Qurayyah Archeological Site

Qurayyah Archeological Site isa historical hamlet in Tabuk Province, northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, approximately seventy-six km from Tabuk City. It gained significance due to its historical depth, as it thrived for about three thousand years, during which it developed its language and writing. It was one of the most important centers in the northwest of Arabia during the Iron Age, serving as a commercial hub and a trade route linking northern and southern Arabia.

Excavations conducted in 2021 revealed that the establishment of the urban oasis of Qurayyah dates back one thousand years earlier than previously thought. Prior studies dated the site to the early first millennium BCE. Using modern interdisciplinary research methods, the joint team from the Heritage Commission and the University of Vienna determined its origins to the third millennium BCE (2900–2600 BCE), i.e. in the Early Bronze Age. This conclusion was reached through research conducted along the thirteen km-long oasis wall, where systematic samples were collected and dated using radiocarbon and stimulated luminescence technologies.

Qurayyah Archeological Site includes a massive wall with supports and tall towers. Inside the wall are stone buildings and structures, indicating the presence of an advanced urban society. The site also features remnants of a sophisticated and intricately designed irrigation network that sourced water from a spring at the base of the hill. It also houses fields for agricultural storage, pottery kilns, and a temple containing several stone mounds. Additionally, the site comprises pottery fragments of various styles, forms, and periods.

The research team announced in 2021 the discovery of a circular stone tomb atop the hill, where twelve persons (women, men, and children) were buried. Alongside the burials, approximately one thousand beads, eight necklaces made of clay and decorated ceramics, and imported items such as pearls, shells, bones, ivory, gemstones, agate, hematite, amazonite, transparent quartz, greenstone, turquoise, and lapis lazuli were found. Pottery vessels and animal offerings were also buried with those persons.