Saudi Gazette report
RIYADH — The Saudi Heritage Fee has introduced the conclusion of the 2025 season of the joint Saudi-French archaeological mission at Al-Ukhdood website within the southern Najran area. The joint staff yielded vital findings, documenting key options of historical human settlement in southern Arabia.
Throughout this season, archaeological surveys and excavations lined 59.9 p.c of the positioning. Utilizing fashionable expertise, similar to digital scanning and 3D modeling, the staff registered 483 archaeological websites and documented over 550 archaeological monuments.
The work uncovered the foundations of a constructing with rooms and courtyards, exhibiting architectural types that date again to the third century BC. Artifacts discovered embrace a sandstone altar formed like a bull’s head, bronze statues, an incense burner with historical script, and fragments of pottery and glass. The discoveries additionally supplied proof of business exercise, similar to metallic smelting furnaces, suggesting the positioning was a thriving cultural and financial heart in its early historical past.
This challenge is the results of a scientific partnership between the Heritage Fee and several other French establishments, together with the Nationwide Middle for Scientific Analysis (CNRS) and Sorbonne College. The collaboration underscores Saudi Arabia’s dedication to worldwide partnerships and the utilization of superior experience to doc and promote its wealthy world heritage.
