Chiara ZAZZARO, John P. COOPER
University of Exeter
Recent archaeological investigations on Greater Farasan and in the southern Red Sea
In May 2010 a team of ethnographers and maritime archaeologists comprising Prof. Dionsius Agius, Dr. John Cooper, Dr. Chiara Zazzaro and Lucy Semaan of the MARES Project, University of Exeter, conducted a three-week preliminary survey on Greater Farasan, the main island of the Farasan archipelago, Saudi Arabia.
The island occupies a favourable navigational position for past seafaring in the Red Sea. Historically, the eastern coast of the Red Sea, outside the offshore reefs, was the recommended route for sailing north, as southern winds last longer than on the opposite shore. The island also has sheltered anchorages and ready accesses to the sea, close connections to the Arabian coast and an easy approach to the opposite African coast through the nearby Dahlak Islands. Furthermore, the abundant presence of underground water sources might have made for a useful stopover for ships in the past. These aspects, together with the development of pearling activities, determined the prosperity of the island over the centuries. The presence of numerous archaeological sites and abandoned villages demonstrates the island’s relatively high population density in the past, while the presence of richly decorated merchant houses and the Ottoman fort dating to the 20th century recall the historical strategic and economic role that the island played in the Red Sea.
Previous archaeological research on Greater Farasan is limited to unpublished surveys and visits, and to one test excavation conducted in the 1980s, while epigraphic studies have been reported more in detail. The large number of still-unexplored sites reveals a great potential for further research in the islands. During the MARES survey, sites with various functions and dating to various periods, some characterised by long occupation periods, were recorded. These include South Arabian, Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic settlements, early Christian cemeteries, South Arabian wells, a rock-cut cave, and a fortress. Among the surface finds were scattered architectural remains, inscriptions, potsherds and a large stone anchor.
This paper contextualises the results of the Farasan survey within wider investigations of the southern Red Sea, including the first-named author’s previous study of the Eritrean coast, and recent MARES surveys on the Red Sea coast of Yemen, and the coast of Djibouti. These have the potential to increase our understanding of processes of change over time among Red Sea coastal communities, as well as for investigating the maritime components of the region’s ancient societies.
