Dadan and Jabal Ikmah: Tracing the Inscriptions of Lost Kingdoms

Long before the rise of Hegra, the ancient kingdoms of Dadan and Lihyan ruled over the oasis of AlUla, leaving behind monuments carved into cliffs and messages etched into stone. Today, a visit to Dadan and Jabal Ikmah is a scholarly yet soul-stirring journey—an encounter with the minds and hands of people who flourished here thousands of years ago. At Dadan, explore the remnants of a 9th-century BCE kingdom that once commanded regional power. With a private archaeologist-guide, visit the Lion Tombs, where stone lions still guard the entrances to royal resting places. These rock-cut façades sit halfway up a rose-hued cliff, a striking testament to the engineering prowess of a civilization that predated the Nabataeans. Just a short drive away lies Jabal Ikmah, often called “the open-air library of Saudi Arabia.” Here, towering rock faces are covered in hundreds of inscriptions, petroglyphs, and dedications in early scripts including Lihyanite, Dadanitic, and Thamudic. Under the guidance of an epigrapher or local historian, you’ll learn to interpret these mysterious carvings—petitions to gods, boundary markers, or tributes to loved ones—each preserving a moment of emotion or authority from a world long vanished. Both sites are serenely remote and deeply evocative. A shaded rest stop with dates and Arabic coffee can be arranged mid-way, with luxury vehicles waiting nearby for your comfort. In AlUla, these ancient scripts are more than relics—they are voices, speaking across time in stone and sand. Dadan and Jabal Ikmah offer a reverent pause in the desert—a place where human thought, art, and longing endure long after the kingdom is gone.