A groundbreaking Israeli-led archaeological study has shed new light on one of Asia’s most enigmatic ancient structures: the Gobi Wall.
Stretching over 320 kilometers through the harsh deserts of Mongolia, the wall was long thought to be a simple defensive structure. But research led by Israeli archaeologists has revealed it as a complex tool of imperial strategy used by the Xi Xia dynasty nearly a thousand years ago.
“This research challenges long-standing assumptions about imperial frontier systems in Inner Asia,” said Professor Gideon Shelach-Lavi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “The Gobi Wall was not just a barrier—it was a dynamic mechanism for governing movement, trade, and territorial control in a challenging environment.”
The study was conducted by Shelach-Lavi and Dan Golan, both from Hebrew University’s Department of Asian Studies, in collaboration with Prof. Chunag Amartuvshin of the National University of Mongolia and Prof. William Honeychurch from Yale University. Their fieldwork, which combined satellite imaging, on-the-ground surveys, and targeted excavations, has redefined the role the Gobi Wall played in the geopolitics of medieval Inner Asia. The team’s findings were recently published in the peer-reviewed journal, Land.
Until now, the origins and purpose of the Gobi Wall remained largely obscure. The new findings reveal that the structure, composed mainly of rammed earth reinforced with stone and wood, was built primarily during the Xi Xia dynasty (1038–1227 CE), which was ruled by the Tungut people in what is now western China and southern Mongolia.
Rather than serving solely as a military defense, the wall functioned as an integrated system for regulating frontier movement, managing resources, and asserting imperial authority. Strategic positioning of forts and garrisons along the wall took advantage of the natural landscape—mountain passes, sand dunes, and scarce water sources—to maximize control over the region’s difficult terrain.
“Israeli research is playing a central role in rewriting the historical geography of Inner Asia,” said Golan. “Our collaboration with Mongolian and American experts allowed us to explore the Gobi Wall not as a ruin frozen in time, but as a living system that adapted over centuries.”
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