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Discovering Khaybar: The Hidden Story of an Ancient Oasis

For decades, Khaybar was a green spot in the middle of the vast volcanic rock of the Saudi northwest. This oasis is known for its Islamic castles, its medieval history and its fertile agricultural fields. However, what seemed to be another settlement of the desert has turned out to be one of the oldest and fortified cities of Arabia. If you like this content, do not forget to subscribe to the channel and give like to the video. Your support is fundamental to continue sharing interesting information about archaeology and history. Let us discover together the fascinating history of Khayber! A double archaeological finding has revealed a hidden history for millennia. Khay Bar was not only a walled city 4,000 years ago, but also a center of human occupation from the Neolithic to the Islamic period. These discoveries allow us to better understand the importance of this place in the history of Arabia but rather the first published infrastructure in the early 2024, caused a strong impact on the archaeological community. The researchers of the Bhaybar Longue Durée Archaeologic Project found the remains of a wall of more than 14 kilometers that surrounded the oasis between 2250 and 1950 BC. The 'funerary avenues', paths delimited by tombs, connect different areas of the oasis and demonstrate a planning of the territory from early times. This reinforces the idea of a complex social organization in Khaybar. The study also documents how Khay Bar’s occupation adapted to climatic and social changes throughout the millennia. The reuse of materials and the persistence of spatial patterns indicate a memory of the place and a way to inhabit the landscape with continuous and constant transformations. One of the most intriguing aspects is the structures of uncertain function, many of them associated with funeral or ritual contexts. These constructions suggest an organization of space that integrates the sacred, the everyday and the political, which makes Khayber a ritual and social center. The continuity of the occupation in Khaibar makes this place an exceptional laboratory to study the evolution of societies in arid environments. From the beginnings of grazing to the Islamic expansion, the oasis has been witness to the history of Arabia. The combination of both studies forces us to rewrite what we knew about urban development and agriculture in the Arabian desert as one human communities.