The archaeological Rock Art site, located in Jubbah, Ha’il province is of Saudi Arabia’s five listed UNESCO World Heritage sites. The others are Madai’n Saleh, At-Turaif district in historical Diriyah and Al Balad historical district in Jeddah and al Ahsa Oasis in Eastern Province.
We visited the Jubbah rock art site on our road trip to Jordan from Riyadh. To reach Ha’il by road from Riyadh ( it takes about 5-6 hours drive from Riyadh. There are also domestic flights and bus services to Ha’il. From Ha’il city you need to get to Jubbah which is about 90km further north. Jubbah is a small oasis village located right next to the mountains where the rock art sites are located.
There are several other rock Art sites around the Ha’il province, which is the richest in rock art in all of Saudi Arabia. Other rock art sites can be found in Tayma, Al Ula, Najran, Shuwaymis and one site near Riyadh called the Graffiti Rocks.
Read more about the history of the Jubbah site here: Arabian Rock Art Heritage : Jubbah
It came as a surprise to me how vast the archeological site actually is. There are multiple places around several different cliffs where you can see rock art varying from an estimated 9,000 to 2000 years old. The area used to be a lake in the Neolithic period, which can be seen depicted through the rock art carved into the red and black rock faces. Images of animals such camels, Arabian horses, Oryx, Ibex, lions, leopards, gazelles, ostriches and hunting dogs can be seen.
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I find these kind of historical places fascinating and was so pleased to see how excited my 3 and 5 year olds were about the site. We searched together for all kinds of animals and guessed what the images were trying to depict. The kids loved climbing around the rocks (be careful though!) and running around the nearby sand dunes.
I would love to visit there once again with more time on our hands to have a thorough look through this vast area so rich in Arabian Rock Heritage. It’s really a treasure trove in the middle of the Nafud desert! I think is not getting the attention and coverage it deserves. I would highly recommend visiting the site, it can be done on your own.
To Visit on your own, drive from Ha’il on route 65. Once you reach Jubbah turn into the city from any of the side roads. In the city search for the visitor center of the rock art site ( best to ask a local). You must go there for someone to open the gate for you. The entire area is fenced off. Note the visitor center is open Fridays only from 4 pm (after Asr) until around Maghreb prayer. On other days it should be open in the mornings as well.
Read more about Rock Art in Saudi Arabia here: Arabian Rock Art Heritage- Saudi Archeology
Check out the other Saudi Wanderlust posts here: Wanderlust in Saudi
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Hello there! I’m Laura, the founder of Blue Abaya- the first travel blog in Saudi Arabia, established in 2010. Travel has always been my passion- so far I’ve visited 75 countries and I’m always on the lookout for new adventures inside and outside of Saudi Arabia! Follow my adventures in Saudi and beyond on instagram: instagram.com/blueabaya
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I just love your blog! I’m now on page 15(started from the first one you wrote years ago)and I never want to come to this last post, meaning I’ve read all!!!! I’m a Finn, married to non-Finn, living in a muslim country since 5 years, having two interracial children…. I can really relate to a lot you are writing. Keep writing. You inspire me.
Thank you Anna! And nice to “meet” you :) Which country is that and do you have a blog as well :) I would love to read it.
Have you finished reading everything now? I can’t even remember everything I’ve written 7 years ago :D
[…] More concrete evidence of the existence of these species on on Arabian soil comes from the hundreds of rock art panels around Saudi Arabia depicting these species being hunted by man. You can find rock art all over Saudi Arabia showing ostriches, oryx, gazelles, ibex, wild asses, bovines, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, leopards, wolves, hyenas and many other animals familiar from Nofa. You can see some of this magnificent rock art at the Jubbah archeological site in Ha’il. […]
Very nice article! Pleased that you liked the place, its literally as you said a rich open museum.
Still theres alot of places and sites to visit and discover around Hail from the Nafud in the north till Salma Mountains in the south, Its been inhibited since 130,000 yrs ago as old as the Arabian peninsula. And its a crossroad for piligramge and trading also.
I recommend to visit the mountains near Alkhata village about 20km to the east from Jubbah and Shuwayms Village about 190 km to the south west of Hail, Its has the biggest library of scription in the peninsula as the Nabataeans liked to call it.
[…] Saudi Arabia possesses world-class rock art so much so that UNESCO has recently included it in the World Heritage List. Check out the rock art in Jubbah, Ha’il from this post: Hai’l Archaeological site. […]
Is a 4wd vehicle required to explore these sites?
Thanks!
it’s nice work we cane do Comparative ancient inscriptions at eastern desert at Egypt
it’s nice work we cane do Comparative ancient inscriptions indian and arab desert