The urban sanctuary of Dhū Ghābat at Dadan
Résumé
In 2020, the interdisciplinary Dadan Archaeological Project (CNRS, Paris) relaunched the excavation of the urban sanctuary dedicated to Dhū Ghābat - the main god of the ancient oasis - integrated into a broader investigation of the ancient city of Dadan (modern AlUla, Northwest Arabia). First described at the beginning of the 20th century by western travelers, the sanctuary has been extensively excavated by the King Saud University (Riyadh) from 2003 to 2018, revealing a dense, multi-phase fabric of masonry buildings around the famous monolithic basin locally known as Maḥlab al-Nāqah. While monumental artifacts and inscriptions suggested an occupation spanning the first millennium BCE, the layout and phasing of the architectural remains and the chronology of the site remained tentative.
This contribution aims to offer a revision of the religious complex after the first three seasons of fieldwork of the Dadan Archaeological Project. The renewed excavations, the pottery and epigraphic studies, and the first broad series of radiocarbon dates suggest a longer and more complex history of occupation than previously assumed.