Hegra holds 111 intricately carved monumental tombs dating back as far as the first century B.C.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, Hegra, also known as Mada’in Saleh or Al-Hijr, has been an important archaeological site for researchers trying to unlock the mysteries of an ancient empire. Now, it is Saudi Arabia’s newest tourist attraction.
Before it stood abandoned for thousands of years, Hegra was once the second city and bustling trade hub of the kingdom of Nabataean. The site features astounding architecture carved into the cliffs, drawing comparisons to the famous ancient city of Petra in Jordan.
However, Hegra is unique. It bears 111 monumental tombs with intricate carvings and water wells dating back to the 1st century B.C. The style of the decorations reflects design influences from a mix of cultures, including Assyrian, Egyptian, and Phoenician.
The inscriptions dotted around its structures also bear several different ancient languages. In addition to Nabataean, there are epigraphic traces of Lihyanite, Thamudic, Latin, and Greek.
The Ancient City Of Hegra Sat Untouched For 2,000 Years — Now It’s Open For Tourists
By Natasha Ishak
Hegra holds 111 intricately carved monumental tombs dating back as far as the first century B.C.
Royal Commission for AlUla
The 2,000-year-old city of Hegra, which was previously closed to the public, is now open to tourists.
For the first time in 2,000 years, the ancient city of Hegra in Saudi Arabia will be open to the masses.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, Hegra, also known as Mada’in Saleh or Al-Hijr, has been an important archaeological site for researchers trying to unlock the mysteries of an ancient empire. Now, it is Saudi Arabia’s newest tourist attraction.
Before it stood abandoned for thousands of years, Hegra was once the second city and bustling trade hub of the kingdom of Nabataean. The site features astounding architecture carved into the cliffs, drawing comparisons to the famous ancient city of Petra in Jordan.
However, Hegra is unique. It bears 111 monumental tombs with intricate carvings and water wells dating back to the 1st century B.C. The style of the decorations reflects design influences from a mix of cultures, including Assyrian, Egyptian, and Phoenician.
The inscriptions dotted around its structures also bear several different ancient languages. In addition to Nabataean, there are epigraphic traces of Lihyanite, Thamudic, Latin, and Greek.
Royal Commission for AlUla
The city was once a thriving trade center under the kingdom of Nabataean.
After years of being closed off to the public, Hegra was finally opened to the masses in late November 2020.
“For a tourist going to Hegra, you need to know more than seeing the tombs and the inscriptions and then coming away without knowing who produced them and when,” said David Graf, a Nabataean specialist, archeologist, and professor at the University of Miami.
“It should evoke in any good tourist with any kind of intellectual curioity: who produced these tombs? Who are the people who created Hegra? Where did they come from? How long were they here? To have the context of Hegra is very important.”
Hegra is the largest archaeological site conserved from the ancient civilization of Nabataean. They were believed to be desert-dwelling nomads before they built a thriving empire through their mastery of trade which they controlled through the routes in Arabia and Jordan stretching to Egypt, Mesopotamia, Syria, and the Mediterranean.
Nabataeans supplied everything from spices to aromatics, selling bins of ginger root, sugar, peppercorn, frankincense, and myrrh among other things. Such commodities were highly-prized for cooking, manufacturing, and religious ceremonies during Antiquity, making Nabataean a wealthy kingdom.
The kingdom remained a sizable influence in the region from the 4th century BC until the 1st century A.D. when the Roman Empire annexed parts of the kingdom’s territories which encompassed modern-day Syria, Israel, Jordan, and parts of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
But there is still not much known about the kingdom. With little archaeological remains left, Hegra plays an important role in unlocking the mysteries of the Nabataean which continue to baffle researchers.
“The reason we don’t know much about them is because we don’t have books or sources written by them that tell us about the way they lived and died and worshipped their gods,” said Laila Nehmé, an archeologist and co-director of the Hegra Archeological Project, which is a collaboration between the French and Saudi governments to excavate the site.
“We have some sources that are external, so people who talk about them. They did not leave any large mythological texts like the ones we have for Gilgamesh and Mesopotamia. We don’t have their mythology.”
But the ancient city is no longer closed to accommodate research. Plans for a new subterranean luxury resort nearby — likely in anticipation of the crowds of visitors to Hegra — are already underway.
Saudi officials are actively moving toward accomplishing the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative announced by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a roadmap for the country’s shift away from oil toward trade and tourism over the next 20 years.
With the new tourist visas the country launched in September 2019, it looks like the government is already taking major steps to reach their goal.
What effects this will have for precious historical sites like Hegra remains to be seen.
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