China for the first time will send an archaeological team to Saudi Arabia for the excavation of the ruins of an ancient seaport on the Maritime Silk Road near Mecca, authorities said.
Five Chinese archaeologists with the National Centre of Underwater Cultural Heritage are set to conduct a field research of the ruins, known as al-Serrian, from March 26 to April 13, China Daily reported.
The Chinese archaeologists will work with Six Saudi archaeologists at the port ruins on the Red Sea for 20 days, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said.
It will be the first Chinese archaeological mission on the Arabian Peninsula, and additional research at the site will follow within the next five years.
They will join six counterparts from the antiquities and museums sector of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, including one trained by China as the first certificated underwater archaeologist in Saudi Arabia.
The excavation will be conducted with the aid of high technologies, including aerial photo by drones, digital surveys and mapping, 3D modelling.
The archaeological project is part of a Sino-Saudi cultural heritage cooperation agreement signed during President Xi Jinping's state visit to Saudi Arabia in January 2016.
Al-Serrian was one of the gateways for Hajj pilgrims to Mecca, together with the bigger trade hub of Jeddah to the north. Jiang Bo, the team head, said some ancient travelogues show that it was a busy port with mosques, markets and residential areas.
"However, no comprehensive excavation has been done in the area before," Jiang was quoted as saying by the report. "It's a dream for Chinese underwater archaeologists to check the former glory on the other end of the Maritime Silk Road."
Local Arabic historical documents showed that al-Serrian had its peak from the ninth to the 13th centuries, but Jiang speculated that a Chinese porcelain piece he found was produced in Fujian province during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
"It shows that the boom period of al-Serrian might have been much longer," he said.
The final report will be published in Chinese, Arabic and English, he added.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
