Direction
Jérôme Rohmer (CNRS, UMR 7041 ArScAn)
Ahmad al-Jallad (Leiden University, Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Arabia)
Mahmood al-Hajiri (Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage)
How Eveha Participates
Archaeological excavations
Location
Saudi Arabia
The 2019 excavation campaign provided an opportunity to document the earliest phases of occupation in the gate area. The stratigraphic sequence reaches a depth of more than 2 m and is subdivided into four phases, ranging from the 4th-3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE.
The first phase, prior to the rampart, was occupied by a blacksmith’s workshop. It was destroyed to make way for a 5-meter-thick rampart. Two towers projecting forward from the gate were built to create a security chamber (Fig. 2). Quite quickly, for security reasons, the eastern tower was demolished and the gate was blocked. Two fortification walls were subsequently added, bringing the width of the rampart to 10 meters.
Studies of the artifacts and data collected throughout the operation, which are still being analyzed, will enable us to refine our knowledge of the city’s history.
