Ḥimā Cultural Area

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Ḥimā Cultural Area: A Timeless Testimony of Ancient Civilizations

The Ḥimā Cultural Area, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021, offers a captivating glimpse into the rich cultural history of southwest Saudi Arabia. Situated within an arid, mountainous region, this site serves as a significant stopover along one of the ancient caravan routes that crisscrossed the Arabian Peninsula.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

Located in an arid, mountainous area of southwest Saudi Arabia, on one of the Arabian Peninsula’s ancient caravan routes, Ḥimā Cultural Area contains a substantial collection of rock art images depicting hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyles in a cultural continuity of 7,000 years. Travellers and armies camping on the site left a wealth of rock inscriptions and petroglyphs through the ages and until the late 20th century, most of which are preserved in pristine condition. Inscriptions are in different scripts, including Musnad, South-Arabian, Thamudic, Greek and Arabic. The property and its buffer zone are also rich in unexcavated archaeological resources in the form of cairns, stone structures, interments, stone tool scatters and ancient wells. This location is at the oldest known toll station on an important ancient desert caravan route, where the wells of Bi’r Ḥimā date back at least 3,000 years and still produce fresh water.

Encyclopedia Record: Bir Hima Rock Petroglyphs and Inscriptions

Bir Hima is a rock art site in Najran province, in southwest Saudi Arabia, about 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of the city of Najran. An ancient site of Prehistoric Arabia, it was settled during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, with the Bir Hima Complex covering the time period of 7000–1000 BC. Bir Hima contains numerous troughs whose type is similar from North Arabia to Yemen.

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