Old Human Traces Just Spotted in Saudi Arabia

Dr Zahi Hawass

An International Saudi team has found evidences of migrations to the Arabian Peninsula that date back to more than 120 thousand years on the outskirts of the area of Tabuk. These evidences represent the oldest existence of human and animal’s foot traces in the Saudi Arabia kingdom.

The “Science Advance” magazine has published the discovery, in which the scientific team has assured that there are evidences that confirm the occurrence of these migrations in a dry lake in the north of the kingdom. Those scientific findings point out to the importance of the relation between man and animal and the man’s exploitation of this region.

The minister of culture, Prince Badr bin Abdullah, has announced the archeological finding which shows the kingdom’s deeply rooted history and civilization in an universal press conference in the kingdom. The finding indicates how people used to migrate and spread inside the Arabian Peninsula, in the time when those deserts were fertile farmlands. The published scientific article has referred to the occurrence of huge fossilized foot layers in old lake sediments, in Al-Nefud desert as previously referred.

Not only have the team members found human foot traces, but also they have found traces of animals like horses and elephants. The animal traces show the human activity in the Arabian Peninsula and how man used those kinds of animals whether to transport or to hunt.

The Saudi participating scientists in addition to the various international missions have declared that this finding brings up how man had spread from Africa to the Greater Syria. They added that the human and mammals’ movements, along with how nature manifestations were used, happened as a result of the dry weather conditions and the desiccation of water resources. This significant discovery, which was revealed to the whole world, is a proof that current efforts made by the ministry of culture and the National Heritage pay off at encouraging foreign missions to work at numerous archeological areas in the Saudi Arabia kingdom.

I was talking to Leslie Greif, the well-known American director, who has joined me in many of monuments programs- as TV program that shocked the world “Chasing Mummies” - he told me that the discoveries found in the Saudi lands can impress the whole world and portray the history of Saudi Arabia kingdom in the Pre-Islamic era.

Contributed by Nessrin Mahmoud Refaat