“Every day in AlUla has the potential of being a new adventure,” begins Hana Nimry, an experienced adventurer and AlUla enthusiast, as she gazes out over the desert horizon. “The more time you spend outdoors, the more nature opens up to you, and the more you experience its beauty,” she adds, as her eyes reflect the fiery glow of the setting sun.
Since time immemorial, the AlUla’s remarkable landscape has been held in awe, as much by the civilisations who settled here as the countless travellers, pilgrims and merchants who have passed through it. Sculpted into an endless array of beguiling and majestic forms by millions of years of wind and rain, AlUla’s sandstone formations inhabit the landscape – prehistoric denizens of this timeless scenery. And not all are silent.
Since time immemorial, the AlUla’s remarkable landscape has been held in awe, as much by the civilisations who settled here as the countless travellers, pilgrims and merchants who have passed through it. Sculpted into an endless array of beguiling and majestic forms by millions of years of wind and rain, AlUla’s sandstone formations inhabit the landscape – prehistoric denizens of this timeless scenery. And not all are silent.
Land of Kingdoms
Land of Kingdoms
Many of AlUla’s rocks bear witness to the ancient civilisations that once flourished here thanks to the area’s fertile oases. Etched onto the rock faces of across AlUla are thousands of inscriptions, some of which are thought to date as far back as the 1st millennium BCE. The most famous, Jabal Ikmah, is often described as a huge open-air library due to its astonishingly diverse abundance of inscriptions and carvings lining the cliff faces and rocks. “It’s incredible how these people’s stories have travelled through time,” Hana smiles, “stories that are still being told today.”
But it’s not just millennia-worth of pre-Arabian text and petroglyphs that have been carved into the region’s rocks. Visit the 2,000-year-old site of Hegra and you can explore the final resting places of ancient Nabataean royalty and nobles. Over 110 intricately carved tombs have been hewn from colossal sandstone formations. Still perfectly preserved, they stand in awe-inspiring testimony to these semi-nomadic people who once controlled this crossroads of the incense and spice trade.
But it’s not just millennia-worth of pre-Arabian text and petroglyphs that have been carved into the region’s rocks. Visit the 2,000-year-old site of Hegra and you can explore the final resting places of ancient Nabataean royalty and nobles. Over 110 intricately carved tombs have been hewn from colossal sandstone formations. Still perfectly preserved, they stand in awe-inspiring testimony to these semi-nomadic people who once controlled this crossroads of the incense and spice trade.
A Geological Paradise
A Geological Paradise
Were it not for the region’s spectacular and unique geology, experts say the Dadanites would not have built their capital here more than 3,000 years ago. The mountains provided the city with vital protection, while underground formations provided rare natural springs and life-sustaining oases.
Today it’s the beauty of AlUla’s geology that draws many here, who come to gaze upon these majestic pieces of art created by the forces of nature. From a palette of geological phenomena, and almost a billion years of Earth’s history, the landscape has become a monumental natural artwork. One such phenomenon is an unusual feature that forms in sandstone called ‘tafoni’ when fragments break off and wind and rain erode small holes into organic-looking shapes and even complex honeycomb-like structures.
Another geological feature that defines much of AlUla’s scenery is known as desert varnish – the orange and red stripes running down the rocks. It also looks like paint but is actually microscopic clay particles rich in coloured minerals deposited on the sandstone. The wind is both nature’s painter and sculptor.
As well as recording human history, scattered throughout the dramatic AlUla landscape can be found evidence of ancient geological history – if you know where to look. Natural history, too, is written in the rocks, with trace fossils evidencing since-extinct animals that lived here hundreds of millions of years past.
Today it’s the beauty of AlUla’s geology that draws many here, who come to gaze upon these majestic pieces of art created by the forces of nature. From a palette of geological phenomena, and almost a billion years of Earth’s history, the landscape has become a monumental natural artwork. One such phenomenon is an unusual feature that forms in sandstone called ‘tafoni’ when fragments break off and wind and rain erode small holes into organic-looking shapes and even complex honeycomb-like structures.
Another geological feature that defines much of AlUla’s scenery is known as desert varnish – the orange and red stripes running down the rocks. It also looks like paint but is actually microscopic clay particles rich in coloured minerals deposited on the sandstone. The wind is both nature’s painter and sculptor.
As well as recording human history, scattered throughout the dramatic AlUla landscape can be found evidence of ancient geological history – if you know where to look. Natural history, too, is written in the rocks, with trace fossils evidencing since-extinct animals that lived here hundreds of millions of years past.
AlUla Today and Tomorrow
AlUla Today and Tomorrow
AlUla’s unique geology continues to play an important role in creating habits for a range of wildlife today. One example is the sandstone landscape of the Sharaan Nature Reserve where enormous amounts of sediment were deposited around 500 million years ago. Today many different types of plants are well-adapted to thrive in sandy soils, which support the likes of ostriches, ibex and gazelle that roam free among red-rock canyons and verdant valleys. “AlUla is a special ecosystem,” Hana explains, “with an abundance of wild plants and flowers that never ceases to surprise me.”
AlUla’s outdoors was “made for hiking and other activities,” she continues, offering visitors everything from gentle desert strolls to extreme hiking through rugged canyons and natural pools. There are ample opportunities to take to the skies too, from hot air ballooning to helicopter tours – there’s no better way to appreciate AlUla’s spectacular landscape and landmarks than from the air.
But ultimately what many find most magical about AlUla is an almost mystical sense of peace and open space its geography provides, and the positive effect this has on your wellbeing. “Nothing compares with going to sleep under a sky full of stars,” recalls Hana, “and waking up with a cup of tea as the sun rises behind magnificent sandstone mountains.” Much of this landscape and its history also remain unexplored, adding to its mythical sense of otherness, a mystery waiting to be discovered.
“In AlUla, you never know what tomorrow’s going to bring...” Hana is still gazing towards the horizon.
AlUla’s outdoors was “made for hiking and other activities,” she continues, offering visitors everything from gentle desert strolls to extreme hiking through rugged canyons and natural pools. There are ample opportunities to take to the skies too, from hot air ballooning to helicopter tours – there’s no better way to appreciate AlUla’s spectacular landscape and landmarks than from the air.
But ultimately what many find most magical about AlUla is an almost mystical sense of peace and open space its geography provides, and the positive effect this has on your wellbeing. “Nothing compares with going to sleep under a sky full of stars,” recalls Hana, “and waking up with a cup of tea as the sun rises behind magnificent sandstone mountains.” Much of this landscape and its history also remain unexplored, adding to its mythical sense of otherness, a mystery waiting to be discovered.
“In AlUla, you never know what tomorrow’s going to bring...” Hana is still gazing towards the horizon.
