The hidden canyons of Madain Saleh

If the monumental tombs of Madain Saleh are the must-see destination in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, the surrounding area is also worth a trip. What is probably the best example of a hidden marvel lays just a couple of kilometers northeast of the ancient Nabatean city and is a sandstone massif crossed by numerous deep and steep canyons where erosion has sculpted incredible shapes.

How to visit Jibal Al-Rukkab

As described above, Jibal Al-Rukkab is for experienced and well-equipped drivers only. Indeed, the labyrinth-like system of valleys, the soft terrain, and the tricky sand banks are like traps that can put people into big trouble. It is also very important to check the weather forecast before entering the maze of canyons as they can get quickly flooded during heavy rain.  We strongly recommend visitors ask for the services of our professional guides who know how to avoid these pitfalls.

​Tour operators organizing trips of Jibal Al-Rukkab

​History of Qaryat Al-Faw

​The city of Paradise

In the South Arabian inscriptions, Qaryat al-Faw is referred to as “Qaryat dhat Kahl”, Kahl being the name of the town’s god, but it was also named:

• ​The City of Paradise (in reference to Dhat al-Jnan) as the palms and greenery must have created a vision of paradise ​in the middle of ​a desolated desert
• The Red City (Qaryat Talu or Qaryat al-Hamra’), probably because of the red clay palaces that stood at the centre of the oasis.

At the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE the frankincense trade roads originating from the ancient Yemeni kingdoms started developing across the Arabian Peninsula. For more than  one and half millennia caravans carried this priceless commodity along two main routes to the major empires of those times: the western one going to the Roman Empire and the eastern one going to Mesopotamia and Persia. If the western route could benefit from the numerous oases watered by the wadis of the huge Sarawat mountains, the eastern route crossed the desolate plateau at the center of the Arabian Peninsula along the largest sand dune desert in the world, the Rub' Al-Khali. It is on this second road that Qaryat Al-Faw developed from the end of the 4th century BCE, as the only major oasis city for more than 1000 kilometers between Najran, in the southwest, and Gerrha, on the east of the Arabian Peninsula.

​An incredibly cosmopolitan oasis

It is unclear when the city was founded and by whom but an interesting aspect of the history of the city is told through the numerous temples that were excavated at the archeological site. The inscriptions they carry and the artifacts found in them show that the remote oasis was well connected with the whole Arabian Peninsula, and all the way to the Levant.

Two of the oldest remains of Qaryat Al-Faw - the temple of Shams and the altar of Aabit - seem to indicate that a city was built around the end of the 4th century BCE. Around the middle of the 3rd century BCE, the Mineans from Yemen, who were heavily engaged in the caravan trade, settled in Qaryat al-Faw and built a sanctuary as an offering to the divinity Athtar Wadd.

Another major ancient oasis of Arabia from where settlers originated is Dedan, capital of the kingdom of Dedan and later Lihyan, located in the northwest of the Peninsula. The Lihyanites that ruled Dedan for at least two centuries left in Qaryat Al-Faw two major inscriptions on a stela and a lintel. And people from the Hanikain tribe, who were also present in Dedan during the first years of the reign of the state of Lihyan, settled in Qaryat Al-Faw at the same period.

During the 1st century BCE, the most important traders of northwest Arabia, the Nabateans, whose most important city in the Arabian Peninsula was Hegra (also known as Maddain Saleh) were present at Qaryat al-Faw at least until the 2nd centry CE.

Another temple excavated in Qaryat Al-Faw showed strong links with Gaza in the Levant, meaning that despite its remoteness it was connected with the Mediterranean world.

The first capital of Central Arabia

During the first two centuries CE two tribes shared the power in Qaryat Al-Faw and their kings bore the name of both tribes with the title "King of Kindah and Qahtan".  During the 3rd century Qaryat Al-Faw endured a series of military expeditions carried out by Sabean and Himyarite kings from ancient Yemen: first Sa'irum Awtar, and later Ilsarah Yahdub and his brother Ya'zul Bayn.

At the end of the third century Qaryat Al-Faw was a vassal city of Himyarite Kings and the leader of the city held the title of "King of Kindah and Madhij", showing that despite the political changes the tribe of Kindah still played a great role. From its capital in Qaryat al-Faw the famous tribe dominated the area of Central Arabia and reached its elevated status at the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th centuries CE.

The power of Kindah, along with the importance of Qaryat Al-Faw, weakened during the 4th century, but still attested to as allies of the Himyarites in the oldest inscription of Wadi Massal dating from the beginning of the 5th century CE. Kindah provided two of the most prominent pre-Islamic Arab characters: Hujr Bin 'Amr, considered as the first king of the Arabs, and his grandson, the famous poet Imru' Al-Qays.

The archeological site

​Water management and ​agricultural activities

It is often said that the presence of such a large city proves that the center of the Arabian Peninsula was once covered with lush vegetation thanks to much more humid weather. But if such a climate existed in the past, it was millennia before the foundation of the city of Qaryat Al-Faw that probably took place in the 4th century BCE, a time when the climate was quite similar to what it is today. Hence the only way for the trade city to thrive was to exploit the underground water, which the population of that time did with great skill.

The twenty wells that have been excavated at the archeological site testify of the capacity of the people of Qaryat Al-Faw to extract water from the ground and supply it to the population and the farms. Today the channels that directed the water to the heart of the oasis where palms, vines and various cereals were grown are still visible. The trunks of palms and other trees were used to make the roofs of the houses, while planks made from local or imported wood were used for doors and windows and household tools, such as combs. Animal breeding was an important activity: the inhabitants owned herds of cattle, sheep, goats and camels, and used their manure to fertilize the fields.

​The ​residential area

​The fact that Qaryat al-Faw was so remote possibly explains why the population didn't feel the need to build any wall or fortress ​to protect it. It was an easily accessible trading town and a staging point for travellers, merchants and pilgrims. ​The residents constructed several large gateways on the north, south and west sides of the town. The building walls were constructed with sun-baked brick but the foundations, tombs and funerary towers were all made of cut stone. The filler used was made from a mixture of plaster, sand, and ash.

All the buildings were characterized by the care with which they were constructed and the thickness of their walls, reaching up to 1.8 meters in width. The doors and house frames were made of wood. Almost all the houses had a floor reached by stairs (the shell of the stairway was used as a storage place and for grinding grain). They were equipped with a system of water supply and outdoor pits for waste. We can also suppose that latrines existed on the upper floor.

​The residential area comprises also the main palace of Qaryat Al-Faw that used to be the residence of the Kings of Central Arabia.

​The market (souq)

The market lay to the east of the residential district, on the west bank of the wadi that separates the Tuwaiq cliffs from the edge of the town. With a length of 30.75 metres running east-west and 25.2 metres north-south, the massive enclosure wall was composed of three parts: the central section built from limestone blocks, and the internal and external facings made from sun-baked brick.

​The temples

​Three temples and an altar have been found at Qaryat al-Faw. ​South Arabian inscriptions have revealed which divinities they were dedicated to​, such as Al-Ahwar, Shams, Athtar, Wadd, and also dhu Ghabat of the kingdom of Lihyan.

​The necropolises

​Artefacts

​The archeological site of Qaryat Al-Faw has provided some of the finest pieces of ancient Arabian art including wall paintings, statues, jewellery, coins, glass, pottery, ceramic,... Some of those unique masterpieces are part of the famous exhibition Roads of Arabia.

How to visit Qaryat Al-Faw

​Tour operators organizing trips ​at Qaryat Al-Faw

The highest place in the kingdom

Less than 10 kilometers to the west of the city of Abha lies Jebel Sawdah, the most iconic natural feature of Aseer Province. It is the highest place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sawdah is in the Sarawat Mountains, a range of cliffs that run along the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula from Jordan all the way to Yemen.

​Moshebah Hills

The road leading to Jebel Sawdah from Abha runs through the hilly landscapes of Moshebah that break all stereotypes a person can have about Saudi Arabia. The landscape is all about mountains and greenery that are the total opposite of the sand dune landscapes, and instead reflect what can be found around the Mediterranean Sea.

The highest point of the area is Sehab park, at over 2900 meters, on the edge of the Sarawat Mountains. This park offers stunning viewpoints over both sides. To the west are the vertiginous cliffs of the Sarawat Mountains, and to the east the terraces that underline the beautiful Moshebah Hills.

​Jebel Sawdah

Jebel Sawdah is the highest point of Saudi Arabia but instead of a sharp peak like the Jebel Al-Lawz in Tabuk Province it is just a low hill lying on a plateau which is already over 2900 meters high.

Unfortunately the top of Sawdah itself is a private area but the parking area at the bottom of the hill already offers breathtaking viewpoints on the impressively high cliffs of the Sarawat Moutains.

​Weather

At such altitudes Moshebah and Sawdah are among the few places were snow can fall. The temperatures in winter are regularly below 5°C even during the day. Another weather feature to expect in this area is the fog that results from the rising hot and humid air coming from the Red Sea, resulting in condensation when it reaches the high lands of Sawdah and Moshebah.

​How to visit Sawdah and Moshebah

​Roads lead to both places but the one to Sehab park is more sinuous and steep so extra caution is advised when raining.

​The highest large city of Saudi Arabia

Abha is the capital of Aseer Province and has the 6th largest population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is famous for being the highest large city of Saudi Arabia at over 2 200 meters, some parts of the city being even around 2 400 meters. With such an altitude it is not surprising that Abha benefits from milder climatic conditions that most the rest of the country with day temperatures ranging from 15°C to 35°C.  What is more unexpected is that while the rest of the country has one rainy season in March and May, Aseer Province enjoys a second one in July and August thanks to the Indian monsoon that reaches the southwest of Saudi Arabia.

​History of Abha

Having been fertile for millennia, despite climate changes, and located to the north of the ancient Kingdoms of Sheeba and Himyar, within the territory named by the Romans 'Arabia Felix', which was crossed by caravans for more than a millennium, Abha and the Province of Aseer have a long history. Although there are no remains dating back to those times in Abha itself, some ancient carvings close to Habalah and the archeological site of Jerash just 30 kilometers away are testimonies of this rich past.

In 1918, the Prince of Asir, Yahya bin Hasun Al Ayde, grandson of Ibn Ayed, returned to his family throne and conquered Abha. In 1920, during his campaign to regain the control over Central Arabia, Abd Al-Aziz Al-Saud sent his warriors, known as Ikhwan, to occupy Aseer Province, a situation that was formalized in 1934 with the signing of the Treaty of Taif between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Aseer Province was still largely unknown by the west when Harry St John Philby explored it in 1932 but it was only finally no longer a blank spot on the map when he published his observations in 1952.

​Places to visit in Abha

​Abha Museums

​Al-Muftaha Museum

Shada Palace

Jebel Al-Akhdar - The Green Mountain

Located in the southern part of Abha, Jebel Akhdar is a green hill that is around 2340 meters high. It offers one of the best viewpoints over the whole city and its surrounding mountains, as far as the edge of the majestic Sarawat mountains.

A road leads to the top of Jebel Akhdar (a small fee is collected at the bottom) where there is parking and a cafeteria to welcome visitors who have climbed to the top to admire the stunning view over Abha. 

Al-Basta

Shamasan Fort

Ottomans occupied the western part of the Arabian Peninsula, as far as, Yemen from the beginning of the 16th century CE, including Abha. They built several landmarks of the city including a bridge at Al-Basta district and the Shamsan Fort that overlooks the northern part of Abha.

​​Abha dam

With nearby mountains as high as 3000 meters Abha is exposed to possible flooding that is prevented nowadays by a 300 meter dam located on the west of the city. In addition to protecting the population the dam has generated a one kilometer long lake with unexpected and beautiful landscapes in Abha where the blue of the lake contrasts with the city and the green vegetation of the area.

​How to visit Abha

Abha is easily accessible either by road or by plane by. If you want to make the most of it we suggest you go with our guides who will also take you to more enchanting places around the city.

​Hidden treasures of ​Tabuk Province

Mahajah is a rocky desert located on the southeast of Tabuk Province  where erosion of sandstone formations created out-of-this-world landscapes.  It lays on the southwest of the large sand dune desert, the Nefud Al-Kebir, an ancient area known for having hosted early humans for several millenia, leading to the rich rock art found in Mahajah.

Mahajah is not well known  because of its remoteness and difficult terrain that dictates slow progress when travelling, even to the mightiest of four-wheel drive cars. That means that this part of the Saudi desert remains relatively untouched. As a result it hosts many incredible pristine sites, and it should remain that way.

The Land of Natural Arches

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is full of amazing but little known sites. Among its unknown features are natural arches that are found in many parts of the country, even in Riyadh Province. Mahajah hosts the most spectacular ones, however, especially around Jebel 'Uwayqir. There, the erosion from wind and rain sculpted a sandstone formation into three arches, the tallest reaching as high as 40 meters.

Seen from the distance the arches look tiny, but when arriving from the western side of the rock formation an impressive diamond-shape arch reveals itself. The size is striking and the symmetry of this natural sculpture is incredible.

When looking through the incredibly regular arch, the top of a second one - even higher - appears. If the first arch requires a bit of climbing to reach, this second one can be crossed by several cars simultaneously! Its elegant, slender silhouette is a beauty.

​Ancient Rock Art

The stunning natural arches of the Jebel 'Uwayqir have attracted humans for millennia, as attested to by the numerous drawings and texts carved on its sides. The truly amazing rock art in Mahajah is found at Hafirat Laqat. There, a natural rock wall, more than 160 meters long, is covered with thousands of carvings showing life-size camels, horsemen, goats, buffaloes, abstract shapes, and even a boat!

There is an incredible concentration of so-called Thamudic inscriptions. Thamudic describes the script used by Bedouins some 2 000 years ago. There are also few Nabatean texts, proving that this place, which even today is very remote, was once regularly crossed by travellers and caravans.

A Land of early European explorers

In 1883, Charles Huber, a French explorer, led his second expedition into Arabia, up to Hail Province, and went through Mahajah several times.

​How to visit Mahajah

By yourself

Mahajah is a very remote area because of its tough, rocky terrain, with fields of soft sand that dictates slow progress. Also, it is full of dead-ends, so it is only for experienced and fully equipped drivers! We strongly advise to go with one of our tour guides that know the way, and the great spots!

​With our guides

Of Sand and History

The Nefud Al-Kebir (النفود الكبير) is a large sand dune desert in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In Arabic its name means ‘The Great Sand Dune Desert’ and it is also known simply as the desert of Al-Nefud (صحراء النفود). It stretches over 290 kilometers from the ancient city of Tayma’ on the west until the city of Hail on the east and is 225 kilometers wide between Hail and Dumat Al-Jandal on the north.  It covers an area of an area of 103 600 square kilometers in the provinces of Hail, Al-Jawf, and Tabuk. From its eastern tip, the Nefud Al-Kebir is connected to the Dahna, a narrow corridor of sand dunes that stretches over 1 300 kilometres and reaches largest sand dune desert in the world, the Rub' Al-Khali.

As the Nefud Al-Kebir is the last large area with sand dunes before Iraq and the Levant it has for long held the reputation of being an impassable and inhospitable desert that kept the Arabian Peninsula out of reach from the rest of the world. But this is a myth. A famous example is found in the book ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ by T. E. Lawrence, where he describes a daredevil crossing of the Nefud Al-Kebir in order to attack Aqaba. But Lawrence’s tale is not consistent with the reality of the terrain as there is simply no need to cross the Nefud to go to Aqaba, regardless where you start from.

Instead, the Nefud Al-Kebir played a great role in the history of the Arabian Peninsula and still carries some traces of very old human activity.

​A land of the first Homo Sapiens

In April 2018, researchers from the the Max Planck Institute announced the discovery at Al-Wusta in the Nefud Al-Kebir of an 85 000-year-old phalanx that is so far the oldest directly dated fossil of  Homo Sapien outside Africa and the Levant. It proves that early human dispersal out of Africa was not limited to winter rainfall-fed Levantine Mediterranean woodlands immediately adjacent to Africa, but extended deep into the semi-arid grasslands of Arabia, facilitated by periods of enhanced monsoon rainfall.

​Still in the Nefud Al-Kebir, the team of Michael Petraglia from the Max Planck Institute discovered a couple of years earlier at the site of Al-Marrat a small lithic assemblage that dates back to 55 000 years ago, emphasizing the long term human occupation of the area, at least during humid phases.

​A host of some of the most brilliant rock art in the world

If the climate became dryer from the 5^th millennia, human presence didn’t disappear from the Nefud. Again in Jubbah, some inscriptions in Thamudic and Nabatean scripts that are probably around 2 000 years old show that the Nefud was still crossed by caravans at that time.

Early European explorers also made the crossing the of Nefud Al-Kebir, such as the Frenchman Charles Huber, who went from Hail to Sakaka in October 1883 and made a stopover in Jubbah. During later trips Huber even carved his name on rocks not far from the Nefud Al-Kebir.

​Exploring the Nefud Al-Kebir

When penetrating the Nefud Al-Kebir, the first striking aspect is the vegetation. Indeed, millions of small bushes actually make the progress by car quite tedious, especially when it is necessary to gain momentum for climbing a sandy slope.

A second interesting feature is the shape of the dunes that are quite hilly yet scalable, unlike the steep mountains of sand of the Rub’ Al-Khali. Even the large crescent dunes that reach over 50 meters high are relatively easy to circumvent.

​Another characteristic of the Nefud Al-Kebir is the variety of color of its sand that ranges from the regular beige to red, but also from yellow to white on its edges.

​How to visit the Nefud Al-Kebir

​The Great Canyon of Saudi Arabia

Tabuk Province has one of the most incredible concentrations of natural wonders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including many still to be discovered. In between the newly famous Jibal Hisma and Wadi Qaraqir is a more discreet but fascinating place, Al-Shaq. This name means the tear (or rip) which makes sense as here the earth has been literally torn apart by  tectonic forces. That is the reason why this place is also known as the Great Canyon of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Shaq is just 4 kilometers away from the road between Dhiba and the city of Tabuk, near a village called Shiqry. While heading west from the road there is nothing remarkable except the elegant sandstone formations that are found everywhere in that area. After 3 kilometers some large stone circles appear on the ground that are probably another example of the numerous Bronze Age (3^rd millennium BCE) tombs of the Arabian Peninsula.

But once past those tombs, what was just a shallow dry valley on the south becomes a crack in the ground that keeps on spreading until becoming a wide and impressively deep canyon. It is actually possible to be at the exact place where the breach appears and stand with feet on both sides of it.

​Al-Shaq has a little secret feature hidden in the shallow valley that becomes the canyon, a so-called mushroom rock, meaning a rock whose base is narrower than its upper part. Try to find it!

​How to visit Al-Shaq

​Tour operators organizing trips to Al-Shaq

The western tip of Mainland Saudi

​The Ras Al-Sheikh Hameed is a beautiful sandy cape located in Tabuk Province, at the junction between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. The sand banks of the Ras Al-Sheikh Hameed used to be the westernmost point of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia until the cession of Tiran Islands by Egypt to Saudi Arabia in 2017. Thus it is today only the westernmost point of the Saudi Arabian mainland.

The sand banks of the Ras Al-Sheikh Hameed lie on coral reefs that are sometimes visible from the beach, especially on the western side of the sandy cape. They host an incredibly rich marine life which is not surprising as the world-famous diving town of Sharm Al-Sheikh in Egypt is just 30 kilometers away on the other side of the Strait of Tiran.

The beaches of the Ras Al-Sheikh Hameed are not only beautiful by themselves but they also offer stunning viewpoints on the Sinai Mountains of Egypt that are just 10 kilometers to the west. From the Ras Al-Sheikh Hameed the sunsets above the edges of the Sinai that fall into the Red Sea are particularly stunning.

The large bay on the south west has a peculiar sight, the wreckage of a PBY-5A Catalina, an American military seaplane from the 1930s. It has laid on the beach since  22^nd March 1960, when the retired American businessman Thomas Kendall landed near the Ras Al-Sheikh Hameed for a stopover during this trip around the world with his children and his secretary. They spent the night there but the next afternoon they were attacked with machine guns and automatic firearms by Bedouins who believed it was an actual military attack! Mr Kendall tried to start the Catalina but only succeeded to move it over about a kilometer where it ran aground on a coral reef. After more than 30 minutes of intense shooting (300 shots hit the aircraft!) and about 4000 liters of fuel poured into the Red Sea, the whole crew was captured by the Bedouins.

​They were brought to Jeddah but the damaged seaplane was abandoned on the beach, where it still lays but more and more damaged by the weather and people who dismantle it to take a souvenir (which shouldn’t be done of course!).

​How to visit the Ras Al-Sheikh Hameed

​It is allowed to swim and camp along the beach but Border Guard that patrol day and night will check ID’s and may ask people to move to a place that is visible from the post guard.

​If people want to swim they must first respect the dressing rule of Saudi Arabia and do it at their own risk as they are no life guards. The first hundred meters are usually very shallow but it is not advisable to swim far away from the shore because of the currents and winds.

​A mountain like no other in Saudi Arabia

The Jebel Al-Lawz, whose name means the almond mountain in Arabic, is one of the most mythical mountains of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Most people think that Saudi Arabia is just a vast extent of sand dunes but with its summit at 2 549 meters above sea level Jebel Al-Lawz is the highest mountain of Tabuk Province. Indeed, it is still lower than the 3000 meter Jebel Sawdah in Aseer Province and many other peaks in Bahah, Jizan, and Makkah Provinces that range between 2 600 and 3 000 meters. But the Jebel Al-Lawz has other assets.

First it really has a mountain shape with a high summit dominating the whole province, whereas many other higher peaks are in fact the highest point of a cliff along the Sarawat range. As an example, the highest point of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Jebel Sawdah, is in fact a low hill that lays on a plateau already 2 900 meters above sea level. On the contrary the majestic silhouette of the imposing Jebel Al-Lawz is visible dozens of kilometers away from all directions.

Secondly the Jebel Al-Lawz is probably the only place in Saudi Arabia where snow falls nearly every year. As surprising as it sounds Saudi Arabia does have regular snowfalls thanks to its many mountains above 2 500 meters. But as the Jebel Al-Lawz is the highest mountain in the north of the country and it is located beyond the northern tip of the Red Sea and its warm waters, this mountain is more exposed to low temperatures and sees snows more often than any other area of Saudi Arabia.

Jebel Al-Lawz is in the ancient land of Madyan where the Prophet Moses lived for ten years with his father-in-law the Prophet Shu'ayb and where he brought his people that fled Egypt. Some consider Jebel Al-Lawz to be the real Mount Sinai where Moses had a mythical experience with God, as mentioned in the Holy Quran.

​How to visit Jebel Al-Lawz

Jebel Al-Lawz is visible from many places but there is only one road that leads to the top. Unfortunately there is a military base that doesn’t allow access to the very top of the massif. The last viewpoint on the road is slightly below 2 100 meters and offers some stunning sights on eastern side of the massif over Jibal Hisma in the distance.

There are numerous valleys and tracks that lead towards the center of the massif but it is important to note that access through these tracks is restricted and local Bedouins may ask travellers without special permission to go back to the road.