Al-?Ula is a city some 110 km southwest of Tayma (380 km north of Medina) in north-western Saudi Arabia. Al-Ula was historically located on the Incense route and It was the capital of the ancient Lihyanites (Dedanites). It is well known for archaeological remnants, some over 2000 years old.There is so much history here still waiting to be discovered.The tombs, some containing pre-Islamic inscriptions and drawings such as hunting scenes, are a legacy of the Nabataean artistic tradition. The chiseled rock art forms could help unravel the mysteries of millennia-old civilisations on the Arabian Peninsula.
The area, roughly the size of Belgium, served as an important way station and bedouin watering hole on the trade route linking the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa and India. It is home to the kingdom’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Madain Saleh, built more than 2,000 years ago by the Nabataeans.
