Watch: Archaeologists Uncover 4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Town in Saudi Arabia

Archaeologists have uncovered a remarkable 4,000-year-old Bronze Age town in the Arabian Peninsula that once housed nearly 500 residents, revealing insights into how ancient communities transitioned from a nomadic lifestyle to more urbanized living.

French archaeologist Guillaume Charloux, along with a team of Saudi researchers, located the al-Natah settlement near the Khaybar Oasis. Spanning around 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres), the town is believed to have been established around 2400 BCE and remained inhabited until roughly 1300 BCE.

Charloux explained that al-Natah’s development reflects a gradual, region-specific approach to urbanization. The town’s stone structures and layout hint at a well-organized society emerging from traditionally nomadic roots.

Situated near Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia’s Hejaz region, al-Natah appears to have been surrounded by a protective wall approximately 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) in length. The carefully planned settlement included a central administrative zone, walled gardens, a necropolis, and a residential area with interconnecting streets. The necropolis contained stepped circular tower tombs, along with artifacts like axes, daggers, agate rings, and pottery fragments.

Researchers noted that urbanization in the Arabian Peninsula progressed slowly, with northern Arabian settlements in a transitional phase from the third to the second millennium BCE, a period described as “low urbanization” due to the gradual shift from pastoral to more complex urban settlements.

While urbanization began earlier in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the fourth millennium BCE, Charloux observed that societal complexity in northwestern Arabia developed later. A similar fortification from this era was discovered at the nearby Tayma Oasis earlier this year.

The reason for al-Natah’s eventual abandonment between 1500–1300 BCE remains unclear. Charloux noted that further investigation is needed to understand this question fully, indicating that extensive research is still underway.