Saudi Arabia︱Rock Art in the Ha'il Region

Rock Art in the Ha'il Region

Ha’il Region is a region located in northern Saudi Arabia. In the region, there are two sites that house petroglyphs depicting the history of the Arabian Peninsula. They are Jubbah and Shuwaymis. The process of creating the petroglyphs dated back to Mesolithic 10,000 years ago and lasted for several thousand years. 

Jubbah is located in the far south of the Nefud desert, and is an oasis with lakes. It has long been populated and later become an essential path for businessmen and visitors travelling between Najd and eastern Mediterranean.

The petroglyphs show the characteristics of both men and women in ancient times, from their hair accessories, hairstyles to ways of dressing. This greatly helps archaeologist in exploring the social classes and division of labour of the Arabians in different ages. The rock art also reveals that Arabians in Mesolithic already knew how to hunt with the aid of hounds. Things depicted also include birds, monkeys, antelopes and other animals, and even carts pulled by animals. These historic petroglyphs might had made to record the Arabians’ life over the past 10,000 years, but they have now become invaluable historic records for study.