The discovery of a 4,000-year-old fortified town called al-Natah in Saudi Arabia’s Khaybar oasis reveals early shifts from nomadic to urban life.

Archaeologists, led by Guillaume Charloux, uncovered a 14.5-km wall surrounding the town, suggesting a structured habitat that housed up to 500 people around 2,400 BC.

Abandoned around 1,000 years later for unknown reasons, al-Natah challenges previous views of Northwest Arabia as a barren desert, hinting at a richer Bronze Age history in the region’s oases, CBS News has reported.

Written by B.C. Begley