Treasures of Al Ula
On a heritage trail and safari in Saudi Arabia, Zalina Mohd Som is blown away by the vista, strange rock formations and historic sites
“YOU can take off your abaya. It’s okay. I know it’s quite a challenge, especially with the scorching sun and the tough terrain,” Ibrahim tells my two colleagues from Spain and Italy.
They have been struggling with the long black robes that have been getting in between their feet and sweeping the ground at the same time. And not only that, they have to manage their shawls that keep slipping off their shoulders.
It gets even more difficult as we climb up the red sandstone cliffs at Jebel Ithlib to view what Ibrahim describes as a proof of the Nabatean skill in storing water in the harsh desert environment.
It’s not easy for me too even though abaya or jubah is not new to me. But trudging in a desert, going up and down sand dunes and cliffs, it is another experience altogether.
The two women jump at Ibrahim’s suggestion and quickly remove their abaya, exposing their jeans and T-shirts. As for me, I tuck one end of my abaya in a pocket of my trekking pants, which now makes my abaya look like a stylish asymmetrical flowy dress.
The three of us now have no problem catching up with the men in our small group of six journalists and two guides from Royal Commission of Al Ula.
We are at Mada’in Saleh, an archaeological site in Al Ula, a town 300km from Madinah, the holy city of Saudi Arabia, on a media trip held in conjunction with the kingdom’s first tourism event.
PETRA’S YOUNGER SISTER
The late morning sun is almost at its peak and the heat is quite unbearable.
The hot desert wind doesn’t help to cool us down.
But the sight of the massive natural slit called the
Siq that soars 40m from the desert floor in the middle of Jebel Ithlib makes us ignore the heat. At the entrance of the Siq is a huge square chamber, carved out of the redstone rock.
Three stone benches in the chamber are used for dining purposes during sacred feasts.
The chamber known as al-Diwan and the siq are similar to those in
Petra, Jordan.
“And this is not the only one.
There are over 130 ruins in Mada'in Saleh with chambers and siq similar to Petra,” Ibrahim says.
Built between the first century BC and the first century AD, Mada'in Saleh was the southernmost city of the Nabataean kingdom, and its second largest city after Petra. Mada'in Saleh is known as Al Hijr in the Quran and to the Romans, it’s Hegra.
Like Petra, Mada'in Saleh is also a Unesco-listed site, Saudi’s first insertion in the prestigious list of World Heritage Sites in 2008.
It may be smaller in scale, but Mada'in
Saleh beats its older sister with its striking location — huge outcrops strewn across the vast desert — while Petra is located deep in a maze of dim, narrow gorges. But what makes Mada'in Saleh even more special than Petra is that it has now fewer visitors, since it is still fairly new on the world tourism map.
LONELY CASTLE
“Wait till you see Qasr Al-Farid,” says Ibrahim, as we make our way back from the largest tomb at Qasr Al-Bint to the waiting four-wheel drives.
Standing at a height of 16m, the largest tomb facade, Qasr Al-Bint (Palace of the Daughter or Maiden), is our second stop after Jebel Ithlib.
The entrance of Qasr AlBint is decorated with floral motifs and an inscription
plaque that indicates its date to be circa 31 CE.
And there’s something grander that this tomb. It’s a five-minute drive to our next stop — a flat, well-tarmaced parking spot. Around it are massive outcrops, sparsely sprinkled around the vast desert. But the vista is breathtakingly beautiful — rich tones of red and yellow of the desert against the bright blue sky. Nothing else.
With no sight of the supposed star of Mada'in Saleh, we follow Ibrahim as he leads the way towards a single gigantic outcrop. As we get closer, my eyes are drawn to the flat face of the outcrop.
On it is what looks like a facade of building, maybe four-storey in height, with four pilasters on the “ground floor” that seem to hold the floor above it.
In the centre of the ground floor is a door with a grand doorway. At both sides of the door are rows of stone benches.
On the highest floor, two “stairs” lead to the rooftop. And all these are carved out of the outcrop, from top to bottom!
“The size usually indicates wealth and social status of the person who commissioned it. Size does matter,” Ibrahim says.
Unlike Petra’s star temple, the AlKhazneh, which was carved on the rock face of Jabal Al-Madbah in a basin in the mountains, Qasr Al-Farid stands on its own, alone in the desert.
BEYOND MADA'IN SALEH
But Al Ula is not all about Mada'in Saleh. Less than 30km from Mada'in Saleh is another photogenic stunning outcrop, Elephant Rock.
Though it doesn’t have any historic significance, the single gigantic rock is huge enough to make its way into the list of Al Ula attractions.
Standing at a soaring 52m, the rock looks like a huge elephant with its enormous body connected to a long, slim trunk but the right bulges. The only thing missing from this elephant are the tusks.
For sightings of real desert animals, we are taken deep into the desert to visit the highly protected Sharaan Nature Reserve, home to a handful of threatened animal species.
The reserve aims to rehabilitate the region’s natural ecosystem by introducing indigenous wildlife species like the Arabian leopard, among others. But of course, we don’t get to see the critically endangered mammal. Only a family of curious rednecked ostriches greets us when the thick, high gates of the reserve open to let us in. But for me, the animals are not the highlight of the two-hour excursion. It’s the ride on the four-wheel drive in the vast desert that excites me the most.
The desert safari not only offers adventure but also lets us feast on the spectacular desert landscape. Unlike the deserts in Qatar and Morocco, this features island-like stacks of red sandstone rocks that dramatically jut out of the desert floor.
AL ULA, THE TOWN
Out of the desert, we’re back on Al Ula’s heritage trail. The destination is Al Ula Heritage Village, known as Ad-Deerah.
Located at the foot of an enormous flat-top mountain, the village is a sprawl of mud-brick houses protected by a wall and a small fortress. At its maximum, the village had over 1,000 houses built next to each other, forming a maze of narrow lanes.
Built on the higher part of the valley some eight centuries ago, the village was vacated less than a decade ago, when the government offered a relocation package for the residents to preserve the heritage village.
“I remember visiting my relatives in this village and those days, like any other village in the country, it was full of life,” Ibrahim says.
Now, looking down from the fortress, the village looks hauntingly forlorn with collapsed roofs and floors, and gaping windows and doors.
But it’s a different feeling when we walk along the narrow alleys. Walking through the quiet alleys, I somehow sense the warm community feeling and strong family bonds even though the village is like a ghost town.
The old town ruins are among the best examples of traditional northern Arab architecture, and they become even more significant with their history that goes back to the capital of the Lihyan kingdom over 2,000 years ago.
Al Ula was then part of the famous Incense Trade Route that stretched from the Mediterranean to North Africa and the Levant to India and Southeast Asia.
They also hold strong historical significance in Islam as the Prophet Muhammad reportedly passed through the city in 30AD as part of his military expedition to the north-western Saudi city of Tabuk.