldest human bone during an excavation. The bone is the middle section of the middle finger of a human who was thought to live 90,000 years ago

According to London-based newspaper, Asharg Al-Awsat, the discovery is 'considered an important achievement for the Saudi researchers who participated in these missions and one of the most important outcomes of Prince Sultan’s support and care for the archaeology sector in the Kingdom.'

The researches claim this is the old human bone found in the Middle East.

The bone found in Saudi Arabia is not the oldest in the world, however. The most ancient human bone, thought to belong to an early species of human, is a jaw bone found in Ethiopia in 2015.

It is dated to 2.8 million years ago, and predates all other fossils in the lineage by 400,000 years.

The finding comes from a joint project between archaeologists from the University of Oxford and Saudi researchers, as part of the Green Arabia Project. They found the bone at the Taas al-Ghadha site near to the northwestern Saudi city of Tayma

The oldest bone from an early species of human is a jaw bone found in Ethiopia in 2015. It is dated to 2.8 million years ago, and predates other fossils in the lineage by 400,000 years

Saudi and British archaeologists dig up 90,000-year-old middle finger​

Project jointly run between Riyadh and Oxford University dates human habitation of Saudi desert back 325,000 years

Scientists have also studied ancient rock art in the deserts of modern-day Saudi Arabia as part of the joint venture (Palaeodeserts Project)​

Archaeologists have discovered the oldest human bone ever found in Saudi Arabia, digging up part of a middle finger dating back 90,000 years.

The discovery was part of a joint project begun in 2012 by scientists from Saudi Arabia and the UK’s Oxford University.

The discovery was announced late on Wednesday by the head of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, Ali Ghabban.

“The Green Arabia project has studied sites at ancient lakes in the Nafud desert,” Ghabban said, referring to an area in the north of the Arabian Peninsula.

Ghabban said that excavations at the Taas al-Ghadha site, close to the northwestern city of Tayma, suggested human habitation stretching back up to 325,000 years.

The bone that was discovered during the dig is the middle part of a middle finger belonging to a human being who lived some 90,000 years ago, making it the oldest physical trace of human habitation discovered in the area.

Al-Arabiya, a state-owned Saudi newspaper, reported in its English edition that the bone was the “world’s oldest”.

However, the oldest bone belonging to a member of the Homo genus, the lineage that ultimately led to modern human beings, is a jaw bone discovered in Ethiopia last March that is believed to be around 2.8 million years old.

The Green Arabia project, established in April 2012 and set to conclude next year, looks at how the various phases of climate change over millennia in the area that is now Saudi Arabia have affected human settlement and migration patterns.

Oxford University is a “key partner” of the state-run Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, according to the project’s promotional material.

The venture, whose full name is Green Arabia, The Palaeodeserts Project, has also looked at ancient rock art found in Saudi Arabia as well as fossils from vertebrates that lived around 700,000 years ago.

Another recent (last month as well) discovery:

Mosque from Early Islam Discovered in Saudi Arabia​

ASHARQ AL-AWSAT
August 18, 2016

Riyadh-Antiquities found in Al-Kharj in Saudi Arabia highlight an important civilization dating back to the Stone Age. Therefore, the joint French-Saudi mission for archeological exploration maintains its works in a number of governorates mainly Al-Yamamah site to reveal the history of the region and the old civilizations that settled in it.

The mission that has 18 members of Saudi and French scientists and experts in archeological excavation has discovered at the Yamamah site in Kharj many architectural antiquities of a huge mosque that existed in the early Islamic era in between first and fifth centuries hegira. The mosque was composed of three roofed halls, two mihrabs, and open body hall. There are indicators that it may be the third biggest mosque in the Arabian Peninsula after the two holy mosques.

The survey made by the mission also comprised Bana settlement in addition to five other Islamic sites distributed on many areas lining between Riyadh and al-Dawasir valley.

The Old Stone Age
Results of exploration process have shown many sites that refer to the Old Stone Age for the first time in this region. Fractions of old pottery and glassy utensils were also discovered.

These utensils are likely to be from the Abbasside era and may have been used in the last phase before Islam and till the fifth century hegira.

Researchers found antiquities that refer to early Islam like pottery utensils and a bunch of bracelets made of glass paste.

At Ain al-Delai site in the western side of Kharj, archeologists have found 5,000-year-old traces of human settlement that may refer to the first millennium B.C., in addition to a 56-centimeter-long silver sword.
The mission also discovered a number of old farms and architectural establishments that go back to the fifth century hegira.

Mawan Mountain and Ain Farzan
The mission of archeologists moved to the mountains surrounding Kharj to implement a filed survey for sites from the Stone Age. The area included Mawan Valley and Ain Farzan, where they discovered sites that refer to the old Stone Age.

The mission will continue its work this year looking for sites from the Bronze Age in Ain Al-Delai region to complete the work that begun in 2013, along with the excavation process in the newly discovered mosque.

The Saudi-French mission is working according to the agreement inked between the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage and the French authorities in September 2011.

His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz, the chairman of the Saudi authority, recently met with the Saudi-French team which is carrying out the archeological excavation work at the Yamamah historical site in Kharj. His Highness praised the efforts of the mission aiming at offering the Saudi people the opportunity to learn more about their country’s heritage and the old civilizations that settled in it before them.

Dr. Abdulaziz al-Ghazi, archeology professor at King Saud’s University and head of the Saudi team in the mission, considered that this mission is the first-of-its-kind in the country and that its work will continue over the next five years, which will pave way to the discovery of more sites.

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A quite famous statue of the pagan God Ishtar from the Sumerian (neighboring area) period was found on Tarout Island in KSA. A farmer found it. Dilmun, Magan and other civilizations in Eastern Arabia were very close to neighboring Sumer or even in some fields extensions of each other. Many historians and experts believe that Sumerians themselves came from neighboring Eastern Arabia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabia#History

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer

Article in Arabic about the finding. Amazing what kind of heritage that you can find in our part of the world. We are talking about a statue that is almost 5000 years old.

http://www.alsharq.net.sa/2014/05/04/1134854

@Saif al-Arab , thank you. I am from Ahvaz in Kuzestan province.

Aha. A neigbhor in other words! I had a feeling that you were from Southern Iran.

 

[Aryzin]

Yes an ancient neighbor, I can trace my family ancestry to before Islam. My family was part of the lower nobility, they were horsemen from eastern Persia region. My family was always fighting to protect Iran Zameen. I guess it's in the blood, I didn't serve Iran but was also in the Cavalry, just not the Iranian one.

 

[My-Analogous]

The Arabian Peninsula is the longest inhabited region by humans outside of nearby (or at least not that far away) Eastern Africa so anything else would be strange. Just recently they found 100.000 year old human bones near Tabuk.



See this peer-reviewed article named "The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia", written by the Oxford professor Michael Petraglia, below.

http://www.academia.edu/471425/The_Evolution_of_Human_Populations_in_Arabia

He is professor of human evolution and prehistory at the University of Oxford’s department of archaeology. He is also the principle investigator for the Palaeodeserts Project, a five-year collaboration between the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and University of Oxford which has involved more than 30 scholars from a dozen institutions and seven countries.

Other articles:

http://www.thenational.ae/uae/herit...ands-helped-early-man-make-leap-out-of-africa

http://www.livescience.com/47555-stone-artifacts-human-migration.html

A great documentary:

This map is not correct and few years back discovery in Pakistan challenge all historian. Please read this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riwat

We are second oldest proven civilization in this world after Africa "Oldowan"

 

[Al-Andalus]

Some of the many 10.000's upon 10.000's of ancient artifacts (many well over 6000 years) found in KSA. Unfortunately 1000's of such artifacts are stored outside of KSA in you guessed it right, the West. As is the case with 100.000's upon 100.000's of artifacts native to the Arab world.

Some examples of ancient artifacts belonging to KSA that are kept in the British Museum currently.

Some are stored there temporarily, granted, however those that are not should be returned to not only KSA, other GCC countries but all Arab countries! In fact some of the most visited and most famous museums in the world live off of our heritage! Insane, really when you cannot say the same the opposite way around.

This map is not correct and few years back discovery in Pakistan challenge all historian. Please read this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riwat

We are second oldest proven civilization in this world after Africa "Oldowan"

That's incorrect. Neither is Wikipedia a reliable source. Anyway you can tell yourself that humans could not have settled in what is today modern-day Pakistan of all places before settling in Arabia let alone other areas that would have been needed to cross before reaching Pakistan. This is simple logic. Practically all sources disprove that theory of yours. I posted dozens of them. The newest findings as well. There is a consensus that the first settled area of the planet by humans outside of East Africa and immediate nearby regions of Africa was Arabia. The first area outside of Africa were humans settled as well. This thread explains this well and the numerous sources posted in particular.

 

[My-Analogous]

Some of the many 10.000's upon 10.000's of ancient artifacts (many well over 6000 years) found in KSA. Unfortunately 1000's of such artifacts are stored outside of KSA in you guessed it right, the West. As is the case with 100.000's upon 100.000's of artifacts native to the Arab world.

Some examples of ancient artifacts belonging to KSA that are kept in the British Museum currently.

Some are stored there temporarily, granted, however those that are not should be returned to not only KSA, other GCC countries but all Arab countries! In fact some of the most visited and most famous museums in the world live off of our heritage! Insane, really when you cannot say the same the opposite way around.



That's incorrect. Neither is Wikipedia a reliable source. Anyway you can tell yourself that humans could not have settled in what is today modern-day Pakistan of all places before settling in Arabia let alone other areas that would have been needed to cross before reaching Pakistan. This is simple logic. Practically all sources disprove that theory of yours. I posted dozens of them. The newest findings as well. There is a consensus that the first settled area of the planet by humans outside of East Africa and immediate nearby regions of Africa was Arabia. The first area outside of Africa were humans settled as well. This thread explains this well and the numerous sources posted in particular.

LOL, Brother Riwat is in Pakistan and that is correct information and you can check with other source as well and they will confirm that. Google it for more info. For example
https://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/research/pakistan
https://www.jstor.org/stable/530366?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Pakistani_History/Prehistory/Palaeolithic_Age. please check references below to this link

 

[Al-Andalus]

Oldest humans in Asia may have lived in the Arabian Peninsula ​

Al Arabiya News Channel’s Eid al-Yahya and In the Arab’s footsteps program’s crew visited the Safakah settlement and studied the site. (Al Arabiya)

Staff writer, AlArabiya.net
Saturday, 3 December 2016

The oldest human presence in Asia dates back to the Arabian Peninsula, specifically to the settlement of Safakah located southeast of the town of Dawadmi, 27 kilometers northwest of the Saudi capital Riyadh.

This human settlement is said to be 300,000 years old dating back to the Acholi age. Scrapers and chippers were found as a testimony to the life of the ancient residents, who were living on a diet based on grains, fruits and hunting.

Al Arabiya News Channel’s Eid al-Yahya and In the Arab’s footsteps program’s crew visited the Safakah settlement and studied the site. The settlement was based on a location that usually receives annual rain, making it a water-rich area.

Because of the rain and the water, the place became very suitable for humans to live in due to the ability to grow their own food.

Despite the climatic and demographic changes, which deeply affected the area, one could clearly see the remains of the human settlement as witnessed by history. The stones that were used in construction of old rooms that were covered by tree leaves, as well as the rocks used by the residents as tools for hunting and war.

The archeological heritage of Safakah remains unknown till this day. Nevertheless, 10,000 archeological artifacts and pieces were found in the region and are currently being studied for further information.

*This article also appears on AlArabiya.net.

Last Update: Saturday, 3 December 2016 KSA 00:56 - GMT 21:56

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/fe...may-have-lived-in-the-Arabian-Peninsula-.html

Parroting what is already known/has been established ages ago by the scientific and archeological community.

In other news ancient Arabia has the highest number of mummies in the world as well as extant funerary stele next after neighboring Egypt.

http://www.academia.edu/30345771/South_Arabian_Funerary_Stelae_from_the_British_Museum_Collection

BBC News - 'Paleolithic tombs discovered' in Yemen

The study is still ongoing and due to the current instability of Yemen archaeologists have not worked at the site since the discovery in 2012. If finally confirmed those might be the oldest mummies found to date.

Newly-discovered Yemeni mummies present new field for researchers

The recently discovered Yemeni Mummies will form a new area of study for mummies across the Middle East, or at the very least in the Arabian Peninsula, said head of the delegation from the French Poiter’s University, during a visit to the newly discovered mummy from the Shoub area, near the capital Sana'a
The visitors also examined the other mummies at the National Museum on Saturday, and the French experts affirmed the importance of studying Yemen’s mummies which, according to experts, are unique.

The expert, who was accompanied by specialists from the French National Institute, made it clear that the historical Yemeni practice of mummification had a unique system of treatments, thought not to exist in Egypt and Africa. Such thoughts were affirmed during initial studies of the mummies at Sana'a University, which included a study into the newly discovered mummy.

He noted that the results of the study, due to be released soon, included studies into a number of test samples from the mummy. The information gained from the tests aims to create a better understanding of Yemeni history, including medical history and age related diseases and may help identify the development of major diseases. The results also hope to reveal the nature of nutrition at the time, including daily dietary staples.

Yemen is the second country after Egypt in terms of mummy related finds, said Director of Public Relations at the Yemeni General Authority for Antiquities and Museums (YGAAM) Mohammad al-Halabi. “Unfortunately, we have not had a specialized section for mummies until now, despite their importance in terms of scientific and historical researches,” he complained.

Earlier, a team of French experts had met with the head of the YGAAM, Abdullah Bawazir and discussed with him preparations for the signing of a cooperation treaty between YGAAM and the University of Poitiers’ Human Being Museum. The treaty of cooperation is centered on the field of mummies.

This British archeologist apparently led the expedition.

Stephen Buckley - Archaeology, The University of York

Fatima:
Unlocking the secrets of history

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hamed Thabet For Yemen Times

In ancient Yemen, people believed in life after death. Their belief in resurrection was essential to ensure a safe passage to the afterlife for their dead. Mummification was an important step to ensuring one's afterlife in ancient Yemen. However contradictory to their belief, not only the dead lost their way to the afterworld; sadly, the mummies have never crossed the boundaries of their tombs. So where did all the mummies go?

According to the researchers, In the ancient days, Yemen was one of the most famous countries in the world with its civilization and secrets. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that there are huge numbers of mummies in Yemen that have not been revealed and introduced to the international community

It is difficult to know exactly why this society practiced mummification, but it must surely reflect a desire to keep their dead with them since the mummies do not seem to have been buried immediately. Ancient Yemenis used to embalm their dead due to their belief that they would return to this world on the Day of Resurrection. Researchers confirmed that many mummies have been found in Yemen in several different places by accident in the last 20 years and many of them are still hidden in their tombs and unknown.

For the first time, ,Windol Fliees, the head of an American expedition group found samples in Ma’reb in 1951-1952 in the graveyard or cemetery of Awam Temple called Haied Bin Aqeed. But the important discovery was in 1983 in Shebam Al Garas by the archeology expedition department, which found 26 Mummies at a depth of 60 centimeters, and among all those, only one has survived. Moreover, in 1991 Mummies have been found in the Al Noman mountain in Al Mahweet governorate, and until today their work is not finished as there are many more. In 1994 in Saih Bani Matar, Mummies have been found in natural caves, but unfortunately, no one has examined them until this date; because there are no specialists and experts to study the tombs and the bodies. In 1999, another body was found in Shaoob and finally a local found a Mummy of a small child in Damar.

However, not all mummies that were found belong to Yemenis, “A Mummy has been found which belonged to the 6 century, however the body wasn’t preserved by humans, but by natural forces. We prsume this mummy belonged to one of the Ethiopian soliders who served in the Army of (Abraha) when they invaded Yemen. There are two theories about the solider’s death: the first theory was that he was killed in battle, the second theory was that he died because of suffocation by volcanic smoke,” said Dr, Abdul Hakim, who is a tutor at Sana’a University in the Archeology Department and also the storekeeper at the museum.

Abdul Hakim explained the ancient Yemeni steps of mummification , saying the theory and idea of Mummies in Yemen are the same as that of any other country but of course each have their own system of embalmment. On the basis of some researches on Mummies, a kind of plant called Al Ra’a, was found in all the bodies, and also chemical materials like oxides of iron and sulfur dioxide. Furthermore, camel oil was found to be the principle agent of embalming the dead.

During this process, they would tear the stomach, take out the bowels, and put the plant material and distribute the chemicals in a way that would fill the stomach in order to keep it preserved. The body was covered and painted with a color called Henna. Furthermore, the shrouding process in Yemeni Mummies took several steps. Firstly, rolls with silk and then leather were placed on the body and if the person was rich more money was spent for more rolls of silk and leather rolls. Nevertheless, some Mummies that were found in Shaoob in Sana’a were embalmed by shrouding, using cotton and straw. After putting the materials, the body was well dressed and adorned with new shoes, coats, and mineral rings in order to drive away evil spirits.

Dr. Mohamed Al- Aroosi, who was the Chief of General Assembly in ancient monuments and now teaches at Sana’a University, said: “since we found the bodies in 1983, no researches have been made to find out about these Mummies. Even the atmosphere for the bodies in the museum is as bad as hell, so much that when first the body arrived to the museum they were well and you could feel their spirit, but nowadays they are getting destroyed because of the carelessness and there being no support from the government and other countries or even Organizations to protect them. It is a shame to keep these valuable ancient monuments, while we cannot give them what they deserve, and it is better to contribute them to other museums or countries who will take care of them, instead of ignoring them as it is the case now.”

It is hard to differentiate between Yemeni Mummies and the Egyptian ones, as there is absolutely no information and studies, but the only difference that we can tell for now is that mummies in Egypt took everything they could with them , furthermore there tombs told the story of their lives. The Yemeni ones, on the other hand, are different because they just took with them a small weapon, food, and a ring on one of their toes. Specialists inferred the main goal was forgiveness from the gods (Al-Rahman Thi Samawi) and they would give themselves to their gods asking for peace and love.

In addition, the materials that were used in mummification indicate that ancient Yemenis had very advanced medical and scientific information and methods. It also indicated that Yemenis had lived luxurious life as most of the materials were very expensive at the time.

Mr. Mohamed Qasim, the head of the national team, said “because of the huge number of mummies that can be found in Yemen, the government offered to open a special museum in Al Tawilah in Al- Mahweet. The delay comes because there is no subsidy from the government to open this museum. Moreover, the lack of specialists and experts play a role in this, and our Yemeni team is not qualified.

“Yemen has a lot of Mummies; leaving them without proper care and maintenance is a crime. The problem is that no one can touch the bodies because they need experts in this field. Some graves are in the Mountains at a height of 40 – 60 meters, we need help to reach them, we need help to serve them and we need help to study them,” he concluded.

http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1090&p=report&a=1

More articles:

Evaluating the Biodeterioration Enzymatic Activities of Fungal Contamination Isolated from Some Ancient Yemeni Mummies Preserved in the National Museum

http://www.yemenlng.com/ws/en/Articles/ShowArt.aspx?cmd=showone&at=news&artid=000190

National Geographic documentary about mummies in Yemen. It's in Arabic. I cannot find the English version.

I personally suspect (as do most experts, anthropologists, archeologists and historians) that the Arabian Peninsula (of which less than 0,1% has been excavated) is hiding many treasures as it was home to some of the oldest civilizations, cities (once inhabited and continuously inhabited) and it was moreover the first place to be inhabited by humans outside of Eastern Africa and Southern Africa if we believe modern science.

Let us hope that all this ancient and highly valuable heritage is left largely untouched despite the ongoing war.

 

[Al-Andalus]

I can HIGHLY recommend this little page showing ancient Arabian artifacts. I found a similar page about other fellow ancient Semitic cultures and their incredible heritage.

Ancient Arabs -

How all those artifacts are stored in British Museums and not back in Yemen and KSA I do not know? Under the information below nearly every artifact it states that it is kept in the British Museum or another museum in the West. What is going on?

Just a few items.

Or in Louvre in Paris.

 

[Al-Andalus]

Continued:

2500 years old funeral stele found in the ancient city of Tayma in Northern Hijaz with Aramaic inscriptions (lingua franca of the Arab/Semitic/most of the MENA world before the closely related Arabic took over).

Bronze statue of the Himyarite King Dhamar Ali Yahbur.

 

[lastofthepatriots]

IVC and oldest civilization of Middle Eastern Arabs actually married within each other and had human to human contact. I can provide an interesting documentary If anyone is interested.

@Al-Andalus thank you for the fascinating relics.

 

[Al-Andalus]

IVC and oldest civilization of Middle Eastern Arabs actually married within each other and had human to human contact. I can provide an interesting documentary If anyone is interested.

@Al-Andalus thank you for the fascinating relics.

Please feel free to share bro. Sounds interesting and not that unlikely given that there was contact (documented) with civilizations in Arabia (Eastern Arabia in particular) such as Dilmun and Magan. As well as Sumer in Southern Iraq. Geographic proximity with Sindh also makes this rather likely.

You are welcome. Expect many more artifacts to be found in Arabia considering the fact that this is one of the most unexplored regions of the world, home to some of the oldest known civilizations and cities on the planet, oldest inhabited region after East Africa by humans etc. and yet despite this archaeologists, historians and civilians have found so much heritage. Can't imagine what they could find if you could "screen" all the mountainous and desert areas overnight, lol.

 

[lastofthepatriots]

Please feel free to share bro. Sounds interesting and not that unlikely given that there was contact (documented) with civilizations in Arabia (Eastern Arabia in particular) such as Dilmun and Magan. As well as Sumer in Southern Iraq. Geographic proximity with Sindh also makes this rather likely.

You are welcome. Expect many more artifacts to be found in Arabia considering the fact that this is one of the most unexplored regions of the world, home to some of the oldest known civilizations and cities on the planet, oldest inhabited region after East Africa by humans etc. and yet despite this archaeologists, historians and civilians have found so much heritage. Can't imagine what they could find if you could "screen" all the mountainous and desert areas overnight, lol.