Video: Madain Saleh - the largest monument of ancient architecture in Saudi Arabia
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Nothing attracts modern people more than the archaeological mysteries of antiquity: what our civilization achieved at the dawn of development is sometimes incomparable with what we have today. Madain Saleh - the largest monument of ancient architecture in Saudi Arabia … Here more than two thousand years ago was located Nabatean city of Hegra … In memory of him, history has preserved for us 131 massive stone tomb (1st century BC - 1st century AD), epitaphs can still be read on the walls.
The capital of the Nabataean kingdom was the city of Petra (the territory of modern Jordan). The kingdom flourished because it was located at the crossroads of trade routes in the middle of the arid Arabian desert, and tired merchants made sure to visit Petra and Hegra on their way. The Nabataeans were famous for their monopoly on the trade in incense, spices and herbs.
After the capture of the Nabatean kingdom by the Romans in 106 AD. the overland trade route was replaced by a sea route that ran through the Red Sea. Hegra has ceased to be the center of trade. Further information about this ancient city is sketchy: only pilgrims who made their way to Mecca mention it. However, their memories do not speak of the inhabitants of Hegra, most often the legendary redstone tombs are mentioned.
The art of the Nabataeans developed under the influence of the cultures of various countries. "Receiving" traders from all over the world, this city has absorbed all the best that human civilization managed to achieve at that time. This was reflected, first of all, in the architecture: the facade decorations on the tombs attract attention, where, along with the own artistic style of the Nabateans, you can see elements borrowed from the peoples of Assyria, Phenicia, Egypt and Hellenistic Alexandria.
Madain Saleh officially received the status of a tourist site in 1972, and in 2008 the unique tombs were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Note that this is the first such facility in Saudi Arabia.
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