Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WHO WERE THE NABATAEANS?
There are many theories about where the Nabataeans came from, although most scholars agree that they were
early Bedouins who lived a nomadic life before settling as farmers in the area in the 6th century BC. They deve-
loped a specialised knowledge of desert water resources (using water channels known as
qanats
) as well as the
intricacies of the lucrative trade caravan routes. These two skills would form the foundations of the Nabataean
empire.
The Nabataean merchant families grew incredibly wealthy from 200 BC, organising caravans of frankincense
and feeding the insatiable markets of the ancient world. Nabataean wealth, which had derived initially from plun-
dering trade caravans, shifted to exacting tolls (up to 25% of the commodities' value) upon these same caravans
as a means of securing Nabataean protection and guiding the caravans to water. The Nabataean capital was at
Petra (Jordan) and Madain Saleh was their second city.
Through a mixture of shrewd diplomacy and military force, the Nabataeans kept at bay the Seleucids, Egyp-
tians, Persians and later, for a time, the Romans. The Nabataeans never really possessed an 'empire' in the com-
mon military and administrative sense of the word. Instead, from about 200 BC they had established a 'zone of
influence' that stretched to Syria and Rome and south into the Hadramaut. But it was all undone when the Ro-
mans cleverly cut out the middlemen by building fleets on the Red Sea and importing frankincense directly. An
impoverished Nabataean Kingdom staggered on for a few years but was formally absorbed as a province of the
Roman Empire in AD 106.
Information
You need a permit to visit Madain Saleh. These are available from the hotel in Al-Ula or
tour operators - you'll need to fax them your details a week in advance.
Video cameras are not allowed inside the site; be aware that surveillance is carried out.
Bring your passport and visa - you will need to present them at the gate along with the
permit.
Getting There & Away
The road from Al-Ula (23km) is easy to find. The site entrance is marked off the road with
a blue 'Antiquities' sign.
