Tag: petroglyph

Filed in: desert | off the beaten path | outdoor activity | roadtrip | Saudi-Arabia | tourism | UNESCO | Wanderlust Wednesday8 comments

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