Saudi Arabia: Ancient tombs reveal 4,500 year-old highway network

[Judi Lynn]

Jeevan Ravindran, CNN - Yesterday 8:35 AM

Archaeologists have discovered a 4,500-year-old highway network in Saudi Arabia lined with well-preserved ancient tombs. Researchers from the University of Western Australia have carried out a wide-ranging investigation over the past year, involving aerial surveys conducted by helicopter, ground survey and excavation and examination of satellite imagery.

In findings published in the Holocene journal in December, they said the "funerary avenues" spanning large distances in the northwestern Arabian counties of Al-'Ula and Khaybar had received little examination until quite recently.

"The people who live in these areas have known about them for thousands of years," researcher Matthew Dalton told CNN. "But I think it wasn't really known until until we got satellite imagery that just how widespread they are."

Dalton said the funerary avenues, which he had seen from a helicopter, stretched for hundreds, "maybe even thousands of kilometers" and that the same routes were often followed by those traveling along the main roads of today.

More:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/saudi-arabia-ancient-tombs-reveal-4500-year-old-highway-network/ar-AASQ3Rj?li=BBnb7Kz