al-Ula (), officially AlUla, is an ancient Arabian oasis city and governorate located in Medina Province, Saudi Arabia, northwest of the city of Medina. Situated in the Hejaz, a region that features prominently in the history of Islam as well as several pre-Islamic Semitic civilizations, al-Ula was a market city on the historic incense trade route that linked India and the Persian Gulf to the Levant and Europe.
From an archaeological perspective, the immediate vicinity contains a unique concentration of precious artifacts, including well-preserved ancient stone inscriptions that illustrate the development of the Arabic language, and a concentration of rock dwellings and tombs that date from the Nabatean and Dedanite periods that coincided with Greco-Roman influence during classical antiquity. Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hegra (also known as al-Hijr, or Mada'in Ṣalih), is located north of the city, in al-Ula governorate. Built more than 2,000 years ago by the Nabataeans, Hegra is often compared with its sister city of Petra, in Jordan. Meanwhile, the ancient walled oasis city of al-Ula, locally known as al-Dirah, situated near the oasis's palm grove that allowed for its settlement, contains a dense cluster of mudbrick and stone houses. al-Ula was also the capital of the ancient Lihyanites (Dedanites).
The Jabal Ikmah epigraphs and petroglyphs are located in the mountains around al-Ula. In 2023, they have been inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register. Dating back to the second half of the first millennium BCE, they played a significant role in the evolution of Old Arabic languages and dialects. Carved in sandstone, these nearly 300 inscriptions are written in the pre-Nabataean Arabic languages Aramaic, Dadanitic, Thamudic, and Minaic.
Today, the city of al-Ula is within the Governorate of al-Ula, one of seven constituent counties of Medina province. The city is located southwest of Tayma and north of Medina. The city (municipality) covers , and has a population of 60,103 . In addition to the ancient old town al-Dīrah, a more recent historical and adjacent settlement, al-Judaydah, displaying the settlement patterns of Arabic-Islamic urbanism, remains occupied and is currently experiencing a redesign. Since the 1980s, the oasis of al-Ula has experienced significant agricultural and urban growth. Since then, the settled Bedouins have been added to the population of Sedentary people and, as in the rest of the kingdom, a large population of immigrant workers.
The area is also known for its striking landscape of rocks, canyons, and wadis, and the contrast between these dry surroundings and the lush, palm-filled oases near the city's centre. The oasis of al-Ula was once a key stop on the Hejaz railway, linking Damascus to Medina.
Landscape The vertical sandstone cliffs surrounding the valley provide ample surfaces for rock art, making the governorate one of the richer petroglyph regions in the Kingdom. Ar-Ruzeiqiah is a mountain in the southern part of the governorate, with a large petroglyph panel displaying hundreds of images, including depictions of hunting scenes with humans and a variety of animals. Ibex are the most common species but camels, horses and other species can also be found. Mount Ikma also has a large façade with scenes, strange symbols, and inscriptions.
History Prehistory
The oasis of al-Ula has had permanent human settlement since 5000 BCE, through the Bronze Age.
Pre-Islamic times
The walled city of al-Ula was founded as an oasis in the desert valley, with fertile soil and plenty of water. It was located along Incense trade route, the network of routes that facilitated the trading of spices, silk and other luxury items through the Kingdom of Aksum, Arabia, Egypt, and India. The oasis of al-Ula stands on the site of the Biblical city of Dedan but was founded with the ancient North Arabian kingdom of Lihyan, which ruled from the 5th to 2nd century BCE.
The older history of the oasis has been divided into several phases. The Dedanite kingdom spans the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Dedan is mentioned in the Harran Stela. In these it is told how Nabonidus, last ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, made a military campaign to northern Arabia in 552 BCE or somewhat later, conquering Tayma, Dedan, and Yathrib (now Medina). It is thought that around the turn of the 5th century BCE, the kingdom became hereditary.
The next four hundred years, until around 100 BCE, was the period of Lihyanite kingdom. The Nabataeans were also the lords of the region at least until 106 CE, when the Roman Empire conquered and annexed it in their Arabia Petraea province.
Medieval Islamic times
Al-Mabiyat, some away near Mughayrah became the next commercial centre of the region. It thrived from around 650 CE until it declined at some time before 1230. In the 13th century, the old city of al-Ula, locally known as al-Dīrah, was built, and many stones of the old Dedanite and Lihyanite ruins were reused.
Modern times The oasis of al-Ula now became the major settlement of the region again until modern times. Between 1901 and 1908 the Ottomans built the Hejaz railway in order to link Damascus to Medina. The railway had main stations in both Madā'in Ṣaliḥ (Hegra) and al-Ula, where a line was built through the western part of al-Khuraybah, some to the north of the old medieval town, which is believed to be the site of the old Dedanite and Lihyanite town that is still standing there despite being in bad shape.
In the 20th century, the new town centre was established beside the old town, and eventually, the people left the old buildings. The last family is said to have gone in 1983, while the last service in the old mosque was held in 1985.Modern AlUla at Madainsale.net. Both the ruins of the medieval town al-Dīrah and the site of the Liyhanite settlement now lie within the limits of the modern town.
Timeline The following is the sequence of historical events and the ancient evidence found in the al-Ula governorate:
History EvidenceBronze Age Bronze Age evidence in Al-Hijr Archaeological site – Tumulus tombs dates C14 2113/1892 BC Ancient North Arabian Kingdoms (DEDAN) Capital city Water management and development of agriculture (date palm introduced) Prosperity from incense trade to Mesopotamia Ancient North Arabian scripts (Jabal Ikma)Nabataean Kingdom (Hegra) Functioned as the southern capital Intricate carved tomb facades Water management Prosperity from incense trade to the MediterraneanRoman presence Fort at Hegra Southernmost limit of Roman Empire Islamic period (QURH, al-Ula) Prosperity from trade and pilgrimage Water management Ottoman presence Hijaz railway with several halts in the region to modernize pilgrim travel Forts to protect pilgrim travel AlUla joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2025.
Archaeological investigations The most detailed study of the area was made by the French priests Antonin Jaussen and Raphaël Savignac, who visited the area three times, in 1907, 1908 and 1910. They studied the remains at Hegra and Dedan and collected a large number of Lihyanite, Minaean, Thamudic, and Nabataean inscriptions. Accordingly, it was their work that came to constitute the basis for all further study and research in the area's history.
The first European traveller of modern times to describe the town was Charles Doughty in 1876. was in al-Ula in 1881–1882. He returned in 1883 accompanied by Julius Euting. In 1968 a team of archaeologists from the University of London investigated 15 inscriptions.
Rock art
The rock art of the AlUla region represents one of the most extensive and chronologically deep corpora in northern Arabia, spanning over 12,000 years from the early Holocene to the recent past. Documented through the Identification and Documentation of Immovable Heritage Assets (IDIHA) Project (2018–2021), which systematically surveyed approximately 1,000 km² around the AlUla valley and oases, the survey recorded 19,802 identifiable rock art panels containing tens of thousands of individual motifs, predominantly engravings (with only 143 painted panels).
The majority of the corpus are engravings, and more rarely, through incisions. Over 100 paintings have been documented, mostly done in red pigment, often depicting architectural or tent-like structures. The most common motif found in them are of animals, followed by human figures and, most rarely, plants, objects, and structures. Animals appear in interactive scenes such as hunting, herding, and battles, but most commonly, as isolated figures.
The rock art is divided into broad chronological phases: Early Holocene (~10,000 BCE onward): Rare but distinctive life-sized, highly naturalistic engravings of wild fauna (e.g., wild camels, African wild ass/equids with shoulder stripes, ibex, aurochs), often detailed with eyes, muscles, and coat patterns; no human figures or interactions; clustered near water sources along escarpments. Pre-Neolithic/Neolithic (broadly Holocene humid period, ~8000–4000 BCE): Medium-sized, stylized depictions in the "Jubbah style" tradition, including hunting scenes with bows, arrows, dogs, and prey (equids, lesser kudu, gazelles); iconic long-horned cattle (lyre-shaped or forward-pointing horns, often with coat/geometric markings or hoof-prints); rare sheep/goat; human figures mostly simple stick forms (Jubbah-style conventions known but infrequently applied); predator conflicts (e.g., lions attacking herds); ibex dominant symbolically. Bronze Age (early 3rd millennium BCE onward): Sparse and harder to identify; limited markers include human figures with lunate pommel daggers and "bracket-like" or "lizard-like" postures; occasional stylized cattle; lighter varnish accumulation. Iron Age to pre-Islamic (1200 BCE–6th century CE) and post-Islamic periods (7th century CE–modern): Small, stylized engravings lacking heavy varnish; massive emphasis on domesticated camels (over 50% of identifiable animals, often with riders, hobbled, or in herds; raiding/hunting scenes); horses with riders (far more frequent than camels in battle contexts, reflecting prestige); ibex hunting with dogs; ostrich motifs (hunting, possible herding, eggs); rare cattle persistence in oases; battle scenes, herding, carnivore conflicts (lions, leopards, etc.); riders on horseback/camelback; objects (e.g., firearms, motor vehicles, coffee pots) in later phases; Ancient North Arabian scripts often associated.
Overall, early rock art reflects wetter conditions with wild fauna and pastoralism, whereas in the late rock art, we see a depiction of arid adaptation, oasis settlement, camel/horse domestication, trade routes, warfare, and hunting/herding. Ibex remain prominent across periods, whereas cattle sharpyl decline in the post-Neolithic period. The AlUla corpus is thought to rival the major northern Arabian sites, like Jubbah and Shuwaymis, and are an end-product of the place of AlUla as a cultural and an economic hub across the desert trade networks.
Administration There are four major municipalities in the Governorate of al-Ula: al-Ula, the capital lying to the southwest (population 5,426); Mughayrāʾ () to the southeast (population 8,952); Abu Raku, to the north (population 2,678); and al-Ḥijr to the northeast (population 1,707).
Heritage Village
al-Ula Heritage Village, also known as Al-Dīrah, is the traditional Arabian village to which people of the oasis moved some eight centuries ago and inhabited until the 20th century. It was built on a higher part of the valley in order to be clear of the floods that can occur during the rainy season. At its maximum expansion the town contained more than 1000 houses, which were built adjacent to one another, thereby forming a wall around the town to defend the population. On the west of the town, at the bottom of the cliff, is the old souq, which has been renovated.