Wādī Banī Khālid

Wādī Banī Khālid, eastern Oman, a territorial unit exploited since the Late Iron Age. A late first millennium BCE – 3rd–4th cent. CE fortified settlement (WBK1) attests to a subsistence model of occupation integrated with the Samad and Eastern Arabian exchange circuit, as well as an agricultural exploitation pattern still valid in the 18th cent. Islamic settlement (WBK2).

Wādī Banī Khālid (Sultanate of Oman, northern Sharqiyya governorate) is a territorial unit in the eastern range of the al-Ḥajar orographic landform, strategically linked to the coastline via Wādī Ṭīwī, to the north, and extending to the inner al-Ḥajar piedmont to the south/southwest. Known for its Islamic period remains (18th cent. CE), this ecological niche, with its still active water springs, has only very recently been investigated from an archaeological point of view, when a comprehensive archaeological survey and excavation of the Late Iron Age WBK1 intra moenia area were set up (Loreto 2020).

A Late Iron Age occupation, centred around the impressive fortified settlement of WBK1 (1.5 hectares wide, densely built up), marks the whole length of the wādī course from its spring, in the upper al-Ḥajar, up to its alluvium, right at the foot of the inner al-Ḥajar. Evidence of this occupation consists of tombs, huts, shelters, agricultural fields, and the chlorite quarries that make this wādī an attractive location. In this regard, WBK1 is defined as a fortified urban-oasis, that is, a settlement depending on agriculture, whose limited extension precludes the notion of city. Nonetheless, its raised and imposing fortification clearly defines a site primarily founded to control the valley’s resources in a Late Iron Age stratified socio-economic context characterised by intensive warfare.

The material culture, supported by ¹⁴C data and comparisons, proves that the main occupational phase of WBK1 is the Late Iron Age (late first millennium BCE – 3rd–4th cent. CE). In particular, the pottery testifies to links with the Samad al-Shān area, as well as with Eastern Arabia, albeit to a lesser extent. Several comparisons can be drawn between WBK1 and Samad Late Iron Age materials, both from graves and al-Moyassar M34 fort. In particular, key attributes such as the carinated soft stone vessels and the vats confirm, respectively, the 2nd and 1st cent. BCE dates. In addition, the lack of typical PIR materials, such as glasses, glazed ware, amphorae, balsamaria, metal vessels and weapons, suggests a local economic horizon.

The different PIR and Late Iron Age nomenclatures correspond to different cultural facies: the northern one, mainly based along the coastline and luxury international trade, revolved around Mleiḥa and al-Dūr; whereas the southern one mainly focused on the al-Ḥajar mountain panorama, where the predominant role of Samad al-Shān and al-Moyassar, in central Oman, is characterised by local manufactures. Chronologically, they both range from between the 3rd cent. BCE and the 3rd cent. CE and they both fuel the debate about their reciprocal influences and extension into Eastern Arabia (Mouton & Schiettecatte 2014: 78-86; Yule 2014, 2016, 2018).

Thus, the main historical implications related to Wādī Banī Khālid concern the attribution of WBK1 to the Samad or PIR horizons, or to a specific cultural framework reflecting plurality and fragmentation, synonyms of the concept of tribal society of Eastern Arabia.

Romolo Loreto

References and suggested reading

• Loreto, R. 2020. A Late Iron Age settlement in Wādī Banī Ḫālid: First season of the joint Omani-Italian archaeological project. AAE 32: 365–392. DOI: 10.1111/aae.12166.
• Mouton, M. & J. Schiettecatte 2014. In the Desert Margins. The settlement process in ancient South and East Arabia. Rome: "l’Erma" di Bretschneider.
• Yule, P.A. 2014. Cross-roads: Early and Late Iron Age south-eastern Arabia (Abhandlungen Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, 30). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
• Yule, P.A. 2016. Valorising the Samad Late Iron Age. AAE 27: 37–71. DOI: 10.1111/aae.12060.
• Yule, P.A. 2018. Review. In the Desert Margins: The Settlement Process in Ancient South and East Arabia. By Michel Mouton and Jérémie Schiettecatte. Arabia Antica, vol. 9. Pages 334, illus. Rome: Bretschneider, 2014. JAOS 138(1): 214–215. DOI: 10.7817/jameroriesoci.138.1.0203.

_{Alternate spellings: Wadi bani Khalid, Wādī Banī Khālid, Wâdi Banî Khâlid}