Shammar mountain roses and 10,000-year-old petroglyphs — UNESCO rock art in the heart of Saudi Arabia
Ha'il is a city of 700,000 in north-central Saudi Arabia, in the Shammar mountain range — a highland region of granite peaks, rose farming, and rare Saudi winter greenery quite unlike the oil-coast cities of the Gulf. The region's primary heritage draw is Jubbah, 90km north of Ha'il: a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 2015 as part of Ha'il Region Rock Art) preserving thousands of petroglyphs carved on lakeside sandstone cliffs between 10,000 BC and 1000 AD — one of the richest concentrations of prehistoric rock art in Arabia, depicting now-extinct wildlife (aurochs, ibex, ostriches, lion…
Ha'il was the capital of the Shammar tribe and the seat of the Rashidi dynasty (1836–1921) — the Ibn Rashid family who were the primary rivals of the Al-Saud for control of the Arabian Peninsula. Barzan Palace in Ha'il, built by Muhammad ibn Rashid in the 1870s, was one of the most sophisticated courts in interior Arabia, attracting European travelers including Charles Doughty and Lady Anne Blunt who described its hospitality and culture. The Rashidis were defeated by Ibn Saud in 1921, and Ha'il was incorporated into the emerging Saudi state; the surrounding Shammar mountains remained relativ…