Giant volcanic mountains with huge rocks resembling living beings astride them threw strange shadows as I sped toward Arac Al-Ula Hotel at sunset in my Corolla. My urge to stop and enjoy the beautiful surroundings was restrained by the urgency of finding the hotel before nightfall after a grueling day-long, 800-km drive from Jeddah. I was in the land of ancient Nabateans and had come to visit their city Madain Saleh, some 400 km north of the holy city of Madinah.
A Semitic race, the Nabateans had a kingdom stretching from around Madinah in the south to Petra in Jordan in the north 500 years before the birth of Christ. By 500 A.D. they were nowhere to be seen.
In its heyday, Madain Saleh served as an oasis town catering to the need of travelers on the trade route from Yemen to Damascus.
One of their prime sources of revenue undoubtedly was water. Days before my arrival, it had rained up in the mountains surrounding the area and I saw a few fountains that had sprung up. It was this precious rainwater that the Nabateans collected through a system of dams, canals and reservoirs that not only saw them through until the next rains but was good enough to earn them money from traders exhausted from days of traveling in the desert. With that money they bought provisions from the same traders. With the Romans diverting the trade route in the first century, the town complex simply became economically unviable, and died out.
The archaeological site is 22 km from Al-Ula, a small town surrounded by date farms. The site opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. Once inside, the first thing that strikes you is the Nabateans’ skill in carving mountains into living and burial chambers. The symmetry in their work testifies to their knowledge of geometry. Outside each tomb, there is an inscription. The script resembles Hebrew and the names sound ancient Egyptian. The authorities have done well to put glass coverings on each of the inscriptions to save them from the vagaries of nature and vandalism.
Most inscriptions warn against burying anyone other than the kin of the owner of the house at the site at the risk of a hefty fine. In one inscription, the owner gives the intruder an option — defeat his relatives in battle.
But Madain Saleh, or Al-Hijr as it was known earlier, is not all tombs. There is a huge palace called Qasr Al-Bint. I saw a couple of teens trying their mountain-climbing skills on the top of the Qasr. Then there is also Qasr Al-Farid. The 13 square km complex is also full of odd-shaped hills. I mistook at least one rock for an acacia tree. Most of the hills have been eroded over time by rain and wind and that gives them their out-of-the-world look. During a particularly strong sandstorm, I guess they would generate equally out-of-the-world and eerie sounds.
A visitor needs government permission to visit the site. I had it arranged through the hotel. You need to fax a copy of your iqama to the hotel along with your request for a room. The hotel arranges everything free of charge.
Aside from Madain Saleh, there are other attractions in and around Al-Ula. Prime among them are the remains of the Hejaz Railway, an ambitious Ottoman project to ferry pilgrims from Damascus to Madinah and thence to Makkah. The railroad was blown up during the Arab uprising against the Ottoman rule in the early part of the last century. Another attraction is the Al-Ula Museum, which is open from Saturday to Wednesday (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.).
Those looking forward to visiting the area must have full confidence in their vehicles. For stretches up to 70 km in some places there are no service stations and if, God forbid, your vehicle breaks down, you can’t do anything except wait for an occasional passing vehicle for help. Also, except for some 30 km, the road to Al-Ula from Madinah is single track. People tend to overtake vehicles in "no-overtaking" zones, flashing their headlights, telling you in effect to get off the road and be damned. Camels are another hazard. Their skin color seems to blend with the color of the sand around and they quite often lurk behind a bend.
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(For travel information, visit http://www.arac.com.sa/english/hotel_ola_a.htm)
Arab News Features 19 December 2002