Many of you, as scouts or just bedus, visited the site I'm about to tell about. But many of the folks from the 1980's on never even knew about it, so.....
The Ain Jawaan Tomb is located off the Dhahran-Ras Tanura road about six kilometers from the Sufwa turnoff. The road to the site is sand, and at first Aramco kept it well packed, but in later years it went back to the desert.
The Jawaan Tomb was discovered accidently on March 22, 1952, by a bulldozer operator who was clearing the overburden of sand to get to the limestone beneath the sand. The edge of the blade nicked a hard surface and broke open a wall that was buried, and a passageway was seen. Dr. F. Vidol of Aramco was called, as he was a trained archeologist. On that same day, he made a preliminary investigation. Three days later, Aramco President Tom Barger reported to HRC Amir Salad ibm Jiliwi about the tomb, as it was within the Aramco lease area. Aramco was asked to undertake an examination and report to the Saudi Government.
Basically, the building is a large chamber tomb with a long central passageway entered from the west. From the center, five alcoves open: One to the east, and two each to the north and south. Only one burial pit is located in each of the north and south alcoves, but the eastern one has two pits, one behind the other.
Four burial boxes were built against the exterior of the tomb on the outside of the northeast, southeast, and south and southwest. The construction material is limestone, cut into blocks and fitted together with mortar. On entering the tomb, it was evident that the tomb had been entered a long time ago, as many items were strewn about. During the time of the research, local villagers also got in and looked for supposed hidden treasure.
The four Americans who had found the tomb quietly quit and left Arabia within a week. One, who is passed away now, named Bill Arnold, gave my mother a small candy style silver dish, which I still have - beautiful peacocks in design and very intricate. The others live in luxury here in the U.S.
The whole search took 22 months and they first dug a trench around the tomb. Thus, they discovered the four outside boxes which had never been opened. All four people in the outside boxes had been interned in palm wood boxes along with their personal possessions. Three of the boxes were occupied by male skeletons in age from 21 to 50 years old. The northeast box held the remains of a girl of about six. The skulls of all of these had been crushed, and one male had a stab wound to the head. This is assumed to have been done at the time of burial of the people inside the tomb. The tomb was of major construction and the outside boxes imply the family slaves.
The only artifact found in the southwest tomb pit was a small gold hair ring. The south tomb pit contained two gold hair rings, and the remains of an iron short broad blade sword on the left side of the skeleton and a handle of ivory.
The southeast tomb had a badly damaged skeleton in it. A long narrow iron sword broken into eight pieces was found with it. The northwest tomb, holding the remains of the small girl, had suffered from water. She, too, had been murdered and buried with her possessions, but because of the clay seeping in, more was found. Two statuettes, one of alabaster and one of gypsum, were found. Also, a bronze bowl, a bronze mirror, and a small ivory figurine. The girl had been wearing a garment fastened at the right shoulder with two gold rings, and her hair had been fixed with two gold rings also. She had also been buried with a gold neck ring from which a garnet inlaid pendent had been suspended. Also, an elaborate earring set with earrings and a dangling pendant of gold and pearls fastened by a gold chain to the other earring, passed underneath her chin. Chemical analysis showed she also had been wearing silver across her chest.
It is assumed that the tomb contained the Lords of the Jawaan settlement. The tomb may have been used to bury the royals as they died, and when the last died, the tomb was closed. As was the custom, the four outside boxes were to accompany the Lords into the afterlife. Thus, the two males with swords may have been bodyguards, and the other non-armed male a slave/servant.
The little girl, also ritually murdered, may have been a favorite slave, or a playmate of the Lord's daughter. By the burial and the objects contained, it is obvious she was treated with dignity.
The area around the tomb was once a thriving settlement of a seafaring type of people. Most people assume that, because of the shape of the tomb, almost a cross but with one cross bar high and one low, that this may indicate some for signs of early Christianity, but dating has proven this not to be. They were most likely pagans.
All evidence points to the tomb being built in the second century AD, or roughly about 500 years before Islam.
The tomb was surrounded by a wire fence and locked, and the keys given to the Saudi Government. They ignored it, and in 1965, only about twenty feet of the tomb was accessable.
The interior was famous amongst scouts for the camping out around, and the late night, once a year story telling of the vampire story "The Sarah Tomb". This was also one camp out night that the scoutmasters had no problem with roaming scouts.
All items that were given to the Saudis are in their Antiquities Department, and, due to the nature of the alledged religion of the burials, are forbidden to the public. I will bring the dish to the reunion along with the original report on the tomb.
Anyone else remember this ?
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The Ain Jawaan Tomb
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