Visiting ancient battlefields often engenders a sense of wonder in the visitor, but because the events were so long ago, it is hard to empathize with what took place. The beaches of modern Pevensey hardly resonate with the slaughter of 1066; Flanders fields are now pleasant countryside instead of churned mud. Time heals the wounds to the battle sites and subsequent urban development often covers them.
The detritus of battle that still litters parts of the Hejaz Railway has an immediacy and impact that the grassy sites of Culloden and Agincourt no longer possess. Spikes of discarded rails signpost the course of the old railway along the 150 kilometers of crumbling rail bed from the hamlet of Dhaa southward to Madinah; sections of rusting trains still lie beside the track bed.
The railway was built between 1900 and 1906 to carry pilgrims from Damascus to Makkah; however, it only reached Madinah which is some 400 kilometers north of Makkah. In trouble from the start from local camel caravan operators who correctly saw it as threat to their pilgrim transport business, the railway was often attacked. A pilgrim could travel from Damascus to Madinah in three days for about three pounds ten shillings instead of spending 40 pounds and taking two to three months by camel caravan.
The railway was a focus of attention for T. E. Lawrence and the Arab guerrillas in the fist quarter of the 20th century. A palpable sense of history lingers in the air, especially when pushing a finger into bullet holes that pepper some of the hulks.
The blockhouses and stations along the track are remarkably well preserved. Made from blocks of dressed basalt or sandstone with crisp mortar pointing, the regular sandblasting from wind-borne sand and the complete lack of pollution has kept the main stone structure of the buildings in a nearly-new condition. The date plaques over the entrances of some indicate that many are over a century old. All the blockhouses and stations on the line were refurbished a couple of decades ago when a plan to reopen the line as a pilgrim route was seriously considered. Mass air transport, however, ended the scheme.
As remarkable as the fact that they are still there is the precision with which huge rectangular level topped heaps of broken stone squat with military exactness beside the track. Used as metalling for the track, they have survived simply because they were of no conceivable later use. They are impressive monuments to the human effort involved in building the railway.
Hadiyah Station with its black basalt buildings was an important stopping point for trains on the Hejaz Railway. The typical two storey blockhouse, water tower and single storey building stand on either side of a vital water tower. On a siding opposite the blockhouse lies an engine on its side; it was standing as late as 1987. At each end of the station complex is a well preserved gantry-mounted water hose for filling engines and water tenders. The ruins near the station and blockhouse and on the surrounding hills suggest that the stopping point was well garrisoned and of considerable importance.
In the station complex within the site of Madain Saleh, one of the German-built engines stands protected from the sandblasting winds. Painted black not so long ago, it is an impressive sight. Ten months ago, although the windows of the engine shed were broken, the locomotive was unmarked. Not now. Sprayed graffiti defaces the side of the locomotive and scuff marks are evident where attempts — some successful — have been made to remove pieces as souvenirs. Top marks for a commendable interest in history; zero for consideration of others as well as conservation and protection measures by the authorities. Even worse is the graffiti that has appeared in the last year sprayed inside some of the Nabatean tombs in Madain Saleh itself.
It seems ironic that where the authorities have attempted to fence off areas of archaeological importance — for example a Turkish brick-built caravanserai an hour north west of Madinah or Abu Naam Station at the Madinah end of the railway — the fences became a challenge to vandals. The inside of the caravanserai now has large areas of red graffiti clearly visible from the fence which itself has been cut to allow access. The gate in the new fence surrounding Abu Naam Station has been forced open and great basalt blocks from the tops of the blockhouse chimneys lie on the ground, having been lifted off their foundations.
Abu Naam Station, some 150 kilometers north of Madinah, is of particular historical importance because it was the first of two attacked within what is now Saudi Arabia by Lawrence of Arabia. Though Lawrence is considered the instigator of the attacks on the railway, he was not the first to undertake them. Col. Newcombe along with Captains Garland and Raho had already led attacks. On March 26, 1917 Garland had left Abu Markha with a contingent of Bedouin and Raho to attack the station at Abu Naam. Lawrence was at the time not yet expert in using explosives. In a telegram dated April 7, 1917, the French minister in Cairo, indicated that “Captain Raho who is an explosives expert” was leaving with a column of men commanded by Sherif Nasser “to attack the station at Abu Naam” and added: “Captain Lawrence is accompanying them.” But that is history.
The attack in which Lawrence participated was essentially successful; artillery fire was directed at the station and the engine pulling the train standing there was uncoupled and sent south where it struck a mine. Seventy of the 300 Turkish troops stationed at the halt were killed; only one of Lawrence’s group was injured.
It is not often that we have the privilege to get so close to history. The events of the first quarter of the 20th century were seminal in the history of Saudi Arabia. Building fences for protection from the population is not the long term answer; involvement in the protection of their history and heritage by the people is. Fences represent a challenge to the culturally disadvantaged, a challenge easily overcome with wire cutters.
The answer is to make the history, the architecture and the sites that are history’s physical manifestation valuable to the people who are history’s legatees. Education early in life, broad spectrum history as part of the curriculum and a tourist industry with a financial interest in preserving that history are all elements in conservation. Many cultures and races have contributed — and still contribute — to the Kingdom’s development. Some of the contributions were negative but even they can give pause for reflection and teach a lesson.
I am not suggesting that we walk into the future looking backward, but unless we are aware of where we have been and of the achievements and failures in our past, how can we evaluate our present? After all, those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it and its mistakes.
