Mapping an Arabian oasis: first results of the UCOP systematic survey of al‑ʿUlā (AlUla) Valley (2019–2021)

Authors

  • Julien Charbonnier
  • Yasmin Kanhoush
  • Julie Gravier
  • Gaël Gourret
  • Imane Achouche
  • Vincent Bernollin
  • Sofian Boudia
  • Walter Bucci
  • Barbara Chiti
  • Pascale Clauss-Balty
  • Vincent Colard
  • Emmanuelle Devaux
  • Armance Dupont-Delaleuf
  • Alexandre De Smet
  • Cassandra Furstos
  • Julie Goy
  • Mathias Haze
  • Tobias Hofstetter
  • Romuald Housse
  • Thomas Huet
  • Céline Marquaire
  • Maria Paola Pellegrino
  • Catherine Raad
  • Jean-Daniel Ricart
  • Alexia Rosak
  • Ahmad F. Saïd
  • David Serres
  • Pierre Siméon
  • Francelin Tourtet
  • Jessica Giraud

Keywords:

al‑ʿUlā (AlUla), oasis, qanāt, archaeological survey, GIS

Abstract

Funded and steered by the French Agency for AlUla Development (Afalula) on behalf of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), the AlUla Cultural Oasis Project (UCOP), undertaken by Archaïos, aims at mapping and understanding the spatial organization of the al‑ʿUlā oasis (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). The project’s methodology includes a systematic foot survey of cultivated areas in al‑ʿUlā Valley, the vectorization of identified archaeological structures on the GIS using high-resolution orthophoto maps, as well as remote sensing on archive imagery.
In the present paper we aim to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the understudied Islamic and pre-modern Arabian oases by presenting and proposing a preliminary analysis of the archaeological map of al‑ʿUlā Valley, resulting from the first five field seasons of UCOP (2019–2021). For this purpose, we will delineate the ‘historical oasis of al‑ʿUlā Old Town’ (i.e. the locale formed by al‑ʿUlā Old Town and associated gardens and fields, from their foundation in the middle Islamic period to the early twentieth century), provide a first study of its spatial organization, describe its components, and highlight the rapid growth of the gardens during the twentieth century. Ultimately, our objective is to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of this exceptional heritage, which is inseparable from the already protected al‑ʿUlā Old Town.

References

Al-Aboudi A. 2019. La ville de Qurḥ (al‑Mâbiyât) la prospère. Pages 94–95 in L. Nehmé & A. Al-Suhaibani (eds), Alula merveille d’Arabie. Paris: Gallimard and Institut du monde arabe.

Al-Bassam A.M. & Al-Zaidi F.K. 2016. Aqueducts in Saudi Arabia. Pages 211–228 in A.N. Angelakis, E. Chiotis, S. Eslamian & H. Weingartner (eds), Underground aqueducts handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Bawden G. 1979. Khief El-Zahrah and the nature of Dedanite hegemony in the Al-’Ula oasis. Atlal 3: 63–72.

Berger J-F., Bravard J-P., Purdue L., Benoist A., Mouton M. & Braemer F. 2012. Rivers of the Hadramawt watershed (Yemen) during the Holocene: Clues of late functioning. Quaternary International 266: 142–161. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.10.037

Bisson J. 1992. Les foggara du Sahara algérien: déclin ou renouveau? Pages 7–26 in D. Balland (ed.), Les eaux cachées. Etudes géographiques sur les galeries drainantes souterraines. Paris: Département de géographie de l’Université de Paris-Sorbonne.

Brunner U. 1983. Die Erforschung der antiken Oase von Mārib mit Hilfe geomorphologischer Untersuchungsmethoden. (Archäologische Berichte aus dem Yemen, II). Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.

Cariou A. 2019. Fleurir le désert, le mirage de l’agriculture: Les oasis du Liwa (Émirats arabes unis) et du Wadi Sirhan (Arabie saoudite). Études rurales 204: 192–220. https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesrurales.17484

Cariou A. 2020. Les techniques d’irrigation dans la péninsule Arabique: De la tradition oasienne millénaire à la révolution des périmètres irrigués. Artefact 12: 203–229. https://doi.org/10.4000/artefact.5773

Charbonnier J. 2014. In the shadow of the palm trees: Time management and water allocation in the oasis of Ādam (Sultanate of Oman). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 44: 83–98.

Charbonnier J. 2017. The Genesis of oases in southeast Arabia: Rethinking current theories and models. Pages 53–72 in E. Lavie & A. Marshall (eds), Oases and globalization. Ruptures and continuities. Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50749-1_4

Charbonnier J. 2018. Cartographier les systèmes d’irrigation à partir de photographies aériennes d’archives: mise en application au Yémen. ArchéOrient – Le Blog. 5 October 2018. https://archeorient.hypotheses.org/9515

Charbonnier J. 2019. Human adaptation in Arabia: The role of hydraulic technologies. Pages 221–245 in E. Chiotis (ed.), Climate changes in the Holocene. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Charbonnier J., Al-Zaabi A., Davtian G., Costa S. & Purdue L. 2018. Ethnoarchaeology of water systems: First move in the framework of OASIWAT Project. Page 315–337 in L. Purdue, J. Charbonnier & L. Khalidi (eds), From refugia to oasis: Living in arid environments from prehistoric times to the present day. Actes des XXXVIIIèmes Rencontres internationales d’archéologie et d’histoire d’Antibes. Antibes: Éditions APDCA.

Cleuziou S. & Costantini L. 1980. Premiers éléments sur l’agriculture protohistorique de l’Arabie orientale. Paléorient 6/1: 245–251.

Coque-Delhuille B. & Gentelle P. 1997. Crue et sédimentation contrôlée au Yémen antique. Géomorphologie: relief, processus, environnement 1997/2: 99–110.

Courbon P. 2008. Les puits nabatéens de Mada’in Sālih (Arabie Saoudite). Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 19/1: 48–70. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0471.2007.00288.x

Dentzer J-M. 2008. Les Nabatéens et l’eau: technologie et culture. La conduite d’eau du Jebel Ithlib à Medaïn Saleh (Arabie Saoudite). Syria 85: 5–17. https://doi.org/10.4000/syria.442

Doughty C.M. 1888. Travels in Arabia Deserta. i. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Euting J. 1914. Tagbuch einer Reise in Inner-Arabien. Leiden: Brill.

Fleitmann D. & Matter A. 2009. The speleothem record of climate variability in southern Arabia. Comptes Rendus Geoscience 341/8–9: 633–642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2009.01.006

Gatier P-L. & Salles J-F. 1988. Aux frontières méridionales du domaine nabatéen. Pages 173–190 in J-F. Salles (ed.), L’Arabie et ses mères bordières. I. Itinéraires et voisinages. Séminaire de recherche 1985–1986. (Travaux de la Maison de l’Orient, 16). Lyon: Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux.

Gilmore M., Al-Ibrahim M., Mursi G. & Al-Talhi D. 1985. A Preliminary report on the first season of excavations at al‑Mabiyat, an early Islamic site in the northern Hijaz. Atlal 9: 109–125.

Grolier M.J. 1996. A Geomorphic inquiry into soil processes and soil irrigation farming in the al‑Jadidah Basin of Wadi al‑Jubah, Yemen Arab Republic. Pages: 15–43 in M.J. Grolier, R. Brinkmann & J.A. Blakely (eds), The Wadi al‑Jubah Archaeological Project, volume 5: Environmental research in support of archaeological investigations in the Yemen Arab Republic, 1982–1987. Washington, DC: American Foundation for the Study of Man.

Gros-Balthazard M., Hazzouri K. & Flowers J. 2018. Genomic insights into date palm origins. Genes 9/10: 502–514. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9100502

Harrower M.J. 2009. Is the hydraulic hypothesis dead yet? Irrigation and social change in ancient Yemen. World Archaeology 41/1: 58–72. http://doi.org/10.1080/00438240802668354

Jaussen A. & Savignac R. 1914. Mission archéologique en Arabie. ii. El-‘Ela, d’Hegra à Teima, Harrah de Tebouk. Paris: Paul Geuthner.

Lavie E. & Marshall A. 2017. Oases and globalization. Ruptures and continuities. Cham: Springer. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50749-1

Marquaire C., Charbonnier J., Gourret G., Said A.F., Bernollin V. & Kanhoush Y. 2022. Study and mapping of wells in the oasis of al‑ʿUlā (poster). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 51: 221–230.

Nasif A. 1988. Al-‘Ula: An historical and archaeological survey with special reference to its irrigation system. Riyadh: King Saud University.

Nehmé L., Arnoux T., Bessac J-C., Braun J-P., Dentzer J-M., Kermorvant A. … Rigot J-B. 2006. Mission archéologique de Madā’in Sālih (Arabie Saoudite): Recherches menées de 2001 à 2003 dans l’ancienne Hijrā des Nabatéens (1). Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 17: 41–124.

Parr P.J., Harding G.L. & Dayton J.E. 1970. Preliminary survey in N.W. Arabia, 1968. Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology 8–9: 193–242.

Power T. 2012. The Red Sea from Byzantium to the caliphate, AD 500–1000. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. https://doi.org/10.5743/cairo/9789774165443.001.0001

Power T. & Sheehan P. 2012. The origin and development of the oasis landscape of al‑‘Ain (UAE). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 42: 291–308.

Purdue L. 2020. ArcAgr-AU Project – First scientific report. [Unpublished report submitted to the French Agency for AlUla Development.]

Purdue L., Charbonnier J., Régagnon E., Calastrenc C., Sagory T., Virmoux C. … Benoist A. 2019. Geoarchaeology of Holocene oasis formation, hydro-agricultural management and climate change in Masafi, southeast Arabia (UAE). Quaternary Research 92/1: 109–132. http://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2018.142

Purdue L., Kennet D., Garnier A., Parton A., Djerbi H., Botan S. … al‑Jahwari N. 2021. Ancient agriculture in southeast Arabia: A three thousand year record of runoff farming from central Oman (Rustaq). Catena 204. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2021.105406

Sheehan P., Power T. & al‑Kaabi O.S. 2018. Al‑ʿAyn Oases Mapping Project: al‑Hīlī oasis 2017. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 48: 327–338.

Al-Suhaibani A. 2015. L’architecture à Dédan (Étude analytique et comparative). PhD thesis, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. [Unpublished.]

Talhi D., Ibrahim M., Mursi J.M. & Askubi K. 1986. Excavation at Mabiyyat, second season 1404–1405/1984–1985. Atlal 10: 58–64.

Tengberg M. 2012. Beginnings and early history of date palm garden cultivation in the Middle East. Journal of Arid Environments 86/C: 139–147. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.11.022

Winnett F.V. & Reed L.W. 1970. Ancient records from North Arabia. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Published

01/01/2022

How to Cite

Charbonnier, J., Kanhoush, Y., Gravier, J., Gourret, G., Achouche, I., Bernollin, V., … Giraud, J. (2023). Mapping an Arabian oasis: first results of the UCOP systematic survey of al‑ʿUlā (AlUla) Valley (2019–2021). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 51, 51–81. Retrieved from https://archaeopresspublishing.com/ojs/index.php/PSAS/article/view/2006

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.