Tag: SA – Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih)

Described as the archeological jewel of the Kingdom, Al-Ula is home to numerous archeological sites and is a meeting point of many civilizations. An ancient marker for the changing of the agricultural season, Tantora is a sundial located in Al-Ula’s old town. AL-ULA — This winter, the northern city of Al-Ula will play host to a special season of events and festivities.The Winter at Tantora festival will be the first event of its…

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JEDDAH: One of the most important historically preserved sites for culture and heritage in Saudi Arabia is set to experience an enchanting reawakening in the near future. Dec. 20 will mark the first…

Source: Winter at Tantora: Musical extravaganza at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ula

Shortly after Turkish officials confirmed that journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been murdered in the Saudi Consulate building in Istanbul earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron issued an official decree stating that plans for the French and Saudi cultural project of Al-Ula Province in Saudi Arabia would continue, reports the Art Newspaper.

Source: In Wake of Khashoggi Murder, France Moves Forward with Multi-Billion-Dollar Cultural Initiative in Saudi Arabia

Martina Sebova and Rachel Davey are two women who appear fairly normal, until you find out they’re currently attempting to visit every country in the world.

Source: Travellers reveal the secret to visiting every country in the world

UNESCO added Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahsa Oasis and Oman’s ancient city of Qalhat to its World Heritage List on Friday, the world cultural body said. Authorities in Riyadh, as well as Muscat, have put tourism high on their economic agendas as Gulf states look to diversify their oil-dependent economies

Source: Saudi Arabia, Oman sites added to UNESCO World Heritage List

Al-Ula, the most important cultural heritage site in the north-west of the kingdom, will benefit from international standards in heritage preservation and planning

As a Saudi national, I can testify to the excitement surrounding the way in which many people are now thinking about the future of the kingdom, its place in the world and the speed of that transformation.

With our plans to diversify the economy by investing ambitiously in tourism, visitors from other countries will soon be able to discover the country’s cultural heritage and fascinating ancient past. Saudi Arabia has dramatic desert landscapes, spectacular rock formations and some of the Middle East’s most important ancient sites, including those built by the Lihyanite and Nabataean civilisations of the first millennium BCE and later.

We are committed to best practice in heritage and environmental conservation, but we cannot do this on our own — international partnerships are as vital to cultural success as they are to geopolitical success. In April, Saudi Arabia and France entered a cultural partnership, and in the exchange of academic and archaeological information, we will develop a sustainable tourism and cultural sector.

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Mada’in Saleh, also called “Al-Hijr” or “Hegra”, was the first Saudi site listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for its huge historical significance.

Mentioned in the Holy Quran, many religions and peoples coexisted in its land for peoples of civilizations throughout history.

The area of Mada’in Saleh stretches about sixty hectares, and what is known on the surface is only a fraction of the treasures buried under the land. These immortal features made by the former Nabataeans who settled around this region between the first century BC and the first after AD are only the highlights of the civilization who ruled the land at the time.

Tombs dug neatly in Mada’in Saleh still tell the tales of the fallen kings, dignitaries and merchants who for centuries were the rules of the region’s game of politics and trade of the Incense Route and the site served as a link between Asia, the south of the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant, as well as Pharaonic Egypt and the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean.

Read more from source: Al-Ula Treasures: How the site of Mada’in Saleh paved the historic Incense Route

We exclusively reveal the details of the plans for a “historic” collaboration

France and Saudi Arabia reached agreement last month on a grandiose cultural and tourism collaboration that is not only a coup for President Emmanuel Macron’s soft-power diplomacy but may also be a major vehicle of change in the Middle Eastern kingdom.

The 20-page document, seen by The Art Newspaper, was signed in Paris by France’s foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, the governor of Al-Ula province, in the presence of Macron and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (known as MBS). Hailed as “historic” by the Saudi media, the ten-year deal gives France an exclusive role in a project potentially worth tens of billions of euros in an area almost the size of Belgium. It also confirms the role that culture, tourism and the arts could play in the opening-up and modernisation of the country, in line with the Crown Prince’s Vision 2030 plan.

Al-Ula is home to Al-Hijr, a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2008, currently closed to tourists and visited only by a privileged few.

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A major integrated archaeological survey of the Al-Ula valley and beyond has been launched by the Royal Commission for Al-Ula (RCU), charged with protecting and regenerating this North-Western Saudi Arabia region.

Until a conservation and development plan can be established, some of the sites, including the UNESCO World Heritage site Mada’in Salih, are temporarily closed to the public. Re-opening in 2020, the temporary closure will allow experts the opportunity to carry out vital research activity and plan for how to best preserve and present the sites.

The Royal Commission for Al-Ula was established in July 2017 to protect and preserve the region’s extraordinary ancient heritage and natural landscapes and prepare for an era of renewed international collaboration and tourism coinciding with the goals of Vision 2030.

Home to dramatic desert landscapes, spectacular rock formations and some of the Middle East’s most significant ancient sites, including those built by Lihyanite and Nabataean civilisations of the 1st millennium BCE and beyond, Al-Ula is a wonder of the ancient Arabian world.

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