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ABSTRACT This study presents a new epigraphic inscription from Ḥimā (Najrān, Saudi Arabia), which records the arrival of an individual from ʿUmān during the reign of Abīyathaʿ Ghaylān, king of the Amīr tribe. Written in a South Arabian script but showing non‐Ancient South Arabian—possibly Hasaitic—linguistic features, the inscription provides rare evidence of trans‐Arabian mobility and diplomatic relations during the Hellenistic period. By contextualizing this text alongside other inscriptions and coins from southern and eastern Arabia, the article explores the political role of Abīyathaʿ, the integration of the al‐Asd tribe and the significance of long‐distance networks involving Gerrha and Mleiha. A newly discovered graffito referencing the gentilic Ġr‐ite also contributes to ongoing debates on the ancient name of Gerrha. The use of regnal and Seleucid‐era dating in these inscriptions offers further insight into evolving chronological systems across pre‐Islamic Arabia.

Une mission archéologique pluridisciplinaire conduite par Corinne Castel, sous l’égide du CNRS, de l’Université Lyon 2 et du Ministry of Heritage and Tourism of Oman, mène des fouilles au Sultanat d’Oman depuis 2019 sur le secteur d’Al-Arid. Ce secteur est situé sur la rive gauche du wadi Khuwaybah, dans une large vallée au pied des monts Al-Hajar, à une quinzaine de kilomètres au nordouest du site archéologique de Bāt classé au patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco. Les fouilles ont mis en évidence deux phases principales d’occupation du site d’Al-Arid au début de l’âge du Bronze, aux périodes Hafit (environ 3200-2700 avant notre ère) puis Umm an-Nar (environ 2700-2000 avant notre ère). Elles ont révélé un nombre remarquable de vestiges : sept tours, une nécropole, des bâtiments, un atelier de transformation du minerai de cuivre en métal de la période Hafit.

<p>This book presents the first dedicated study of the enigmatic 2000-year-old trilith monuments in Southeastern Arabia, revealing their geographical extent, chronological range, and cultural significance. Based on an analysis of 921 trilith sites comprising almost four thousand clusters. the book identifies four distribution hotspots across Yemen and Oman, extending the known chronology of triliths back to 410 BCE. Statistical analyses suggest that triliths played a role in mobility and rituals for safe passage, pre-Islamic water rites, and rituals associated with ancestor cults. A spatio-temporal analysis has traced the migration patterns of populations linked to trilith monuments, revealing their spread from southern Oman in the 5th century BCE to eastern Oman by the 1st century BCE, before retreating southwards in possible connection with the semi-historical migration of the Azd tribes. The book concludes that triliths were multifunctional spaces rather than structures built for a single purpose. Two topical chapters describe the relocation of a trilith to the National Museum in Muscat and the challenges involved in identifying trilith monuments using remote sensing. This book will serve as an invaluable reference volume for scholars working on the stone monuments of Arabia. It contains a repository of extensive data that is essential for understanding ancient nomadic societies in southern Arabia.</p>

During 2022 and 2023, our field activities focused on Wadi al-Maʻawil, a very large wadi close to the Muslimāt village in between Nakhal and Afī oasis, where in 2022 we discovered a completely unexplored and multifaceted ecotope. We selected a 10 x 10 Km squared area encompassing this ecotope after ground truthing because of the high intensity of the archaeological features and because it featured three adaptive conditions: the presence of large widyān with central terraces, the presence of an anthropized oasis and the presence of a possible ancient settlement pattern in which the anthropic features (settlements, graves, pathways) were almost close together and intervisible. This volume studies the landscape of the site and classifies, studies, and describes all the finds during the excavations and survey campaigns of 2022 and 2023.

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Despite substantial research on the Umm an-Nar (c.2700–2000 BC) and Wadi Suq (c.2000–1600 BC), our understanding of rural settlements and their economies during these periods remains limited. Research on the Umm an-Nar period has focused mainly on large sites and monumental towers, and relatively few vernacular buildings have been excavated. Similarly, the few known Wadi Suq-period settlements have provided scant insights into their nature. The discovery of a series of rural settlements in the northern Bāṭinah, particularly the well-preserved vernacular buildings of the Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq periods at Burj Huraiz in the 2018 season of the Wadi al Jizzi Archaeological Project (WAJAP) survey and subsequent excavations in 2023–2024, have resulted in new and intriguing data. The main results from these excavations are presented here and contextualized, thereby enhancing our understanding of rural settlements in the Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq periods.

Among glazed Arabian Gulf wares, Bahlā Ware stands out as one of the most documented objects of consumption at sites in Oman, the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain from the sixteenth to the early twentieth century. Previous scientific studies of Bahlā Ware from UAE and Qatar formed the basis for understanding its production technology and provenance, as well as the unique composition of its lead-barium glaze. This paper presents the new results of petrographic and chemical analyses of thirty-two Bahlā samples from Oman, contributing to a better understanding of the compositional variability of ceramics, the provenance of raw materials, and techniques used for the application of lead-barium glazes. The compositional match between samples of Bahlā Ware from Oman, the UAE, and Qatar reveals the exploitation of the same geological source of raw materials over several centuries. Previous research has associated this source with the ophiolitic geological formation in Oman. The results of chemical analysis of glazes confirmed that the Omani samples were also coated with a lead-barium glaze of the same type as reported for UAE and Qatar.

, A newly discovered grave in Wadi Nafūn, Oman, features a unique burial structure, combining monumental architecture and the collective deposition of human remains from multiple Neolithic groups. Detailed analysis of the burial community reveals new insights into Neolithic rituals and subsistence strategies during the Holocene Humid Period in southern Arabia.

Archaeometallurgical studies at the Salh site in northern Oman have provided new data on copper technology in the Bronze Age and Islamic periods. Archaeological results indicate that it may have functioned seasonally. Slag analyses have shown possible technological changes over the centuries. Smelting was carried out under reducing conditions, using oxidized copper ores weathering zone deposits. The scale of copper production at Salh1 was relatively small in both periods, but—due to its strategic location near important trade routes—the site could have functioned as part of a short-range as well as long-range mercantile network.

Caught between the poles of remembering and forgetting, glorification and neglect, the abandoned mudbrick settlements (ḥārāt) of Oman are a vital object of conflicting processes of interpretation and negotiation. Adopting a diachronic perspective, the multi-disciplinary book’s chapters examine their past, present and future. The book presents approaches and results of archaeological, ethnographic, historical and sociological research on abandoned ḥārāt. Oman’s landscape is dotted with abandoned mudbrick settlements and quarters, known as ḥārāt, either isolated in the countryside or surrounded by vibrant, modern urban centres. Most of them were abandoned during the economic upturn and opening of the country after Sultan Qaboos bin Said came to power in 1970. People’s move from traditional mudbrick to modern concrete houses led to the deterioration and decay of the physical substance of the mudbrick buildings. In the face of these conditions, various Omani and international actors have repeatedly warned against the uncontrolled loss of this valuable cultural heritage. The former inhabitants of the mudbrick houses and their descendants have also repeatedly emphasised their emotional attachment to these abandoned places and their personal significance to them. At the same time, others, especially tourists, have glorified the dilapidated state of the ruins as an aesthetically beautiful backdrop for a romanticised vision of the past. This was the starting point for the interdisciplinary research project “The abandoned mudbrick settlements of central Oman: Between romanticisation and neglect”, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation as part of the “Lost Cities” programme between 2020 and 2022, and conducted by the editors of the present volume. It constitutes the proceedings of the closing conference of the project, in which team members present their results and leading experts give their input on inhabited, abandoned and re(dis)covered mudbrick settlements in the Sultanate of Oman.