Through the local tour with knowledgeable guides, you can learn about the history of the former inhabitants of the city and reflect over their eventual fate. Here in Hegra, you are be able to see more than 110 preserved tombs situated in a picturesque desert landscape. Hegra is an fascinating place for visitors to experience and explore the location of Saudi Arabia's first Unesco Heritage Site. However, both the medieval town ruins and the former Liyhanite ruins are still within the boundaries of contemporary Al Ula. The last family probably left in 1983, and in 1985, congregants held the final prayer at the old mosque. As a result, people gradually abandoned the old town area. Over the course of the 20th century, development in the area continued, and the local people established the new town center. The railway had stations in both Hegra and Al Ula and still exists to this day. In the early 20th century, during the age of the Ottoman empire, the Hejaz railway was constructed to link Damascus, in modern-day Syria, to Medina on the Arabian Peninsula. They collected many inscriptions and artifacts from the remains in Hegra and Dedan, and their work to this day forms the basis for research into the area. Charles Doughty was the first to write about the area in 1876, and French priests Antonin Jaussen and Raphael Savignac visited the site in the early 20th century. Al-Ula proper once again became the main center of trade and civilization in the area up to the 20th and 21st centuries.įrom the 19th century onwards, western travelers began to traverse the region. After the 13th century, builders used the old stones from the Dadanite and Lihyanite ruins again. The region's center would also shift to Al-Mabiyat, 20 km from Al-Ula, and would stay that way until 1230 CE. In 100 BCE, the Nabateans took control of the region and made Hegra 22km north of Al Ula, the region's center. The area was once the site of the historic city of Dedan, but the Lihyan North Arabian kingdom built the city as we know it and presided over it for the next 400 years. Al Ula was built along what was then referred to as the "Incense Road," which was essentially a trade network for spices and silk throughout the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and the Indian subcontinent. It was considered ideal for a new township because of its perfect oasis location in the valley desert, making it one of the few areas with fertile land and ample water supply. Jabal Ikmah, Abu Ud, Al-Aqra’a and other regions within AlUla feature rich and unique mountain inscriptions that trace back the origins of the Arabic language and the use of the Arabic alphabet, which has been pivotal in shaping Saudi Arabian and Arab cultures.Al Ula's history dates back to the 6th century BCE when the walled city was first founded. It features remarkably well-preserved monumental tombs from the first century BC, as well as structures demonstrating hydraulic expertise in the form of water wells that are still used today. Recognized as a site of outstanding universal value, Hegra is the largest conserved site of the ancient Nabataean civilization south of Jordan’s Petra. Within Saudi Arabia, AlUla’s Hegra Archaeological Site (al-Hijr / Mada’in Salih) is the first World Heritage property to be inscribed in the country. The programme facilitates the preservation of sites, manuscripts, collections and memories that form our cultural heritage and inform the understanding of our common humanity. Office of International Standards and Legal AffairsĮstablished in 1992 amidst growing awareness of the parlous state of preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage across the world, UNESCO’s Memory of the World (MoW) Programme has been pivotal for the preservation of documentary heritage of world significance and outstanding universal value, whose record may have otherwise perished.
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