HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Al-'Ula ( ar, ٱلْعُلَا '), is a city of the Medina Region in north-
western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. Historically located on the
incense route The Incense Trade Route was an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant ...
, the city lies within the Governorate of 'Ula ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ٱلْعُلَا, Muḥāfathat Al-ʿUlā), one of seven in the Medina Region, covering an area of . The city is southwest of
Tayma Tayma (Taymanitic: , vocalized as: ; ar, تيماء, translit=Taymāʾ) or Tema Teman/Tyeman (Habakkuk 3:3) is a large oasis with a long history of settlement, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia at the point where the trade route between M ...
and north of
Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
. The city (municipality) covers . The population of the city is 5,426. Al-'Ula was the capital of the ancient
Lihyan Lihyan ( ar, لحيان, ''Liḥyān''; Greek: Lechienoi), also called Dadān or Dedan was a powerful and highly organized ancient Arab kingdom that played a vital cultural and economic role in the north-western region of the Arabian Peninsula ...
ites (Dedanites). The governorate contains the first
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site in the Saudi Kingdom, called
Hegra HEGRA, which stands for ''High-Energy-Gamma-Ray Astronomy'', was an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope for Gamma-ray astronomy. With its various types of detectors, HEGRA took data between 1987 and 2002, at which point it was dismantled in order ...
(also known as Al-Hijr, or Mada'in Saleh / Mada'in Salih), north of the city. Hegra (Mada'in Salih) was built more than 2,000 years ago by the
Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Pe ...
. Al-'Ula, the ancient walled city, is packed with mud-brick and stone houses.


History

The walled city of Al-'Ula was founded in the 6th century BC, an oasis in the desert valley, with fertile soil and plenty of water. It was located along
Incense Road The Incense Trade Route was an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant ...
, the network of routes that facilitated the trading of spices, silk and other luxury items through the kingdom of Axum, Arabia, Egypt, and India. Al-'Ula stands on the site of the
Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
city of Dedan but was founded with the ancient north Arabian kingdom of
Lihyan Lihyan ( ar, لحيان, ''Liḥyān''; Greek: Lechienoi), also called Dadān or Dedan was a powerful and highly organized ancient Arab kingdom that played a vital cultural and economic role in the north-western region of the Arabian Peninsula ...
, which ruled from the 5th to 2nd century BC. The older history of the oasis has been divided into several phases. The Dedanite kingdom spans the seventh and sixth centuries BC. Dedan is mentioned in the
Harran Inscriptions The Harran Stela was discovered in 1956 in the ruins of Harran, in what is now southeast Turkey. It consists of two parts, both of which show, at the top, Nabonidus worshipping symbols of the Sun, Ishtar, and the moon-god Sin. The stela is signifi ...
. In these it is told how
Nabonidus Nabonidus (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nabû-naʾid'', meaning "May Nabu be exalted" or "Nabu is praised") was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from 556 BC to the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great in 539 ...
the king of
Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
made a military campaign to northern Arabia in 552 BC or somewhat later, conquering Tayma Dedan and
Yathrib Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
(Medina). It is thought that around the turn of the fifth century BC the kingdom became hereditary. The next four hundred years, until around 100 BC, were the time of the Kingdom of Lihyan. The
Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Pe ...
were the lords of the region at least until 106 AD when the
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
conquered their capital
Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...
. The Nabataeans made Hegra, the modern Mada'in Salih, their second capital. The power centre of the region thus shifted to Hegra some to the north of Al-'Ula. Al-Mabiyat some away near Mughaira became the next commercial centre of the region. It thrived from around 650 until it declined at some time before 1230. In the 13th century the old city of Al-'Ula was built and many stones of the old Dedanite and Lihyanite ruins were reused. Al-'Ula now became the major settlement of the region again until modern times. Between 1901 and 1908 the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
built the Hejaz railway in order to link
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
to Medina. The railway had main stations in both Mada'in Salih (Hegra) and Al-'Ula, where a line was built through the western part of Al-Khuraybah, some to the north of the old medieval town, which is believed to be the site of the old Dedanite and Lihyanite town that is still standing there despite being in bad shape. In the 20th century the new town centre was established beside the
old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
and eventually the people left the old buildings. The last family is said to have left in 1983, whilst the last service in the old mosque was held in 1985. Both the ruins of the medieval town and the site of the Liyhanite settlement now lie within the limits of the modern town. The most detailed study of the area was made by the French priests and , who visited the area three times, in 1907, 1908 and 1910. They studied the remains at Hegra and Dedan and collected a large number of Lihyanite,
Minaean The Minaean people were the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ma'in ( Minaean: ''Maʿīn''; modern Arabic ''Maʿīn'') in modern-day Yemen, dating back to the 10th century BCE-150 BCE. It was located along the strip of desert called Ṣayhad by ...
,
Thamudic Thamudic is a name that refers to ancient Arabic Thamudic tribe language found by nineteenth-century scholars for large numbers of inscriptions in Ancient North Arabian (ANA) alphabets which have not yet been properly studied. These texts are found ...
and
Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Lev ...
inscriptions. Accordingly, it was their work that came to constitute the basis for all further study and research in the history of the area. The first European traveller of modern times to describe the town was Charles Doughty in 1876. was in Al-'Ula in 1881–82. He returned in 1883 accompanied by
Julius Euting Julius Euting (11 July 1839 – 2 January 1913) was a German Orientalist. Life Director of the National and University Library of Strasbourg, he completed his first studies at the Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium in Stuttgart and at the local semi ...
. In 1968 a team of
archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
investigated some fifteen inscriptions. The vertical
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
cliffs surrounding the valley provide ample surfaces for rock art, making the governorate one of the richer
petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
regions in the Kingdom. Ar-Ruzeiqiah is a mountain in the southern part of the governorate, with a large petroglyph panel displaying hundreds of images, including depictions of hunting scenes with humans and a variety of animals.
Ibex An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa. ...
are the most common species but
camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
s,
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s and other species can also be found. Mount Ikma also has a large façade with scenes, strange symbols, and inscriptions.


Cities, towns, villages

There are four major municipalities in the Governorate of 'Ula: Al-'Ula: the capital lying to the southwest (population 5,426); Mughīrāʾ ( ar, مُغِيْرَاء) to the southeast (population 8,952); Abu Raku, to the north (population 2,678); and Al Hajar to the northeast (population 1,707).


Heritage Village

AlUla Heritage Village, also known as Ad-Deerah, is the traditional Arabian village to which people of the oasis moved some eight centuries ago and inhabited until the 20th century. It was built on a higher part of the valley in order to be clear of the floods that can occur during the rainy season. At its maximum expansion the town contained more than 1000 houses, which were built adjacent to one another, thereby forming a wall around the town to defend the population. On the west of the town, at the bottom of the cliff, is the old souq, which has been renovated.


Timeline

Here is the sequence of historical events and the ancient evidence found in the Al-'Ula governorate:


Royal Commission for Al-'Ula

The importance of Al-'Ula as an archaeological and historic site led to the establishment of The
Royal Commission for Al-'Ula The Royal Commission for Al-'Ula (RCU) is a Saudi Arabia, Saudi commission was established in July 2017 to preserve and develop the 2,000-year-old archaeological and historical site of Al-`Ula, Al-'Ula north-western Saudi Arabia. Importance of A ...
(RCU) in July 2017, the aim of which is to develop and promote Al-'Ula as an
international tourism International tourism is tourism that crosses national borders. Globalisation has made tourism a popular global leisure activity. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual en ...
destination. Moreover, the commission develops the plans for heritage conservation and preservation.


Development plan

To promote tourism and gain more attraction, the Royal Commission on Al-'Ula is training 200 young Saudis on an ambitious project where tourists will explore the area's cultural treasures. Recruited from the Al-'Ula region, the 200 young people (all high-school age or in their first year as university students, and split 50-50 between boys and girls) are in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia being trained in hospitality, learning new languages, studying farming and water technology, and researching the cultural, social and natural history of their home region.


Prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Airport

The Prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz International Airport was a crucial part of the development strategy of the Royal Commission for Al-'Ula (RCU), which envisioned making it a global destination for culture and tourism. In March 2021, the airport was approved to receive international flights, along with an increased capacity of receiving 15 commercial flights at a time. Besides, the capacity was tripled, raised from 100,000 to 400,000 passengers per year.


Tourism

Al-'Ula has the potential to be one of the most important archaeological destinations for tourists from around the world. The Saudi Arabian government is collaborating with experts from around the world on the Al-'Ula development and in April signed a 10-year deal with France that includes provisions for hotels, transport infrastructure and a world-class culture and art museum. A major integrated archaeological survey of Al-'Ula valley and beyond was launched by the commission, charged with protecting and regenerating the north-western region. While a conservation and development plan was established, some of the sites including the World Heritage Site of Mada'in Salih were closed to the public but have been open since 2020 for visitors.


Sharaan Resort

A resort is planned to be built as early as 2020 and completed in 2023 in Sharaan area. The result will have residential neighbourhoods, a conference venue, a relaxing area and restaurants.


"Winter at Tantora" festival

Winter at Tantora was a traditional celebration to mark the start of the 40 day winter growing season. The name of the festival 'Tantora' is inspired by a sundial located in the old town of Al-'Ula, which has been in use by the locals as a marker for the changing of the seasons. On 20 December 2018, the first " Winter at Tantora" started with a series of different themed weekend events including music, arts, entertainment, and cultural events. The concerts were performed in Maraya Concert Hall, which was newly constructed for this purpose, and whose external walls are covered with mirrors, "Maraya" being the Arab word for "Mirrors". A second edition of Winter at Tantora Festival was held on 19 December 2019, and included performances by
Omar Khairat Omar Khairat (born November 11, 1948) ( ar, عمر خيرت) is an Egyptian musician. Early life Born in Cairo, Omar was raised in a family of musicians. His uncle, Abu Bakr Khairat, a composer and architect, established the Cairo Conservato ...
, EBI "Ebrahim hamedi",
Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...
,
Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis ( el, Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek-American composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthand ...
,
Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the ...
and
Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...
. On 26 December 2019, Maraya Concert Hall set a
Guinness world record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for the largest mirrored building in the world, in which it was covered by of mirrored façade.


Azimuth Festival

As part of the “Winter at Tantora” festival, Saudi Arabia hosted a three-day festival of music, art and food. Held between 5–7 March 2020, the Azimuth Festival was an event that brought the east and west together at Al Ula. It marked performances from artists like
The Chainsmokers The Chainsmokers are an American electronic DJ and production duo consisting of Alexander "Alex" Pall and Andrew "Drew" Taggart. They started out by releasing remixes of songs by indie artists. The EDM- pop duo achieved a breakthrough with the ...
,
Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanie ...
,
Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...
and others. The event took place at the beginning of the
Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, and so received only little publicity. In 2022, reports revealed that the big-budget music festival was secretly organized by
Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); V ...
. The company was aggressively pursuing business opportunities in Saudi, and was criticized for neglecting the human rights records of the Arab nation. Contractors of the Azimuth Festival signed a non-disclosure agreement with Vice, and received a budget of $20 million. The deal came just three years after the media company publicly announced to discontinue all the work with Saudi Arabia, citing the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The employees at Vice had reportedly been raising concerns for years over the company's involvement with Saudi, but were given empty excuses.


Persian Night in Saudi Arabia’s Al-'Ula

From March 6 to March 7, 2020, a large concert of Iranian singers was held at the winter celebration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the city of Al-'Ula.
Ebi Ebrahim Hamedi ( fa, اِبراهیم حامدی, also Romanized as "Ebrāhim Hāmedi"; born 1949), better known by his stage name Ebi (Persian: ), is an Iranian pop singer who first started his career in Tehran, gaining fame as part of a ban ...
,
Leila Forouhar Leila Forouhar ( fa, لیلا فروهر, ''Leilâ Foruhar'') (born 23 February 1959) is an Iranian pop and classical singer. She was a child star, acting from the age of 3. She relocated to next door Turkey in 1986, then to Paris, before emigrat ...
,
Shahram Shabpareh Shahram Shabpareh ( fa, شهرام شب‌پره) is an Iranian Pop singer and songwriter. Career He started his career as a drum player in the early 1960s when he was 13. In the mid 1960s at the age of 17, he formed a band of his own named "Re ...
,
Shadmehr Aghili Shadmehr aghili ( fa, شادمهر عقیلی; born 27 January 1973) is an Iranian pop singer, musician, composer, music arranger, producer and song-writer, and formerly an actor. He revitalized music culture post-revolution in Iran, Aghili was b ...
,
Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...
(Andranik Madadian),
Arash Arash the Archer ( fa, آرش کمانگیر ''Āraš-e Kamāngīr'') is a heroic archer-figure of Iranian mythology. According to Iranian folklore, the boundary between Iran and Turan was set by an arrow launched by Arash, after he put his own ...
and Sasy were present at the concert.


Al-'Ula vision

On 11 February 2019, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
launched the Al-'Ula vision which features a resort and nature reserve called Sharaan. The vision also includes the establishment of the Global Fund for the protection and revitalization of the
Arabian Leopard The Arabian leopard (''Panthera pardus nimr'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 as fewer than 200 wild individuals were estimated to be alive ...
.


See also

* Sarat Mountains *
Hijaz Mountains The Hijaz Mountains ( ar, جِبَال ٱلْحِجَاز, Jibāl al-Ḥijāz ()) or "Hejaz Range" is a mountain range located in the Hejazi region of western Saudi Arabia. The range runs north and south along the eastern coast of the Red Sea, a ...
* Hijaz Railway * The temple of Mahlab al-Naqa


References


Further reading

* Abdul Rahman Ansary, Ḥusayn Abu Al-Ḥassān, ''The civilization of two cities: Al-ʻUlā & Madāʼin Sāliḥ'', 2001, ,


External links


Al Ula and its ancient civilsations





Uncovering secrets of mystery civilization in Saudi Arabia
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...

Experience Alula
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-'Ula Archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia History of the Arabian Peninsula Populated places in Medina Province (Saudi Arabia) Oases of Saudi Arabia