Madain Salih, Saudi Arabia
Mada'in Saleh, also called Al-Hijr or Hegra, is a pre-Islamic archaeological site located in the Al-Ula sector, within the Al Madinah Region of Saudi Arabia. A majority of the vestiges date from the Nabatean kingdom.
The site constitutes the Kingdom's southernmost and largest settlement after Petra, its capital. traces of Lihyanite and Roman occupation before and after the Nabatean rule, respectively, can also be found. The Qur'an places settlement of the area by the Thamud people ofter Noah but before Moses, which can be interpreted as the 3rd millennium BC.
According to the Islamic text, the Thamudis, who carved out homes in the mountains, were punished by Allah for their practice of idol worship, being struck by an earthquake and lightning blasts. Thus, the site has earned a reputation as a cursed place-an image which the national government is attempting to overcome as it seeks to develop Mada'in saleh for its tourism potencial.
A pre-Islamic People, Nabataeans carved palatial tombs at Madain Salih. In 2008. UNESCO named Madain Salih a World Heritage site, making it the first destination in Saudi Arabia to receive the title. riter Paul Salopek, one of the first travelers in a century to walk through the surrounding Hejaz desert, encountered a fabled past of caravans and pilgrims, of empires come and gone.
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| The inside of one of the tombs at Madain Saleh |
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