Lion Tombs, Al Ula. December 2017
The Dadanites, the Lihyanites, the Romans, the Nabateans
On the Black and White Volcanoes Adventure [see: Black and White Volcanoes] the brothers aQ and I payed a visit to Madain Saleh [see: Madain Saleh], but what even the very prepared AQ didn't realize was that there was a LOT more in the area just opening up to tourism. By chance and by asking the right people along the way, we realized that the whole of Al Ula Oasis was, in fact, an archeological treasure trove. At one point, we were just looking for "some old ruins" someone recommended to us and we discovered signage to the "Lion Tombs" up on a cliff. Only later, did I read more about them and realize how old that civilization was.
Today's Al Ula used to be the capital of a small empire on the incense trading route along the Red Sea up to the Levant called "Dadan". In later years the name changed to Lihyan, but it was the same people. So well known were they, that the Gulf of Aqaba was until modern times called the Gulf of Lihyan. The Al Ula oasis is large and supported a city that expanded and grew to conquer its neighboring city-states. The Dadanites (Lihyanites) are very ancient 600-100BCE and very under-studied. They are mentioned in Biblical texts as well as by travelers across the region. Today, not much remains of them but their plain tombs on a cliff face with just two having a pair of lions guarding the entrance. Other than those tombs obviously being for someone important, no one has any more information. With the renewed interest in the region by the Saudis themselves, there might be an explosion of information about these "lost people" in the future. A Saudi Arabia re-awakening to its past has a lot of archeological raw material to work with.
As I mentioned, luckily AQ is a naturally inquisitive guy, so he asked a few locals in Al Ula if there was anything to see. They pointed us down a poorly marked, dusty road through some palm trees where we found the foundations of an old city and further on, the Lion Tombs. The signboard said, "these are the tombs of the Lihyanites" and not much else. Now, of course, there are proper roads and pathways and signage all over the place, but when we visited - we literally were bumping down a dirty road between some cliffs and a date palm oasis not knowing what we would find. It was "adventure" in the truest sense of the word.
Later I read that the Lihyanites were conquered by the Nabateans (builders of Petra and Hegra) who actually captured Hegra from them. The Nabateans were not around very long comparatively and after a couple of centuries were absorbed into the Roman Empire. The Romans didn't pay much attention to this far flung corner of Arabia and let the Lihyanites resume control. Hegra faded into obscurity as did Dadan, the Lihyanite capital. All that remains today are whatever is buried under the date palms of Al Ula and the lion sentries which have been on watch for over 2000 years.