Asia

[Visited: March 2020]

We had been at the entrance before, but found it closed: it turned out also Dadan is impossible to visit outside official hours, and only with an organized bus tour. Fortunately, there are only three of us. After eating some tasty dates and drinking local coffee served by Saudis dressed in traditional clothes, our capable and friendly female guide takes us to a viewpoint. We see the southern side of Jebel Khuraybah rise in front of us; the guide gives us binoculars and directs our eyes to a row of tombs hewn out in the rock fase. These are nothing like the enormous tombs we have seen at Hegra, but rectangular openings. One of them has two lions carved on top: it turns out to be from a Minaean king who lived here with his family. Our guide now takes us to a small bus for a ride along the base of the mountain.
When we stop again, she asks us to walk up fast. We arrive at a few more tombs, and since we are much closer now, we can see the inscriptions in Lihyanite language carved in the rock face next to the tombs. The language has not been deciphered yet. We walk down, and see a platform with artefacts found by the archeologists working on the site. We see a few tents, and learn that they can only work a few months a year: much is still be be excavated at the site of this once rich trading city of Dadan (or Dedan), made famous mostly of the trade of myrrh and incense. Behind the platform, we see more foundations of ancient buildings. We cannot walk all the way to the end of the ruins, and see a circular tower from a distance: once an important water container.
There are temples here: the Lihyanites had a well-developed religion and revered their main god Dhu Ghaybah in the large temple of Dadan. There are traces of offerings, and also pilgrimage, many centuries before Dadan, or Al Ula, became a stopover for pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Mecca. Ah, if only we could explore more of the ruins of this famed city; what a pity much of it is off limits to the interested visitor! We walk back to the bus, drive back to the entrance, and on the way, our eyes are glues to the mighty mountain of Jebel Khuraybah to spot some of the many tombs carved in the reddish rocks. Once out of the fence, we drive back to the so-called Winter Park, and now have a much better view of the ruins of the temple we could not see much of before.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Dadan (Saudi Arabia). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Dadan.
Read more about this site.
Book your hotel in Dadan

Book a hotel near Dadan, Saudi Arabia with low prices for all kinds of hotels - without reservation fees.

Dadan > Saudi Arabia > Asia

[Visited: March 2020]

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Book your hotel in Dadan