In a pattern seen across human history, many of the bricks that support the Old Town’s historic buildings were ‘recycled’ from much older temples, houses and tombs left behind by the ancient Lihyans. “Yet we knew these were important milestones in our past that needed protection and safekeeping.” “We grew up playing around the ruins of ancient Dadan, home of the Lihyan Kingdom, and our parents would always tell us stories and legends about ‘The Good Land’” explained the first female rawi of AlUla, Mashail. The region’s prodigious ruins provide the captivating background to many a myth narrated by the alrowah of AlUla, excited to share their illustrious history as the region welcomes back visitors from around the world. “Time will never erase our connection with the past.”ĪlUla’s worldly locals have long blended history with mythology. ![]() “But we always keep the memories alive,” reassured Faiz. With electricity and plumbing making its way across the valley, the last few residents left the Old Town for more modern living conditions. “For hundreds of years we were like an ancient Dubai – a commercial hub for Arabia,” he continued, before narrating some stories passed on to him by his grandfather, who lived here as late as the 1980s. The Old Town alone had 400 shops at the beginning of this century,” explained Faiz, as he showed me around its ruins. “We have always been expert tradespeople. Water security coupled with a strategic trading location in the Arabian peninsula helped numerous civilisations thrive here, from the Dadan Kingdom to the Nabataeans and Ottomans, the final rulers before the formation of the modern Saudi state.Īt its height the region grew into a busy trading hub, leaving a long legacy behind. The old name for the region is Wadi Al-Qura (Valley of the Villages), an apt designation for somewhere that has hosted so many ancient peoples. To this day, over 60 natural springs provide for the Waha, an oasis of 2 million date palms with around 40,000 inhabitants. Water has long been the game-changing element for AlUla. “The region’s farmers depended on this ancient clocktower for their crops – and also to distribute spring water fairly,” he explained, gesturing to the oasis just opposite the plaza. The reason for his smile became apparent as we stood in Tantora Plaza, the central square of the thousand-year-old settlement, named after the sundial (tantora) at its heart. As a rawi (a reciter of poetic tales) and among the town’s first storyteller guides, he was helping me to navigate the labyrinth of AlUla’s Old Town, and his gift for puns was showing. ![]() "T i me has always been at the centre of AlUla,” smiled Faiz.
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