Jordan’s Black Desert Once Green: Findings Prove Neolithic Life

The Jebel Qurma region of the Black Desert of Jordan, now a desolate and arid land, once flourished with human civilization, vegetation and wildlife. Peter Akkermans of Leiden University and his team discover what happened through various archeological finds in the region.

According to Live Science, there is substantial evidence showing that there is human life and civilization in the Jebel Qurma region. Found in the area are inscriptions, petroglyphs, as well as remains of tombs, camps and shelters dated back to 2,000 years ago.

Inscriptions in Safaiatic alphabetic script lead Peter Akkermans' team to discover that the Black Desert was once inhabited by nomadic people from Syria, Arabia and Jordan. Translation of the script revealed the activities of the Akkermans.

"I am always on the lookout for the Nabataeans," one inscription reads, hinting conflict with that group. Others tell tales of personal hardships in saying "May there be strength against hunger" and in being "distraught over his beloved."

Research is still ongoing as Peter Akkermans and his team are still in the process of pinpointing a reason for the Jordan's Black Desert's current desolate condition. They are also currently collaborating with specialists to find a precise reason on the formation of rock arts.

In another report by Jordan Times, a research by the veteran archeologist Gary O. Rollefston, it asserted that almost 3,000 people migrated from a nearby region Ain Ghazal to the Black Desert. There, migrants and locals were able to enjoy successful sheep and goat herding as well as gazelle hunting.

Titled A Kinder, Greener Black Desert: Results of Archaeological Research of Neolithic Sites, it was published just a year ago and did not align with the timeline from the more recent discovery. Rollefston's timeline of the thriving of Black Desert that was 6,500 B.C. to 5,000 B.C., while Akkerman's timeline pointed a more recent date of around 2,000 years ago.