Home of the Killifish and a major stopover for migrating birds, the Azraq Wetland Reserve can also add archaeology to its portfolio. New archaeological discoveries were made at the reserve and to present these findings to its members and friends, RSCN organized a talk and presentation by Dr. Claude Vibert-Guigue from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) entitled ‘Azraq Wetland Reserve: New Archaeological Discoveries.’
The presentation aimed to shed light on the carved stones discovered in the Ayn As Sawda (Azraq Ash-Shishan) pool in Azraq. Ayn As Sawda is a pool of particular interest; following some clearance work and restoration carried out by the Department of Antiquities, 100 shaped and carved stones were discovered below the six-sided pool since 1983. Dr. Vibert-Guigue has been working in Azraq as part of a joint project between the Department of Antiquities and CNRS. Along with his team of archaeologists, Dr. Vibert Guigue has finally been able to connect some of the stones together. The biggest stone found so far is 70 cm wide and has 16 tenons, or protruding edges that have at one time formed the linkages that connect it to other pieces. The carved stones have different motifs on them; some have animal images including Gazelles, Ibex, and Onagers, while others have human images, plants and fruit vases, and still others have mythological motifs including a horse with wings, similar to a Pegasus, mermaids, and birds with fish tails.
The period these jigsaw-like stones come from is still unknown, whether they are Roman, Byzantine or Umayyad, and the purpose of the stones is also still unclear, but because they are found near the wetland, the speculation is that they once were all interlinked to form a sort of reservoir.
To see these beautifully carved stones, visit the Azraq Castle and then head to the Azraq Wetland Reserve to see where these stones were discovered.