Search

e-Forschungsberichte, Faszikel 1 (2021), Die Oase von Al-Ula war in der Antike ein politisch, kulturell und wirtschaftlich bedeutendes Zentrum Nordwestarabiens und Sitz der im 1. Jahr­tausend v. Chr. bekannten regionalen Hauptstadt Dadan. Multidisziplinäre Untersuchungen im Rahmen eines internationalen Forschungsprojektes ­lieferten erste Informationen zur bislang wenig bekannten Siedlungs­geschichte während der Bronzezeit (3.–2. Jt. v. Chr.), die durch m­ehrere Standorte innerhalb der Oase gekennzeichnet ist, darunter der Fundort Tell Saq. Dort gefundene Getreidereste, die anhand von 14C-­Messungen in das 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. datieren, weisen zusammen mit wenigen weiteren ­Kulturpflanzen auf lokalen Anbau. Daneben sind typische Vertreter der natürlichen Oasen- und (Halb-)Wüstenvegetation belegt.

The ancient site of Henchir Bourgou (Djerba), Tunisia, is the object of archaeological research conducted jointly by the Tunisian National Heritage Institute, the Ludwigs Maximilians University Munich and the German Archaeological Institute since 2017. The reports presents an overview on the activities in Henchir­ Bourgou done in 2017–2019 and gives an outlook on the potential of the site with its stratigraphy covering more than thousand years of settlement history., e-Forschungsberichte des DAI, Fasc.1 (2020)

Taymāʾ. Multidisciplinary Series on the Results of the Saudi-German Archaeological Project, Band 01, The present volume is the first of the publication series of the Saudi-German archaeological project and focuses on three fundamental aspects of research at Taymāʾ: the current archaeological exploration of the oasis is contextualised with previous and ongoing research within the region, while at the same time offering a first overview of the settlement history of the site, which may have started as early as more than 6000 years ago. New information on the palaeoenvironment has been provided by multiproxy-analysis of sediments from a palaeolake immediately north of the settlement. The results indicate an Early Holocene humid period in the region that is shorter than the so-called African Humid Period. The abrupt aridification at around 8 ka BP, known from other regions in the Near East, is also attested in north-western Arabia. The reconstruction of the past vegetation of the site and its surroundings demonstrates that oasis cultivation at Taymāʾ started during the 5th millennium BCE with grapes and figs, rather than with the date palm. According to hydrological investigations on water resources, groundwater aquifers provided the main source of local water supply. These were exploited throughwells, some of which have been identified in the area of the ancient oasis. Finally, since the time of early travellers to Northwest Arabia evidence of cultural contacts has been observed in the records from the site, which had been occupied by the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus (556–539 BCE) for ten years. A historical-archaeological essay on Egypt and Arabia as well as a study on the ambiguous relationship between Assyria and Arabia – characterised by conflict and commerce – shed new light on the foreign relations of ancient Taymāʾ.