Hima Cultural Area In Saudi Arabia: When Inscriptions Record History (image: instagram.com/abdulqadermakki/)
Hima Cultural Area is the sixth site in Saudi Arabia added to UNESCO’s world heritage list in 2021. Hima, lies in a mountainous area of southwest Saudi Arabia gives home to one of the largest rock art complexes in the world.
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The property comprises rock art images involving hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyles tracing ancient times. It also preserves unexcavated archaeological resources in the form of mound, stone structures, stone tool scatters and ancient wells. Inscriptions in different languages including Aramaic-Nabatean, Greek, South-Arabian, Musnad, Thamudic, and Arabic can be traced in the rocks.
Discover the ancient rock art at “Hima Cultural Area” ⬇️.
Traces of human history etched in stone, telling tales from millennia past. 🎨🗿#Heritage #RockArt #Hima #CulturalHeritage #SaudiChannel #SaudiArabia #HimaCulturalArea #HistoryPreserved 🇸🇦📜 https://t.co/Z9Xyx5cQvy
— Ibrahim Al Bloushy | إبراهيم البلوشي (@IbrahimBloushy) December 30, 2023
Hima served as camping site for trade and Hajj routes between the southern parts of Arabia and Mesopotamia, the Levant and Egypt. The travellers left abundance of rock inscriptions and carvings across different ages. Until 20th century, these engravings are preserved.
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It locates more than 34 separate sites including rock inscriptions and wells along the route of the ancient Arabian caravans. It also presents the oldest known toll station on an important ancient desert caravan route, where Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said that wells in the area are more than 3,000 years old and were considered a important source of fresh water in the vast desert of Najran province.
