Al Ula Oasis Village

Al Ula Oasis Village

An anciently populated oasis​. Human occupation of the Arabian Peninsula may be as old as 1 million years and may have been continuous until today despite the changes in climate involving long periods of desertification. But whereas some places where life used to thrive thousands of years ago, like Rajajil and Shuwaymis, were abandoned when the humid climate was replaced by drought, some places benefiting from underground water hosted human populations during the dry periods. The valley containing the modern city of Al-Ula is one of them. Some ancient carvings found on the cliffs on both eastern and western sides of Al-Ula show that this area was inhabited at least from the Bronze Age (3rd and 2nd millennia BCE) and possibly much earlier.

Al-Ula is the capital of the governorate of the same name that is part of Madinah Province. It is located in the Wadi Al-Qura, a valley oriented north-south between, on the west, the lava fields of the Harrat ‘Uwayrid, and the sandstone massif of the Jibal Ath-Thumayid. Its underground water resources and its strategic location along the frankincense road meant this valley played a major role in the history of the Arabian Peninsula.