Ha'il Province, also known as Ha'il Region ( ') is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, located in the north-central part of the country. It is named after its capital, Ha'il, and is known for the twin mountain ranges of Aja and Salma, as well as for being the homeland of the historic symbol of generosity and curiosity,

Hatim al-Tai Hatim al-Tai (, 'Hatim of the Tayy tribe'; died 578), full name Ḥātim bin ʿAbd Allāh bin Saʿd aṭ-Ṭāʾiyy () was an Arab knight, chieftain of the Tayyi tribe of Arabia, ruler of Shammar, and poet who lived in the last half of the si ...

History

Prehistory

Archaeological evidence indicates the continuation of human settlement in Ha'il Province since prehistoric times. The sites dating to the Middle Paleolithic age discovered in and around Ha'il attest that the soil in the area could have held enough water to enable plant life during the period from 75000 BC to 5000 BC. A striking discovery in the province was that there are more archaeological sites dating back to the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

period than to the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

. One reason given for this is that the climatic changes from a cold and humid climate in the Paleolithic period to the heat and drought of the Neolithic period and the resulting gradual change in vegetation cover from greenery to

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

led to mass migration to more habitable areas in the

Fertile Crescent The Fertile Crescent () is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, together with northern Kuwait, south-eastern Turkey, and western Iran. Some authors also include ...

. Archaeologists have deduced that the availability of its water, the fertility of the soil, the abundance and distribution of pastures in different directions, and the moderate climate of the region, combined, made it a lot more hospitable than the surrounding

Arabian Desert The Arabian Desert () is a vast desert wilderness in West Asia that occupies almost the entire Arabian Peninsula with an area of . It stretches from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It is the fourth largest desert in the ...

. Neolithic sites are clearly scattered across the northern

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. Several Neolithic artifacts found in the province date back to the period from 10000 BC to 7500 BC. The artifacts discovered in Hail can be distinguished from others found in

by the abundance of rock drawings that vary between human and animal figures. The Neolithic period in Ha'il is distinguished by its different environments and diversity, as can be seen in the sandy banks of the valleys, the dune slopes and ancient lake deposits, including those discovered in Jubbah, northwest of Ha'il. Stone tools in separate areas of Ha'il also indicate that the people living in the area lived a life of

hunting-gathering A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, especially wi ...

, rather than in permanent settlements. Cultural evidence from the

Copper Age The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in dif ...

(approximately 5500 BC) is most widespread within the Ha'il Province, and among the artifacts found in the area from this age are stone tools with flat sides in the form of scrapers, drills and cleavers. In addition to the discovery of a group of stone formations and circles that characterize the Copper Age, these stone installations indicate that life in this era was more settled than the life of

, which is a striking characteristic of a Neolithic society. Among the signs that prove these settlements are the presence of flint tools, vessels made of rough, unpolished clay and a group of rock inscriptions that together confirm the existence of human activity in the region in prehistoric times. In May 2021, archaeologists announced that a 350,000-year-old

Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo ...

site named An Nasim in Ha'il could be the oldest human habitation site in northern Saudi Arabia. The site was first discovered in 2015 using remote sensing and palaeohydrological modelling. It contains paleolake deposits related with

Middle Pleistocene The Chibanian, more widely known as the Middle Pleistocene (its previous informal name), is an Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale or a Stage (stratigraphy), stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocen ...

materials. 354 artefacts, hand axes and stone tools, flakes discovered by researchers provided information about tool-making traditions of the earliest living man inhabited South-West Asia. Besides,

artefacts are similar to material remains uncovered at the

sites in the

Nafud desert The Nafud desert or simply The Nafud () is a desert in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula is , occupying a great oval depression. It is long and wide, with an area of . The Nafud is an erg, a desert region located in north-central Saudi ...

Up to and after the advent of Islam

Part of the historic

Najd Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...

region was inhabited by Arab tribes and influenced by the

Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petr ...

people and later, the

Ghassanids The Ghassanids, also known as the Jafnids, were an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe. Originally from South Arabia, they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian state, Christian kingdom unde ...

and

Lakhmids The Lakhmid kingdom ( ), also referred to as al-Manādhirah () or as Banū Lakhm (), was an Arab kingdom that was founded and ruled by the Lakhmid dynasty from to 602. Spanning Eastern Arabia and Sawad, Southern Mesopotamia, it existed as a d ...

. This is supported by the discovery of 122

Thamud The Thamud () were an ancient tribe or tribal confederation in pre-Islamic Arabia that occupied the northwestern Arabian Peninsula. They are attested in contemporaneous Mesopotamian and Classical inscriptions, as well as Arabic ones from the e ...

ian texts dating back to the eighth and seventh centuries BC in the city of Jubbah, approximately north of Ha'il, which is the fourth archaeological site in the Kingdom to be put on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site List, in 2002. By 633, under the rule of

Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...

, the

Rashidun Caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to Political aspects of Islam, represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the ...

consolidated the region. The

Shammar The tribe of Shammar () is a tribal Arab Qahtanite confederation, descended from the Tayy, which migrated into the northern Arabian Peninsula from Yemen in the second century. It is the largest branch of the Tayy, and one of the largest and mos ...

tribe emerged to be the most powerful in the region in later years and by 1791, Prince Abdullah bin Ali al-Rasheed of the

consolidated the region under his rule, whose state acted as a precursor to the

Emirate of Jabal Shammar The Emirate of Jabal Shammar (), also known as the Emirate of Haʾil () or the Rashidi Emirate (), was a state in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula, including Najd, existing from the mid-nineteenth century to 1921.J. A. Hammerton. ''P ...

, which was formed in 1834 by the House of Rashid. The

fought several wars against the new Saudi state to the south, supported by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

, but in 1921,

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

of the

House of Saud The House of Saud ( ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi State, (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling ...

conquered its capital city, Ha'il, during the

Unification of Saudi Arabia The unification of Saudi Arabia was a military and political campaign in which the various tribes, sheikhdoms, city-states, emirates, and Monarchy, kingdoms of most of the central Arabian Peninsula were conquered by the House of Saud, or ''Al ...

, and the region completely fell into Saudi hands by 1922.

Geography and Cultural Heritage

The province is well known for its geographically and historically significant mountain ranges, the Aja and Salma Mountains, which now form part of the

Jabal Aja Protected Area Jabal Aja Protected Area () is a protected area in northern Saudi Arabia. It consists of a red granite Shammar Mountains, mountain range projecting from a flatter area and is of importance for both plant and animal life. It lies at 27°30'N and 41° ...

managed by the Saudi National Center for Wildlife. The province also hosts multiple notable rock art sites, two of which have been recognized by inclusion on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site List: Jabal Umm Sinman near Jubbah and Jabal al-Manjur. In addition to these archaeological treasures, the province contains numerous historic forts and castles, especially concentrated in and around the capital, Ha'il. The province is also notable for its unique sandstone formations, including the Nafud al-Kabir formation, which contribute to the distinctive natural landscape.

Demographics

Population

The 2017 Population Characteristics Surveys conducted by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics observed the population of the province to be 699,774 (2.19% of the entire kingdom), with

Saudis Saudis (; local dialects: , suʿūdiyyīn) or Saudi Arabians are the citizen population of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who speak the Arabic language, a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language, and share a common Ancesto ...

constituting approximately 77% of the population, at 530,944 individuals; making the province the ninth-most populous in the kingdom.

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

projections estimate the 2020 population of the capital of the province, the city of Ha'il, at 400,000; more than two-thirds of the population of the province lives in the city and the Ha'il Governorate, in which Ha'il is located, is the province's most populous governorate.

Governorates

List of governors

References

External links

A travel through the province of Hail
Splendid Arabia: A travel site with photos and routes {{Authority control * Provinces of Saudi Arabia sv:Ha'il