NEOLITHIC VILLAGE OF AL-BEIDHA

Access to the Neolithic village of Beidha is from the Little Petra car park. Instead of entering the gorge, take the path on the left that leads down to a sandy plateau. The round or rectangular houses installed at the entrance of the site are life-size reproductions made by archaeologists to better understand the extraordinary discoveries made here. It takes a lot of imagination to give this site its full importance. The dry-stone ruins dating back to the end of the Stone Age make up one of the oldest Neolithic villages known to date. It was occupied by one of the first agricultural communities in the Near East between 8500 and 5500 BC. Artifacts found at this site have allowed archaeologists to better understand the origins of human development, which led to a constant evolution that allowed civilizations to flourish. With the manufacture of tools, the beginnings of agriculture and the domestication of certain animals, humans began to settle down, and this is what Beidha is all about. We know that the men and women of the village cultivated barley and owned goats. By moving from circular to rectangular buildings, they made the architecture evolve so that it better took into account their needs. Nomadism and the life of a hunter-gatherer did not prevent prehistoric man from constructing buildings. These served as temporary shelters or storage places. As the villagers of Beidha settled down, they realized that it was easier to enlarge a square or rectangular house than a round one, and that space could also be gained upwards by adding a floor. The Beidha site also proves that there were belief systems with established rituals. Stone slabs in an oval shape with small depressions, standing stones and a pool were found about 40 meters from the houses. It would appear that this arrangement served as a sacrificial site or altar. Remains of goat horns show that the animal played an important role in the life of the inhabitants. However, it is impossible to know the nature and meaning of the religious rites. We can only assume that the beliefs were centred on the cult of the ancestors.