The Most Iconic Historical Site of Saudi Arabia
Madain Saleh, also known as Al-Hijr, is the most iconic historical site in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the first to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Located in the north of Madinah Province, in the area of Al-Ula, it is surrounded by many other fascinating archaeological sites that attest to thousands of years of human occupation, thanks to the underground water available for millennia.
Historical Significance
Madain Saleh means the “cities of Saleh,” named after the Prophet Saleh who tried to convert the ancient people of Thamud to Islam. This name started to be used during the Ottoman occupation of the Hejaz. The Nabateans, who built this city, called it Hijra, and the Romans referred to it as Hegra. The site is still known today in Arabic as Al-Hijr, after which a Surah of the Holy Quran is named.
The Nabatean Kingdom
The Nabatean people were Arab merchants actively involved in the frankincense trade originating from ancient Yemen, from which they gained their great wealth. The Nabatean Kingdom developed from the 2nd century BCE until the beginning of the 2nd century CE and stretched from Madain Saleh to Damascus in the north, and from the Sinai desert in the west to at least the city of Dumat Al-Jandal in the east.
Their influence on the Arabian Peninsula was extensive, with their presence attested in the ancient trade city of Qaryat Al-Faw in the south of Riyadh Province, and Nabatean inscriptions found as far south as Najran Province. They even had trading posts in the Mediterranean Sea, including Kos in Greece, Kourion and Amathonte in Cyprus, and a small but flourishing Nabatean community in Puzzuoli, Italy.
In 106 CE, the Nabatean Kingdom was conquered by Trajan and integrated into the Roman Empire as the Province of Arabia until at least the end of the 3rd century CE.
A Major Site on the Frankincense Trade Road
Madain Saleh was the second largest city of the Nabatean kingdom, with its capital at Petra (in today’s Jordan), where the Nabateans created more than 600 tombs. The importance of Madain Saleh is due to two main factors:
- Strategic Location: Its location on the frankincense trade roads, with the valley of Al-Ula (20 kilometers south) being the only easy path from the north to the south between the lava fields of the Harrat al-Uwayrid on the west and the steep canyons of the Ra’s Ash-Shatub on the east.
- Underground Water Resources: The surrounding reliefs supplied underground water, with rain flowing down to the low plain that surrounds Madain Saleh, feeding the water table just 10 meters below the surface during the Nabatean Kingdom.
The Ancient Nabatean City of Hijra
The extensive settlement of the site took place during the 1st century AD, under the rule of the Nabatean king Aretas IV Philopatris (Al-Harith IV) (9 BCE – 40 CE), who made Madain Saleh the kingdom’s second capital, after Petra. The residential area, still being excavated by the Saudi-French archaeological team, was surrounded by a compound wall built during the 1st century CE, providing shelter to an area of about 60 hectares.
Excavations have shown that the south of the city probably hosted a military garrison, confirmed by inscriptions on four tombs indicating their owners were officers in the Nabatean army. After the Roman conquest in 106 CE, a Roman military detachment was present in Madain Saleh for about a century. The Romans contributed to its development by taking control of the frankincense trade and maintaining and renovating parts of the city, such as its compound walls.
Continued Inhabitation and Ottoman Influence
The city was populated until at least the 4th century CE, and some parts may have remained inhabited until the 6th century. After that time, the population likely moved to the nearby city of Al-Ula, which is still inhabited today. Madain Saleh remained frequented by merchants traveling on the trade road and, from the Islamic era, by pilgrims coming from Syria.
In the early 19th century CE, the Ottomans built a railway station at Madain Saleh along the Hejaz Railway, linking Damascus to the holy city of Makkah.
The Necropolis
The importance of Madain Saleh is prominently displayed by its 111 monumental tombs, among which 94 were decorated with majestic facades on the sandstone massifs of the area, especially the Jibal Ithlib. The smallest tomb is barely 2.7 meters tall, while the largest reaches an impressive 21.5 meters!
The sculptors always started to cut the rock from the top and then dug downwards, creating a platform they could stand on as scaffolding. They also made their work as useful as possible by cutting neat blocks that were then used to build the city.
If the oldest monumental tombs of Petra are dated to around 50 BCE, the construction of tombs in Madain Saleh probably started some 50 years later during the first year of the CE.
Their architectural style is a unique mix of contemporary cultures, featuring symmetrical stair-shaped structures on the top called “merlon” that are typically Mesopotamian, while other features like the pediments, the metope and triglyph entablatures, and capitals are of Greek-Roman style.
People were buried naked, without shoes, with only a collar of fresh dates around their neck. The bodies were wrapped in three layers of fabric impregnated with resin, the closest to the body being tinted in red.
These monumental tombs were reserved for the elite of the ancient city of Hijra, for whom it was a way to display their importance, which explains why nearly all the monumental tombs were turned towards the city. The rest of the population was buried in tombs dug in the ground, sometimes even on the rock. Although these more modest tombs are less visible, more than 2,000 of them have been found in the area of Madain Saleh.
The Triclinium
The site also has places called triclinium (or diwan in Arabic) that were once dedicated to banquets and rituals. They are composed of three benches where people used to sit while musicians played.
At least six of them were found in Madain Saleh, with the names of owners and possibly invitees carved nearby. The most famous triclinium is in Jibal Ithlib and was probably shared by several groups of people.
Ancient Inscriptions
Madain Saleh has a special feature with the numerous inscriptions written on the monumental tombs. While in Petra only about two percent of the tombs carry an inscription, in Madain Saleh two-thirds of the tombs have a cartouche above the door containing a text in Nabatean script.
These inscriptions are judicial documents giving the name of the owner of the tomb and naming the persons having the right to be buried there. Interestingly, they also indicate a date showing that all the monumental tombs were dug between 1 and 75 CE. However, an inscription next to a simple tomb mentions the burial of a man’s mother in 267 CE.
Nabatean inscriptions are also found next to the Triclinium, indicating the ownership of the triclinium they were written next to. Other Nabatean inscriptions carved on the rock are found at Madain Saleh, along with some Thamudic and early Islamic ones in Arabic.
From the Roman occupation in 106 CE until the 3rd century CE, several inscriptions in Greek and Latin were carved on rocks, the city walls, and even a well.
Management of Water Resources
The Nabatean people mastered the management of water resources with drainage systems to collect rainwater and direct it either towards a cistern or towards the 130 wells discovered so far along the main wadi (dry valley) that crosses the site of Madain Saleh. From those wells, irrigation systems were installed to supply surrounding cultivated fields that could provide cereals and legumes for the local population and travelers.
How to Visit Madain Saleh?
The site of Madain Saleh is easily accessible by road and is indicated on Google Maps. Since 2018, visits can be made only during the Winter at Tantora festival. You can find more information about it on the dedicated website.
Madain Saleh stands as a testament to the rich history and cultural heritage of Saudi Arabia, offering a glimpse into the lives of the Nabatean people and their remarkable achievements.
