Dadan

In the first millennium BCE, Dadan was one of the main oasis settlements in northwest Arabia and a major trade station on the northern section of the Incense Road. By the mid-6th century BCE, it had become the seat of a local kingdom controlling the oasis of al-ʿUlā. In the second half of the first millennium, Dadan was ruled by the kings of Liḥyān and hosted a Minaean trading colony. It had a specific script and language, known as Dadanitic.

Biblical references

Until the early 20th century, Dadan was only known through biblical references, where it is spelled Dĕdān (vs. Δαδαν or Δαιδαν in the Septuagint). Isa. 21: 13 and Jer. 25: 23 mention a place or a tribe called Dĕdān in northwest Arabia, near Taymāʾ. It appears to have played an important role in the caravan trade, since Isa. 21: 13 refers to the ‘caravans of Dĕdān’, while Ezek. 27: 15, 20 mentions that it was a commercial partner of Tyre. In addition, in two different genealogies in Genesis, Dĕdān is mentioned as a brother of Šĕbāʾ (Gen. 10: 7; 25: 3). In these passages, however, it is unclear whether Dĕdān represents a place or a tribe (or both?) and exactly where it was located.

Identification

This uncertainty was lifted by Müller (1889) and Jaussen and Savignac (1914: 74–77), who pointed out, in the epigraphic corpus of al-ʿUlā, two Minaic and one local North-Arabian inscription, referring respectively to a “temple of Wadd in Dadan” (M 323), a man who “died in Dadan” (M 354), and a “king of Dadan” (JSLih 138). This led Jaussen and Savignac to conclude that Dadan was the former name of the ruins locally known as al-Khurayba, 3 km north of the old town of al-ʿUlā. This identification was later confirmed by another Minaic inscription (Ja 2288), and is further corroborated by Taymanitic graffiti found between Taymāʾ and al-ʿUlā (e.g., JSTham 509+510). It is likely, however, that the name Dadan not only referred to the settlement of al-Khurayba, but to a larger area including the whole oasis of al-ʿUlā and perhaps Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ (figs 1-2).

Discovery and exploration

The site of al-Khurayba was discovered by Ch. M. Doughty in 1877-78 and then briefly visited by Ch. Huber (in 1880 and 1884) and J. Euting (in 1884). In 1909/1910, A. Jaussen and R. Savignac made a longer exploration of the site and subsequently published an extensive account of its archaeological remains and inscriptions (Jaussen & Savignac 1914). In the later 20th century, new field surveys by H.St J.B. Philby (1953), F.V. Winnett and W.L. Reed (1962), P.J. Parr, G.L. Harding and J.E. Dayton (1968), R. Stiehl (1968), A. Jamme (1968), G. Bawden (late 1970s), A. Nasif (1978-1981) and H. Abu al-Hasan (1997), led to the discovery of new inscriptions and other contemporaneous sites in the al-ʿUlā valley (fig. 2). In the early 21st century, excavations were undertaken by Saudi teams at some of these – Tall al-Kathīb (A. al-Zahrani, before 2007), Umm Daraj (H. Abu al-Hasan, 2001 and 2016) and most importantly, al-Khurayba (King Saud University, 2004-19). Since 2018, the archaeological exploration of Dadan has accelerated dramatically due to the start of several large-scale fieldwork projects, including field surveys and a new Saudi-French excavation project at al-Khurayba (Dadan Archaeological Project).

The archaeological remains

Al-Khurayba

Al-Khurayba is located on the eastern side of the al-ʿUlā valley, south of the intersection with a large east-west wadi, wadi al-Muʿtadil (fig. 2). It lies at the foot of a sandstone massif, Jabal al-Khurayba. The western flank of this massif forms a steep, 100-to-200-m-high cliff overlooking the archaeological remains. The site comprises four main areas (fig. 3).

The main ancient settlement is a c. 9-ha oval tell, c. 420 x 265 m, covered with dense sandstone scree and peppered with looting holes (fig. 4). The western fringes of the settlement were destroyed by the construction of the Hejaz railway. Before excavations, the only visible feature was a large circular monolithic cistern, c. 4 m in diameter, located in the north-western part of the ruins and locally known as Maḥlab al-Nāqa – ‘the place where the she-camel was milked’ (see Ṣāliḥ). Building on Jaussen and Savignac’s (1914: 56–59) assumption that it was part of a large religious complex, the KSU excavations focused on this area between 2004 and 2016. They revealed dense architectural remains, including a large, rectangular monumental building with very thick walls, around which several monumental statues, probably representing Lihyanite kings, had collapsed (figs 5-6). The excavators identified this complex as the sanctuary of the main god of Dadan, Dhū-Ghābat, and dated its construction and use between the 5th and the 1st centuries BCE (Alsuhaibani 2015: 70). However, deep soundings indicate that the history of the site goes back further, spanning at least the mid-second millennium to the 1st century BCE (al-Said & al-Ghazzi 2013: 45–46; al-Theeb 2013: 20; 2016).

The second part of the site corresponds to the base of the cliff (fig. 7). This area was originally used for stone extraction, as shown by ubiquitous pick marks and imprints of broken-out blocks. This created several dozen flat, c. 10-m-high quarry faces, into which rock-cut tombs were later carved. A recent survey by I. al-Mushabbi recorded 743 tombs, including 75 chamber tombs, 165 loculus tombs and 385 pit tombs. Most of these tombs are devoid of decoration and associated with local North-Arabian (Dadanitic) funerary inscriptions or graffiti (fig. 8). At the southern edge of the necropolis, however, a remarkable group of 21 loculus tombs includes five tombs associated with Minaic texts, and two – now known as the ‘lion tombs’ – flanked by carved lion protomes (fig. 9). Further to the southeast, the cliff forming the southern edge of Jabal al-Khuraybah – known as Talʿat al-Ḥammādī – contains large quarries and hundreds of Minaic and Dadanitic inscriptions.

The third component of the site is located c. 900 m south of the main settlement. This 3.5-ha area includes about five stone mounds located at some distance from one another. The surface material suggests that it may have been settled either for a longer period, or later, than the main ancient settlement, possibly until the mid-1st millennium CE.

To the north of the main ancient settlement, the fourth and last part of the site is composed of an Early Islamic monumental building – fort or elite residence – with a c. 1.3-ha ruined hamlet to the southeast.

Jabal al-Khurayba

Field surveys on Jabal Khurayba, the mountain overlooking the site, led to the discovery of more than a thousand new Dadanitic and Minaic inscriptions, associated with built and carved features. The most remarkable features include a half-carved, half-built processional path leading to a Minaean ‘high place’; a Dadanitic sanctuary built on a pass; forts and fortification walls; and an observation post overlooking wadi Muʿtadil.

Secondary sites

Sites contemporaneous with al-Khurayba have been identified throughout the al-ʿUlā valley (fig. 2). In the valley itself, west of al-Khurayba, three small tells yielded Iron Age surface material – Tall Sāq, Tall al-Sālimīyya and Tall al-Kathīb. At Tall al-Kathīb, excavations revealed a monumental building interpreted as a temple of Ha-Kutbay (h-ktby; al-Zahrani 2007), probably dating from the 5th/4th cent. BCE (Rohmer & Charloux 2015: 309–10). At Tall al-Sālimīyya, recent test trenches by the Dadan Archaeological Project yielded evidence of two phases of monumental architecture – between the late 13th and the mid-11th cent. BCE (Iron Age I), and between the 8th and the late 5th cent. BCE (Iron Age II/III).

Immediately north of al-Khurayba, in wadi al-Muʿtadil, surveys revealed a rural Iron Age settlement, Khayf al-Zahra, as well as a massive, c. 750-m-long wall spanning the whole wadi, which served as a dike or as a boundary/defensive wall (Parr et al. 1970: 207; Bawden 1979).

Opposite al-Khurayba, on the western flank of the valley, the sanctuary of Umm Daraj was built on top of a peak and accessed via steep rock-cut staircases. It includes at least two large buildings, several rock-cut cisterns, and dozens of cultic objects of various types. More than a hundred Dadanitic inscriptions show that it was a sanctuary where a particular ritual, ẓll, was held in honour of the local deity Dhū-Ghābat (AH 197-287; Kootstra 2022: 74–79).

Another religious site associated with the ẓll ritual is Jabal ʿIkma, on the western flank of the valley, near the village of al-ʿUdhayb. The site is in fact a narrow, steep-sided wadi with more than a hundred, mostly Dadanitic inscriptions, and rock art panels.

In the al-ʿUlā valley, other concentrations of Dadanitic inscriptions are found in the area of al-Manshīyya, in the south, and around the outcrops known as Qubūr al-Jundī and Haḍbat al-ʿAbīd, in the north.

Panels of Dadanitic inscriptions were found as far north as Jabal Ithlib, near Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ (AH 312-347). There, a series of texts signed by men (soldiers?) claiming to ‘guard Dadan’ (nṭr/nẓr ddn), suggest that the area of Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ was considered to be part of Dadan.

Dadan in history

Although there is archaeological evidence for settlement at al-Khurayba from the early/mid-second millennium BCE onwards, and at Tall al-Kathīb and Tall al-Sālimīyya from the latter part of that millennium, the earliest references to Dadan are found in texts dating from the 6th century BCE – Ezekiel’s prophecies against Tyre (Ezek. 27:15,20) and Neo-Babylonian inscriptions from the reign of Nabonidus (Royal Chronicle, Col. V, 20; Harran inscription, I, 24). The local Dadanitic script probably developed some time earlier, but none of the inscriptions written in this script have been firmly dated so far (Macdonald 2018).

The kingdom of Dadan

A ‘kingdom of Dadan’ existed at the time of Nabonidus’ conquest of northwest Arabia (552 BCE), but we do not know how long it had existed for prior to that date, nor whether it continued to exist afterwards. In the Dadanitic corpus, three rulers bearing the title of ‘king of Dadan’ (e.g., JSLih 138, Al-Saʿīd 2011.1) are usually ascribed to this early oasis polity. At that time, Dadan was probably competing with Taymāʾ for control of the caravan trade, as suggested by Taymanitic inscriptions mentioning a ‘war of Dadan’ (e.g., WTay 20; Macdonald 1997: 334–36).

The kingdom of Liḥyān

In the second half of the first millennium BCE, Dadan was ruled by ‘kings of Liḥyān’ – either because it had fallen under the rule of that tribe, or because its kings changed their title. At least eight such kings are known through Dadanitic inscriptions, and monumental statues probably representing some of them were found in the sanctuary of al-Khurayba (fig. 6). The kingdom of Liḥyān extended its rule to Taymāʾ, where similar statues and several Aramaic inscriptions dated by regnal years of Lihyanite kings were found. Dadan is usually thought to have been the Lihyanite capital, but this remains to be proven (Rohmer 2021).

Under the Lihyanite kings, Dadan was a major station on the Incense Road as shown by the close ties it established with the major South-Arabian trading power of that time, Maʿīn. In addition to several hundred Minaic graffiti, monumental Minaic inscriptions confirm that the Minaeans had set up a trading colony at Dadan, including a temple of their god Wadd (M 313, M 323, M 356; Rossi 2014). The so-called ‘Hierodules lists’ from Maʿīn show that some of them married Dadanite women (Maʿīn 10, Maʿīn 93, Maʿīn 94, Maʿīn 95, al-Saʿīd 2002/2009, M 360).

The end of Dadan?

While the date of the end of the Lihyanite kingdom is still a matter of debate, the available archaeological evidence suggests that the political and economic centre of the region shifted from the old core of Dadan, al-Khurayba, to Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ during the last three centuries BCE (Rohmer & Charloux 2015). In the later 1st century BCE, the takeover of northwest Arabia by the Nabataeans, who set up their regional capital at Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ, only confirmed this trend. It is unclear whether Dadan was incorporated into the Nabatean kingdom, but Nabataean inscriptions from al-Manshīyya and finds of Nabataean fine ware at al-Khurayba show some degree of Nabataean influence over the oasis. In any case, the site of al-Khurayba continued to exist during the Nabataean period and remained settled – though not extensively, and perhaps not continuously – until the 11th century CE. In the 13th cent. CE, Yaqūt (Muʿjam al-buldān, s.v. “Daydān”) describes Daydān as a city in ruins.

Economy

Besides its role as a major trade hub (fig. 1), agriculture also flourished in Dadan. The Dadanitic dedicatory inscriptions mention different types of crops, such as date palms and grain, as well as livestock. It is possible that the network of qanats in the al-ʿUlā valley (Nasif 1988) was first developed during the 1st millennium BCE, but this remains to be proven. Biblical references show that Dadan was renowned as far as the Levant for its textile production, especially saddlecloths (Ezek. 27: 15, 20). Unfortunately, the epigraphic corpus only mentions a very restricted range of trades (artisan, scribe, smith) connected to the production of the inscriptions themselves or of votive objects. Judging by the results of the KSU excavations at al-Khurayba, the economy of Dadan was poorly monetized, perhaps because the oasis reached its heyday before the diffusion of money in the region (Rohmer & Charloux 2015: 310–311).

Society and institutions

The inhabitants of Dadan usually identified themselves by mentioning their genealogy over one or two generations, and sometimes by their lineage. Undefined social groups called s2ʿt, ruled by kabīrs, also made an occasional appearance (e.g., JSLih 072). Several texts refer to male or female servants, probably slaves. Women could own property and fulfil sacerdotal functions (Farès-Drappeau 2005: 99–100).

Political institutions are not well known. Apart from the kings (mlk), a ‘governor of Dadan’ (fḥt ddn) is mentioned in one inscription (JSLih 072). Although he was long thought to have been an Achaemenid official, he may just as well have been a Babylonian or even a Lihyanite governor (Rohmer & Charloux 2015: 299). As for the term rʾy, it is no longer thought to refer to a public official, but to a marker of time (Kootstra 2022: 85–86).

Religion

The chief deity of Dadan was Dhū-Ghābat, whose name can be translated as ‘the one of the woods’ – perhaps a reference to the palm groves of the oasis. There are, however, some mentions of other deities (Hidalgo-Chacón Díez 2016). These reflect the position of Dadan as a crossroads between South Arabia, the Levant and Mesopotamia: alongside a few gods and goddesses primarily attested in Dadan (Han-ʾAktab, h-ktby, Kharg, ṭḥln, ḏmʿly) and so-called ‘North-Arabian’ deities (al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, Lh), we find scattered references to deities from the Northern Levant (Baʿalšamīn, Atargatis), Southern Levant/Nabataea (Dūsharā), Mesopotamia (Salmān), and South Arabia (Wadd, ʿAthtar).

The main rituals performed in honour of Dhū-Ghābat were ẓll (a ritual performed on behalf of crops, possibly with a legal function related to taxes or property rights) and ḥgg (pilgrimage). Two types of priests and priestesses are mentioned (slḥ/slḥt,ʾfkl/ʾfklt), and lineages of priestesses are attested (e.g., AH 013).

Material culture and art

The main hallmark of the material culture of Dadan is the Dadanitic script (Kootstra 2022; fig. 8). The area also features abundant rock art, at least part of which is associated with Dadanitic inscriptions. Another hallmark of Dadanitic material culture is the so-called al-ʿUlā/Khurayba ware (fig. 10), a type of pottery in the tradition of Iron Age North-Arabian painted wares, characterized by a black and occasionally red painted geometric decoration (Parr et al. 1970: 213; Bawden 1979: 69). Sculpture is well represented, especially by the monumental statues from the sanctuary of al-Khurayba. These show both Egyptian and South-Arabian influences, and styles vary from schematic to naturalist (fig. 6). Smaller, less elaborate versions of these statues were offered as ex-votos in the sanctuaries, especially at Umm Daraj. Representations of lions are also common, either in the round or in relief (figs 9, 11). They were probably influenced by Mesopotamian or Levantine iconography, either directly or through South-Arabian models. Other remarkable pieces include monumental altars or incense burners with relief friezes of animals (fig. 12).

Jérôme Rohmer

References and suggested reading

Sources

• Harran inscription of Nabonidus: Schaudig, H. 2001. Die Inschriften Nabonids von Babylon und Kyros’ des Großen. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag: 486–499.
• Royal Chronicle of Nabonidus: ibid.: 590–595.
• Yaqūt, Kitāb muʿjam al-buldān: Wüstenfeld, F. 1866–1873. Jacut’s Geographisches Wörterbuch. Leipzig: Brockhaus.

Studies

• al-Said, S.F. & A. al-Ghazzi 2013. Kunūz aṯariyya min Dādān. Natāʾij tanqībāt al-mawāsim al-sabʿa al-ūla. 2 vols. Riyadh: al-Jamaʿīyya al-saʿūdīyya li-l-dirāsāt al-aṯariyya.
• al-Theeb, S. 2013. Al-Khurayba (Dadan), ʿāṣimat mamlakatay Dādān wa Liḥyān. Al-taqrīr al-awwalī li-l-mawsim al-ṯāmin 2011. Riyadh: al-jamaʿīyya al-saʿūdiyya lil-dirāsāt al-aṯarīyya.
• al-Theeb, S. (ed.) 2016. Dadan, ʿāṣimat mamlakatay Dādān wa Liḥyān. Natāʾij al-mawsim al-ʿāshir 2013m. Riyadh: King Faysal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.
• al-Zahrani, A. 2007. Tall al-Kathīb bi-al-ʿUlā: dirāsa āthārīyya muqārana. Riyadh: Wizārat al-tarbīyya wa-al-taʿlīm, wakālat al-āṯār wa‐al-matāḥif.
• Alsuhaibani, A. 2015. L’architecture à Dédan (Étude analytique et comparative). PhD, Univ. Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
• Bawden, G. 1979. Khief ez-Zahrah and the Nature of Dedanite Hegemony in the al-ʿUla Oasis. Atlal 3: 63–72.
• Farès-Drappeau, S. 2005. Dédan et Lihyan: histoire des Arabes aux confins des pouvoirs perse et hellénistique, IV^e-II^e s. avant l’ère chrétienne (TMO, 42). Lyon: Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée.
• Hidalgo-Chacón Díez, M. del C. 2016. The divine names at Dadan: a philological approach. PSAS 46: 125–36. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45163422
• Jaussen, A. & R. Savignac 1914. Mission archéologique en Arabie. II, El-‘Ela, d’Hégra à Teima, Harrah de Tobouk. 2 vols. Paris: P. Geuthner.
• Kootstra, F. 2022. The Writing Culture of Ancient Dadan. A description and quantitative analysis of linguistic variation (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, 110). Leiden: Brill. DOI: 10.1163/9789004512634.
• Macdonald, M.C.A. 1997. Trade routes and trade goods at the northern end of the ‘Incense Road’ in the first millennium BC, in A. Avanzini (ed.) Profumi d’Arabia: atti del convegno: 333–350. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.
• Macdonald, M.C.A. 2018. Towards a re-assessment of the alphabets used in the oasis of al-ʿUlā. In Languages, scripts and their uses in ancient North Arabia. Supplement to volume 48 of the PSAS: 1–19. Oxford: Archaeopress.
• Müller, D.H. 1889. Epigraphische Denkmäler aus Arabien (nach Abklatschen und Copien des Herrn Professor Dr. Julius Euting in Strassburg). Vienna: Akademie der Wissenschaften.
• Nasif, A.A. 1988. al-ʿUlā: An historical and archaeological survey with special reference to its irrigation system. Riyadh: King Saud University.
• Parr, P.J., G.L. Harding & J.E. Dayton 1970. Preliminary Survey in N.W. Arabia, 1968. Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology 8/9: 193–242.
• Rohmer, J. 2021. The Political History of North-west Arabia from the 6th to the 1st Century BCE: New Insights from Dadān, Ḥegrā and Taymāʾ, in M. Luciani (ed.) The Archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula 2. Connecting the Evidence. Proceedings of the International Workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna on April 25, 2016 (OREA, 19): 179–98. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
• Rohmer, J. & G. Charloux 2015. From Liḥyān to the Nabataeans: Dating the End of the Iron Age in Northwestern Arabia. PSAS 45: 297–320. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43783640
• Rossi, I. 2014. The Minaeans beyond Maʿīn, in Languages of Southern Arabia. Papers from the Special Session of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held on 27 July 2013. Supplement to the PSAS, volume 44: 111–123. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43782855

_{Alternate spellings: Dedan, Dédan, Dédān, Dĕdān, Dedān, Dedân, Dadân, Dadan, Didān, Didân, Didan, Ddn, al-ʿUlā, al-ʿUlâ, al-'Ulâ, al-Ulâ, al-Ula, al-'Ula}