attractions REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS


6 Today, visitors can explore


several tombs, each either conta in- ing several graves or a single shaft for one burial and a circular basin carved in one large piece of sand- stone rock that is thought to be from a Lihyanite temple. Perhaps the best-known tomb, Al Usud, meaning ‘two lions’, has two stylised carvings of the animal on one of its sides.


Part of a full day Al ‘Ula city tour, best visited in the early morning Group size: up to 50 Take a tour guide


NATURAL ATTRACTIONS King Abdulaziz National Park is located on Al Harra Mountain 700 metres above the city, providing a bird’s-eye view of Al ‘Ula and Mada’in Saleh. A steep track up


48


a 26-kilometre road takes you to the top. Five kilometres away, a hike through the mountains south of the city will bring you to Elephant Rock, a striking formation that has been carved by sand- storms over thousands of years.


Part of a full-day city tour, best visited in the morning before the midday heat Group size: two to 50 Take a tour guide


MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY The museum in Sikhairat in Al ‘Ula is home to displays from geology and pilgrim routes and offers an introduction to the Nabateans. In ancient times Al ‘Ula occupied a strategic position along the main


trade route for merchants carrying incense and spices and connected the civilisations of the old world. The city also acted as the medium between the people of India and Southern Arabia in the south and Mesopotamia, the Levant and Egypt in the north from early times to the end of the first century CE.


6 Nabatean tomb


7 Nabatean inscription near Al ‘Ula,


Part of a full-day city tour, open Sat to Thu 10am to 3pm


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