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<< Our Photo Pages >> Mada’in Saleh - Rock Cut Tomb in Saudi Arabia

Submitted by AlexHunger on Thursday, 16 September 2010  Page Views: 16980

Multi-periodSite Name: Mada’in Saleh Alternative Name: Madain Saleh, Mada'in Salih, Hegra
Country: Saudi Arabia
NOTE: This site is 4.16 km away from the location you searched for.
Type: Rock Cut Tomb
Nearest Town: Medina  Nearest Village: Madain Salih
Latitude: 26.792232N  Longitude: 37.981424E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 5 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 3

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Mada’in Saleh
Mada’in Saleh submitted by AlexHunger : Head of sandstone Statue from tombs in Mada'in Saleh in Saudi Arabia dating to between 3rd and 1st Century BCE in the Isambul Museum. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Mada’in Saleh, in the north west of Saudi Arabia is a most spectacular location. Sister city to Petra in Jordan, the site is famous for its more than 80 rock-cut tombs, evidence of the wealth of the Nabateans who levied taxes on the camel trains on the incense route to Mesopotamia, Greece and Egypt in the first century AD and before.

Unlike Petra, however, Mada’in Saleh was never colonised by the Romans.

Archaeological digs in the area (including one in 1968 by a team from the University of London) have uncovered buildings made of adobe with stone foundations. They have also uncovered a variety of coarse, plated and polished pottery, with animal, plant and geometric ornamentation. Other finds include glasswork, some thin and some thick with a snow-white colour, stone cisterns, cooking vessels and 96 coins. Some of these artefacts are in the National Museum in Riyadh while others are kept in a local museum.

The surrounding area has many other archaeological treasures, including rock-cut tombs, petroglyphs and inscriptions in obscure Dedanite, Lihyanite and Minaean dialects dating from the 7th to the 5th centuries BC.

Source: http://www.hadas.org.uk/wiki/index.php/Archaeology_and_History_in_Saudi_Arabia

IMPORTANT NOTE: Location given is very approximate

Note: Digging up the Saudi past: some would rather not, but it is gaining acceptance, see comment
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 2.8km SW 225° Qasr Al Farid Tomb Rock Cut Tomb
 18.3km SSW 197° Al Ula Lion Tomb Rock Cut Tomb
 107.9km NNE 31° Tayma* Ancient Village or Settlement
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"Mada’in Saleh" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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Hegra, an Ancient City in Saudi Arabia Untouched for Millennia Makes its Public Debut by Andy B on Sunday, 06 December 2020
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The archaeological site, now open to tourists, offers clues about the mysterious empire that built it and its more famous sister city of Petra in Jordan

In the scrub-speckled desert north of AlUla in Saudi Arabia, rocky outcrops and giant boulders the size of buildings, beautifully carved and with classical-style pediments and columns, poke out of the sands like divinely scattered seeds. As the sun sets, the dusty colors flare, revealing pockmarks and stains caused by rain, which has shaped these stones for millennia.

Once a thriving international trade hub, the archeological site of Hegra (also known as Mada'in Saleh) has been left practically undisturbed for almost 2,000 years. But now for the first time, Saudi Arabia has opened the site to tourists. Astute visitors will notice that the rock-cut constructions at Hegra look similar to its more famous sister site of Petra, a few hundred miles to the north in Jordan. Hegra was the second city of the Nabataean kingdom, but Hegra does much more than simply play second fiddle to Petra: it could hold the key to unlocking the secrets of an almost-forgotten ancient civilization.

Determined to wean its economy off the petro pipeline, Saudi Arabia is banking on tourism as a new source of income. Oil currently accounts for 90 percent of the country’s export earnings and makes up about 40 percent of its GDP. In 2016, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced Saudi Vision 2030, a roadmap for the country over the next two decades that aims to transform it into a global hub for trade and tourism that connects Africa, Asia and Europe.

Read more at
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/hegra-ancient-city-saudi-arabia-untouched-for-millennia-makes-its-public-debut-180976361/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB
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Re: Mada’in Saleh by Anonymous on Sunday, 10 June 2012
I would just like to contribute my view on the excavation of archaeological sites in Saudi. As a Muslim (who has lived in Saudi for nigh on seventeen years - I was born there), I understand why it would be frowned on - it is forbidden in Islam to venerate any place or object or regard it as a relic, and there thus the understandable fear of the Saudi government that this would occur if excavation was allowed and publicised as it is elsewhere in the world. However it is unlikely that this would occur now - though I say nothing about some time in the future when Saudi's oil runs out and the country goes back to being a land of nomads (Bedu). As a Westerner - an Englishman living in Wales - and an archaeology fan, I feel intense annoyance at the prevention and secrecy about excavation of archaeological sites in Saudi. There is just so much there to be found - it is mostly terra incognita, virgin land, where real finds can be made. However I feel it would be difficult for Muslims to excavate - for example - Mada'in Saleh, as there is a hadith (though I may be interpreting it wrongly) saying that Muslims must not pass through it (and by extension stay in it) without weeping and remembering Allah's wrath and power. I cannot help but think that it would be tricky to excavate while crying.
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    Re: Mada’in Saleh by Strawwalker on Saturday, 25 May 2013
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    All these sites predate the Muslim era. Possible this might be the at least to some extent, why the good gracious efforts of Arabia has allowed these digs. Though it is forbidden by Islam to venerate objects, relating objects to history, is not venerating them, but gives man an understanding of his beginnings.
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Digging up the Saudi past: some would rather not by davidmorgan on Tuesday, 14 September 2010
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From coldrum:

Much of the world knows Petra, the ancient ruin in modern-day Jordan that is celebrated in poetry as "the rose-red city, 'half as old as time,'" and which provided the climactic backdrop for "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

But far fewer know Madain Saleh, a similarly spectacular treasure built by the same civilization, the Nabateans.

That's because it's in Saudi Arabia, where conservatives are deeply hostile to pagan, Jewish and Christian sites that predate the founding of Islam in the 7th century.

But now, in a quiet but notable change of course, the kingdom has opened up an archaeology boom by allowing Saudi and foreign archaeologists to explore cities and trade routes long lost in the desert.

The sensitivities run deep. Archaeologists are cautioned not to talk about pre-Islamic finds outside scholarly literature. Few ancient treasures are on display, and no Christian or Jewish relics. A 4th or 5th century church in eastern Saudi Arabia has been fenced off ever since its accidental discovery 20 years ago and its exact whereabouts kept secret.

In the eyes of conservatives, the land where Islam was founded and the Prophet Muhammad was born must remain purely Muslim. Saudi Arabia bans public displays of crosses and churches, and whenever non-Islamic artifacts are excavated, the news must be kept low-key lest hard-liners destroy the finds.

"They should be left in the ground," said Sheikh Mohammed al-Nujaimi, a well-known cleric, reflecting the views of many religious leaders. "Any ruins belonging to non-Muslims should not be touched. Leave them in place, the way they have been for thousands of years."

In an interview, he said Christians and Jews might claim discoveries of relics, and that Muslims would be angered if ancient symbols of other religions went on show. "How can crosses be displayed when Islam doesn't recognize that Christ was crucified?" said al-Nujaimi. "If we display them, it's as if we recognize the crucifixion."

In the past, Saudi authorities restricted foreign archaeologists to giving technical help to Saudi teams. Starting in 2000, they began a gradual process of easing up that culminated last year with American, European and Saudi teams launching significant excavations on sites that have long gone lightly explored, if at all.

At the same time, authorities are gradually trying to acquaint the Saudi public with the idea of exploring the past, in part to eventually develop tourism. After years of being closed off, 2,000-year-old Madain Saleh is Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site and is open to tourists. State media now occasionally mention discoveries as well as the kingdom's little known antiquities museums.

"It's already a big change," said Christian Robin, a leading French archaeologist and a member of the College de France. He is working in the southwestern region of Najran, mentioned in the Bible by the name Raamah and once a center of Jewish and Christian kingdoms.

No Christian artifacts have been found in Najran, he said.

Spearheading the change is the royal family's Prince Sultan bin Salman, who was the first Saudi in space when he flew on the U.S. space shuttle Discovery in 1985. He is now secretary general of the governmental Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.

Dhaifallah Altalhi, head of the commission's research center at the governmental Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, said there are 4,000 recorded sites of different periods and types, and most of the excavations are on pre-Islamic sites.

"We treat all our sites equally," said Altalhi. "This is part of the history and culture of the country and must be protected and developed." He said archaeologists are free to explore and discuss their findings in academic venues.

Still, archaeologists are cautious. Several declined to comment to The Associated Pres

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World Heritage Sites: Threat or Promise? by Andy B on Monday, 16 October 2006
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Saudi Arabia has selected three sites as the first United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage sites in the Kingdom. The sites are the ancient Nabatean city of Madain Saleh, Jeddah’s historic center and Riyadh’s Al-Dirriyah neighborhood.

The elevation of any cultural or natural wonder to the status of World Heritage Site is understandably a source of national pride. Being awarded the status of a World Heritage Site, however, might prove to be a poisoned chalice.

“What better way than tourism to promote understanding between peoples by inspiring admiration for the shared natural and cultural heritage?” asked Federico Mayor, director-general of World Heritage: Ours Forever.

He goes on to hint at the potential problems: “But uncontrolled tourism and ill-planned development can cause irreversible physical and social damage, not only to the sites but to the communities surrounding them.”

More: Arab News
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=88268&d=16&m=10&y=2006
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Re: Mada’in Saleh by Andy B on Wednesday, 31 May 2006
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Photo: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/6cfd7/1b91c4/
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