Since 2015 the Joint Archaeological Project of the Saudi Heritage Commission and the University of Vienna has unearthed in Qurayyah, NW Arabia, one of the vastest oasis-settlements, featuring towering architecture, a city wall and a sophisticated irrigation system. Discoveries include a 5000 years old monumental tomb with lapis lazuli and amazonite beads and a funerary-and-cultic complex with a figurative stone frieze and fabulous painted pottery, which 3200 years ago, was exported in its entirety to Southern Levant.
The Augustus Foundation, by granting financial support from the very first year onwards on a yearly basis, has significantly aided the University of Vienna completing eight field campaigns. On site, we not only implement state-of-the-art research but we train students and young researchers to become tomorrow’s lead analysts of the past. In Saudi Arabia, as elsewhere in the world, archaeology is the key science for investigating the past and shaping identity in the future.
