The archaeology of Saudi Arabia includes the following archaeological sites:
The archaeology of Saudi Arabia includes the following archaeological sites:
Tabuk, also spelled Tabouk, is the capital city of the Tabuk Region in northwestern Saudi Arabia. It has a population of 667,000. It is close to the Jordan–Saudi Arabia border and houses the largest air force base in Saudi Arabia.
Tayma or Tema (Hebrew: תֵּימָן Tēmān is a large oasis with a long history of settlement, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia at the point where the trade route between Medina and Dumah begins to cross the Nafud desert. Tayma is located 264 km southeast of the city of Tabuk, and about 400 km north of Medina. It is located in the western part of al-Nafud.
Dumat al-Jandal, also known as Al-Jawf or Al-Jouf, is an ancient city of ruins and the historical capital of the Al Jawf Province, northwestern Saudi Arabia. It is located 37 km away from Sakakah. The name Dumat al-Jandal means literally "Dumah of the Stone"; the name Al-Jawf means "depression", referring to Wadi Sirhan. The city's ancient Akkadian name was Adummatu. Dumat al-Jandal has a boundary wall which is considered a historical site. Moreover, there is an oasis that has a number of ruins.
Ancient North Arabian (ANA) is a collection of scripts and possibly a language or family of languages related to Old Arabic that were used in north and central Arabia and south Syria from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE. The term "Ancient North Arabian" is defined negatively. It refers to all of the South Semitic scripts except Ancient South Arabian (ASA) regardless of their genetic relationships.
Al-'Ula, sometimes stylized in English as AlUla, is an ancient Arabic oasis city located in Medina Province, Saudi Arabia. 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 route that linked India and the Gulf to the Levant and Europe.
Hegra, known to Muslims as Al-Hijr, also known as Mada’in Salih, is an archaeological site located in the area of Al-'Ula within Medina Province in the Hejaz region, Saudi Arabia. A majority of the remains date from the Nabataean Kingdom. The site constitutes the kingdom's southernmost and second largest city after Petra, its capital city. Traces of Lihyanite and Roman occupation before and after the Nabatean rule, respectively, can also be found.
Tārūt Island is an island in the Persian Gulf belonging to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, connected by two causeways to Qatif. It is six kilometers from the coast, and is the longest island in the Persian Gulf after Qeshm Island, extending from Ra’s Tannurah in the north to Qatif in the west. The island has an area of 70 square kilometers, and a population (2010) of 77,757. It contains a number of towns and villages, including Tārūt itself, Deyrah, and Darīn.
Saudi Arabia is the second biggest tourist destination in the Middle East with over 16 million visiting in 2017. Although most tourism in Saudi Arabia still largely involves religious pilgrimages, there is growth in the leisure tourism sector. As the tourism sector has been largely boosted lately, the sector is expected to be the white oil for Saudi Arabia. This is proved as tourism sector is expected to generate $25 billion in 2019. Potential tourist areas include the Hijaz and Sarawat Mountains, Red Sea diving and a number of ancient ruins.
Marid Castle is a historic military fortress located in the city of Dumat Al-Jandal in the Al-Jawf region of Saudi Arabia, about 50 km away from Sakaka. It dates back to the first century AD, and the oldest mention of it dates back to the third century AD when the Queen Zenobia invaded Dumat al-Jandal and Tayma, and she could not storm the fortress. Therefore, she said: “ Marid has rebelled, and Ablaq has glorified.”
Sakākā is a city in northwestern Saudi Arabia which is the capital of Al Jawf Province. It is located just to the north of the An Nafud desert. Sakakah had a population of 242,813 at the 2010 census.
Thirteen ancient towns have been discovered in Saudi Arabia up to the present day. These include Qaryat al-Fāw, the Al-Ukhdūd archeological area, Hegra, Jubbah, Tārūt, Al-Shuwayḥaṭiyah, Thāj, Taimaa and Dūmat Al-Jandal. There are still more ancient towns in Saudi Arabia, but little information is currently available on them. Saudi Arabia occupies a unique and distinctive geographic location, bridging civilizations between continents. In ancient times the Arabian peninsula served as a corridor for trade; therefore it saw the beginning of many civilizations, the relics of which are still evident today. The Saudi government has recently established the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, which is responsible for the preservation of these cities.
Bir Hima is a rock art site in Najran province, in southwest Saudi Arabia, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of the city of Najran. An ancient Palaeolithic and Neolithic site, the Bir Hima Complex covers the time period of 7000–1000 BC. Bir Hima contains numerous troughs whose type is similar from North Arabia to Yemen.
The Pharaonic Tayma inscription is a hieroglyphic petroglyph found near the oasis of Tayma in Tabuk Region, Saudi Arabia. It was discovered by local archaeologists in 2010. The rock engraving was found around 400 km north of Madinah and northeast of the ancient Nabatean site of Madain Saleh. It marks the first confirmed hieroglyphic epigraph discovered in the Kingdom.
Al-Badʿ is a town in Tabuk Region, Saudi Arabia. It is west of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, between Tabuk and the Red Sea Coast. Located at 28° 41' N and 35° 18' E, it lies on the border of the Hejaz, and was in antiquity in Southern Midian. Al-Bad is located in the valley of the Wadi Aful in a highland area. It is near the town of Tayyib Al-Ism and approx. 25 km east of the eastern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, part of the Red Sea where there are pristine coral reefs. In 1995, 2 people at Al-Bad' died during the Gulf of Aqaba earthquake.
The Land of Tema, Te'-ma or Tema Arabic: تيماء and Thaiman) is a place mentioned in the Bible where the descendants of Ishmael's son Tema dwelt. In Hebrew, the name means "south country". It was most likely in northern Saudi Arabia and has been identified with the modern Teima', an oasis which lies about 200 miles (320 km) north of Medina, and some 40 miles (64 km) south of Dumat (Dumah), now known as el-Jauf. Teima' is on the ancient caravan road connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Aqaba which in antiquity bought wealth to the town. Doughty has described at Teima the ruins of an old city wall 3 miles (4.8 km) in circuit. An Aramaic stele recently discovered, belonging to the 6th century BC, shows the influence of Assyrian in the town. The place is mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions. The possibility of its being on a trade route is supported by the reference in Job 6:19. It is often associated with the Land of Dumah.
Qaryat Al Faw was the capital of the first Kindah kingdom. It is located about 100 km south of Wadi ad-Dawasir, and about 700 km southwest of Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. The Al Faw archeological site reveals various features such as residential houses, markets, roads, cemeteries, temples, and water wells.
Jubbah or Jubbat Ha'il is a city in Ha'il Region, Saudi Arabia, 90 kilometres (56 mi) north-west of the city of Ha'il. The city lies on the old caravan road between Najd and the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Although completely surrounded by the vast Nefud Desert, Jubbah is known for its abundant agriculture and plentiful water and has a population of 20,000.
Dumat Al-Jandal Wall is located on the west end of Dumat al-Jandal in Al-Jawf province, in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The wall is 5 meters high and its built out of stone, the wall surrounds ancient Dumat al-Jandal.
Jabal al-ʿHayn is a prominent outcrop of red sandstone in Saudi Arabia, known for its pre-historic petroglyphs, tribal markings (wusūm) and inscriptions in early Semitic languages as well as Arabic. The mountain is located in Medina Province, about 17.5 km north-east of the town of al-Hanākīyā (الحناكية) at 24°59'21"N 40°38'27"E.
