Jubba

Oasis in north-western Arabia with human occupation throughout the Holocene and extending as far back as the Middle Palaeolithic. Archaeological sites in Jubba document frequent contact with the Levant over several millennia, suggesting that the oasis was an important crossroads. The extremely rich rock art in Jubba spans the pre-Neolithic to the recent past and includes the iconic ‘Jubba style’.

Location and context

Jubba oasis is located in the southern Nefud desert, surrounded by sand dunes. A small group of rocky outcrops (jabals) provide a wind break effect, creating large basins in which palaeolakes formed at various points in the past (Fig. 1). These lakes supported vegetation and were an attractive resource for humans and animals.

History of research

Jubba oasis was visited by several European explorers, including Lady Anne Blunt (1879), Julius Euting (1894 and 1914) and H.St J. Philby (1952). Scientific exploration began in earnest in the 1970s with an archaeological survey documenting numerous archaeological sites and rock art panels (Parr et al., 1978). Since 2010, the palaeoenvironment, rock art and archaeology of Jubba have been intensively researched with modern scientific methods (e.g., Crassard et al., 2013).

Archaeological remains

Excavated archaeological sites have yielded rich lithic assemblages with typologies suggesting contact with the Levant, alongside indigenous developments (Crassard et al., 2013). Most of these sites have been dated to between 8000 and 4000 BCE, and coincide with the Holocene Humid Period. Later sites are presumably covered by modern oasis settlement. At Jebel Oraf (Jabal ʿArāf), human occupation was documented from the Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic, through to the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages (Guagnin et al., 2021) by a series of hearths indicating repeated and short-lived occupation (Fig. 2). No remains of prehistoric houses or tents have been found so far. The site also included the earliest documented use of gold in Arabia, dated to between 3600-3400 BCE, confirming that the oasis was well connected with technological advances in the wider region. Iron Age occupation is also attested in the upper layers of the Jebel Oraf occupation, as is the Islamic period when frequent battle scenes with firearms were depicted in the rock art. Rock art is found on almost all jabals in the oasis and is generally densest where jabals meet palaeolake shores.

Rock art

The rock art of Jubba is extraordinary and was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2015. Neolithic engravings document rich wildlife alongside herds of cattle (Khan, 1993). The exceptional quality of the images led to the identification of several previously-unknown animal species in Arabia, including the aurochs, lesser kudu, wild camel and African wild ass (Fig. 3) (Guagnin et al., 2018). Several panels show ‘curvy women’, with rounded hips, belts, and decorated bras (Fig. 3, lower right). These figures pre-date the Neolithic and are amongst the oldest examples of rock art in Arabia. Human figures such as the so-called ‘King of Jubba’ (Fig. 3, upper right) have come to define the ‘Jubba style’, which dates to the Neolithic period but was probably also in use for several centuries before the introduction of domesticated livestock. Iron Age and pre-Islamic rock art is dominated by the depiction of domesticated camels, often associated with Ancient North Arabian Script. Battle scenes with human figures on horseback and on foot are common and document the use of spears, and later, firearms.

Maria Guagnin

References and suggested reading

• Crassard, R., M.D. Petraglia, A.G. Parker, A. Parton, …, C. Shipton 2013. Beyond the Levant: first evidence of a pre-pottery Neolithic incursion into the Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia. PLoS One 8: e68061. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068061.
• Guagnin, M., C. Shipton, S. El-Dossary, M. Al-Rashid, …, M.D. Petraglia, 2018. Rock art provides new evidence on the biogeography of kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis), wild dromedary, aurochs (Bos primigenius) and African wild ass (Equus africanus) in the early and middle Holocene of north-western Arabia. Journal of Biogeography 45: 727-740. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.13165.
• Guagnin, M., C. Shipton, L. Martin, E. Kingwell-Banham, …, M.D. Petraglia 2021. A tale of two hearth sites: Neolithic and intermittent mid to late Holocene occupations in the Jubbah oasis, northern Saudi Arabia. Archaeological Research in Asia 26: 100278. DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2021.100278.
• Khan, M. 1993. Prehistoric Rock Art of Northern Saudi Arabia. Riyadh: Ministry of Education, Department of Antiquities and Museums.
• Parr, P.J., J. Zarins, M. Ibrahim, J. Waechter, …, H. Al Badr 1978. Preliminary report on the second phase of the Northern Province Survey 1397/1977. Atlal 2: 29–50.

_{Alternate spellings: Jubbah, Jubat, Gubba, Jibbah, Jibba, Gibbe}