Saudi Arabia - Oman, UAE and Arabian Peninsula - page 497

part, a long, lonely stretch of road. Fortunately, close to the midpoint is one of Saudi Arabia's more intriguing
sites: Jubba.
Jubba is rightly famed for its impressive petroglyphs (rock carvings) of prehistoric animals and is arguably the
premier pre-Islamic site in Saudi. The finest carvings date from around 5500 BC, when much of this area was an
inland lake and local inhabitants carved game animals drawn to the waters. Elegant rock-cut ibex and oryx
abound and there are also significant inscriptions in Thamudic (a pre-Arabic alphabet) dating to 1000 BC. In
1879 intrepid British explorer Lady Anne Blunt described Jubba as 'one of the most curious places in the world,
and to my mind, one of the most beautiful'.
The huge site covers 39 sq km and among the enigmatic stone circles are crude carvings of camels and other
domesticated animals dating from AD 300. The closest carvings to Jubba are 3km away.
A permit is necessary to visit the site. You can either obtain it from Riyadh, the Hail Museum ( 533 1684;
9am-noon) or from the custodian of the keys and local guide, the energetic and entrepreneurial
Ateeq Naif al-Shamari ( 057 494 877) . To find him, follow the signs to Naif's Palace of Heritage, which is
just off the main street. The museum - along with the palace - is a family heirloom and the result of a lifetime's
collection of antiques and artefacts. Mr Ateeq doesn't speak English.
The town of Hail has the nearest habitable accommodation with the simple but adequate Al-Jabalain Hotel (
532 0402; King Abdul Aziz Rd; s/d SR250/300) and Hotel Sahari Hail ( 532 6441; fax [phone]; King

Khaled St; r SR110) . Also in Hail, Lebanese House Restaurant ( 532 6736; King Khaled St; mezze SR5,

mains SR5-20; 1pm-1am) is good for a meal.
Saptco ( 531 0101) has buses to Hail from Riyadh (SR120, eight hours, three daily), Al-Ula (SR80, five
hours, one daily), Jubba (SR25, one hour, two daily) and Jeddah (SR130, 12 hours, one daily nonstop).