Al-Magar was an advanced prehistoric civilization of the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

whose epicenter lied in modern-day southwestern

Najd Najd ( ar, نَجْدٌ, ), or the Nejd, forms the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population and, since the Emirate of Diriyah, acting as the base for all unification campaigns by the H ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Al-Magar is possibly the first civilizations in the world where widespread domestication of animals occurred, particularly the horse, during the

period.

Overview

The inhabitants of Al-Magar, who lived in stone houses built with dry masonry, were one of the first communities in the world to practice the art of agriculture and animal husbandry before climate changes in the region resulted in

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...

. Discoveries such as that of a large statue of a bridled horse indicates that the domestication of horses occurred about 9000 years ago in the Arabian peninsula, much earlier than in other parts of the world where domestication of the horse is thought to have occurred.

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...

of several objects discovered at Al-Magar indicate an age of about 9,000 years. In November 2017 hunting scenes showing images of what appears to be domesticated dogs resembling the

Canaan dog The Canaan Dog is the oldest breed of pariah dog still existing and abundant across the Middle East. It can be found in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and the Sinai Peninsula, and these, or dogs nearly identical, were also found in Iraq and ...

and wearing leashes were discovered in Shuwaymis, an area about 370 km southwest of the city of

Ḥaʼil Hail ( ar, حَائِل ') is a city in north-western Saudi Arabia. It is the capital and largest city of Ha'il Region, with a population of about 605,930 (2018) Hail is largely agricultural, with significant grain, date, and fruit production ...

. Dated at 8000 years before present, these are thought of as the earliest known depictions of dogs in the world. File:قطع من أثار حضارة المقر.jpg, A large stone carving of an

equidae Equidae (sometimes known as the horse family) is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, asses, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus '' Equus'', ...

- an animal belonging to the horse family. The piece itself, measuring 86 cms long by 18 cms thick and weighing more than 135kg., is a large sculptural fragment that appears to show the head, muzzle, shoulder and withers of a horse. The fact that other smaller, horse-like sculptures were found at Al-Magar, with similar bands over the shoulders, supports the idea that this culture may have been using

horse tack Tack is equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. This equipment includes such items as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, and harnesses. Equipping a horse i ...

to domesticate horses. File:صورة مكاشط حجرية من حضارة المقر (8100 قبل الميلاد).jpg, Stone scrapers dating back to 8100 BC. File:Al-Magar - Saluki Artifact (المقر - سلوقي - قطعة أثرية).jpg, A stone sculpture of a dog that resembles the ancient native

Saluki The Saluki, also known as the Persian Greyhound, is a standardised breed developed from sighthounds – dogs that hunt primarily by sight rather than scent – that was once used by nomadic tribes to run down game animals. The dog was origina ...

breed, dating back to 8100 BC.

References

{{Portal, Saudi Arabia Neolithic cultures of Asia Najd Geography of Saudi Arabia Historical regions in Saudi Arabia World Heritage Sites in Saudi Arabia