Province
|
Relics of the Nabataean Empire
| Throughout the Hisma Mountain range on the north west are the remains of the ancient Nabataean Empire. Their cities, tombs, wells and battlements are testimony to their talent as builders and engineers |
 |
Nabataeans were an ancient people of north west Arabia. They spoke a form of late Aramaic, showing a heavy Arabic influence. Seven hundred years before the birth of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), the Nabataean Kingdom stretched from Damascus to the Red Sea.
The Nabataeans were successful largely because they had the best engineers in the ancient world. They were able to harness the area's water supply through a network of ditches, channels and wells called qanats, some of which are still in use today.
The Hisma area (including Wadi Hisma, Wadi Zeita, and Wadi Abiod) is the highest mountain range in the area, and extends to the west of Tabuk where it joins the chain of Sarawat Mountains. It extends 220km east to the city of Tabuk, and continues further north until Wadi Rum in Jordan where the capital of the Nabataean empire was in Petra.
Like the Wadi Rum, Hisma is an intensively dissected sandstone plateau with beautifully weathered sandstone buttes and crags rising from red sands.
Madyan-Maghabir Shuaib means 'Small Madein Saleh', and like its namesake further south, Maghair Shuaib has 30 well-preserved and unadorned Nabataean tombs cut into the hill-side. Like Al-Bad, Maghair Shuaib is situated in Wadi Afal 220km from Tabuk.
It was an agricultural settlement from 700BH-75H (100BG-550AG) when a 20 year long drought compelled the Nabataean inhabitants to move north to the Fertile Crescent. The site is under protection and is guarded at the times it is opened to the public. Some visitor management has been undertaken with paths and steps going up to the tombs.
Al-Bad is an ancient oasis at the end of Wadi Afal which was mentioned by Ptolemy as "Al-Uyaynah". The presence of the tombs and town provide evidence of the continued settlement of different nations in different periods in the oasis when it flourished as a trade and agricultural center.
Ad-Disah is located south west of the city of Tabuk. Here there are several Nabataean and early Islamic inscriptions, in addition to the remains of walls, residential buildings, cemeteries from the Nabatean period and more recent settlements.
Jabal al-Jawz at 2,578m is the tallest mountain in northern Arabia. Important antiquities are located here, such as petroglyphs and inscriptions which can be dated to 10,000 years ago, as well as Thamudic (the most ancient Arabic script), Nabataean and early Islamic inscriptions. This is the area to see the Chukar, or Egyptian Vulture.
Wadi Dam contains hundreds of localities of rock art and inscriptions dating from Paleolithic to the Islamic period. Study of the art revealed a rich variety of both human and animal figures. Dozens of sites in this area are Thamudic, Greek and Nabataean.
The ruins of this ancient town Qurayah are scattered at about 90km northwest of Tabuk. It was a big town with well developed agricultural land around it which dates back 3,000 years. High concentrations of pottery shreds, stone objects and a temple in addition to pottery kilns provide evidence of a large settlement.
A strong wall was built around the town ascending to the hill to protect the town from rain water. There is an ancient and sophisticated canal system (qanat) for the distribution of water for irrigation. It resembles the Nabatean qanats of Wadi Al-Bad and suggest that historically there was a well developed agricultural system here, and possibly close industrial and agricultural links among the two regions. Some archaeologists hypothesize that this was once, perhaps, the capital of the fabled Land of Midian.
To visit virtually any fort, ruin or archaeological site you must first obtain a permit from:
The Director General of the Department of Antiquities
The National Museum in Riyadh
Fax: +966-(0)1-4112054
PO Box 3734, Riyadh, 11418 |
|
|
