Ars Notoria Anthropology, Saudi Arabia, Travel

A lightning trip to Medain Saleh

Ahmed, an official tour guide in Medain Saleh

The tourist destination of the 21st century

Robert, who inspired the lightning visit

Camels are always a danger to cars and the other way around

Taking a break after six hours of driving

Our official guide, Ahmed

Heading towards the tombs

The beautiful desert Gaff tree

Tombs
The interplay between geometrical carvings and natural rock is mesmerising.
There are 175 tombs and city to unearth

Some plants can withstand desert conditions
Some of the tombs were in better condition

The Nabateans carved symbols of their gods above the tombs

A winged god of the air

Nabatean script was subject to many influences

The superfine desert sand

John wouldn’t have fit

It is an odd feeling being inside a tomb
It was an uncomfortable feeling and there was a smell of resin

All 175 tombs were hand carved
The scale of the tombs was impressive
The earliest tombs took advantage of natural holes in the rock formed by erosion
There were so many forms hidden in the rock
Something in the landscape imprints itself on visitors
The prophet Saleh is supposed to have made a living camel emerge from the rock.
The magnificence of the landscape
Strange flowing forms in gold