A New Pottery Collection from Jabal Dādān (al-Khurayba) in al-ʿUlā

Abstract

Abstract This article discusses a group of outstanding pottery fragments from the summit of Jabal Dādān (al-Khurayba) at al-ʿUlā in Saudi Arabia. The importance of these fragments comes from the absence of published material from the Dādān site, the lack of color-decorated ceramic vessels among the published material, and the diversity in the bases and shapes of the vessels. Comparative studies indicate that this collection falls within the group of colored pottery from northwestern Saudi Arabia, generally dated to between the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 1st millennium bce. The collection appears similar to the Taymāʾ pottery in a number of decorative elements, such as: the chessboard element. These collections indicate that al-Khurayba was in contact with several sites within Saudi Arabia, such as the sites of Taymāʾ and Qurayya in the northwest, and the sites of al-Sīḥ and al-Banna in the center, as well as sites elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula, such as the al-Muwayliḥ site in the United Arab Emirates, and sites outside the Arabian Peninsula, including Tall al-Khalīfa in the Levant.