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Khaybar Heritage Village

Khaybar is an ancient oasis and one of the natural wonders of northwest Arabia, born from desert volcanic activity and featuring a unique landscape that has supported waves of settled and itinerant human activity for over 100,000 years.

Khaybar

A Historic Oasis

Khaybar is split across two zones—the Khaybar Natural Area, which encompasses the volcanic landscape of Harrat Khaybar, and the historic oasis, which is teeming with biodiversity and has been a source of vibrant culture and fresh water for millennia. The oasis features striking evidence of human engagement, such as the Stone Age funerary avenues known as the “Works of the Old Men”, and its craggy landscape and plentiful fresh water made it an ambitious and effective seat of power, as evidenced by the ruins of fortresses and the thriving traditions of craft and ways of living that continue in the oasis today.

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Development

Building a Legacy

As part of its mission to discover, activate, and preserve AlUla, the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) is building a legacy for the region by connecting AlUla, Tayma, and Khaybar—three of the great oases of northwest Arabia—for the first time in modern memory. Together, they form the world’s largest living museum, telling the story of human activity and the Earth itself. RCU’s efforts in Khaybar include overseeing archaeological projects that aim to unlock the mysteries of antiquity in the region and developing the oasis as a unique destination that offers a tapestry of natural and cultural experiences like nowhere else on Earth.

Archaeology

Khaybar Discovery Rewrites Arabian Past

In a groundbreaking discovery, the Khaybar Longue Durée archaeological project, led by the French Agency for AlUla Development (AFALULA) in collaboration with RCU and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), has uncovered a monumental rampart that once protected the Khaybar oasis in northwest Arabia. Dating back to the Bronze Age between 2250 and 1950 BCE, this mighty wall stretched nearly 15 km, enclosing the entire oasis. 

The team’s multidisciplinary approach, combining survey data, remote sensing, architectural analysis, and radiocarbon dating, revealed that the rampart, now with over 41% of its original length preserved, featured an impressive 74 bastions. This remarkable discovery not only confirms the existence of a complex walled oasis system in the region during the Bronze Age but also sheds light on the development of indigenous social and political structures, marking a significant milestone in our understanding of the ancient human occupation of Arabia.

Archaeology

Bronze Age Town in Khaybar Oasis

Recently the Khaybar Longue Durée Project (AFALULA, RCU, CNRS) has revealed the ruins of a large Bronze Age town, named al-Natah, in the Khaybar Oasis, which dates c. 4,400 to 3,300 years ago (c. 2400-1300 BCE). Divided into distinct functional areas – residential, administrative, and funerary – the town is associated, and contemporary with, a huge stone rampart fortification that encircles the core of the Khaybar Oasis.