The
rock art of the AlUla region represents one of the most extensive and chronologically deep corpora in northern Arabia, spanning over 12,000 years from the early Holocene to the recent past. Documented through the Identification and Documentation of Immovable Heritage Assets (IDIHA) Project (2018–2021), which systematically surveyed approximately 1,000 km² around the AlUla valley and oases, the survey recorded 19,802 identifiable rock art panels containing tens of thousands of individual motifs, predominantly engravings (with only 143 painted panels). The majority of the corpus are engravings, and more rarely, through incisions. Over 100 paintings have been documented, mostly done in red pigment, often depicting architectural or tent-like structures. The most common motif found in them are of animals, followed by human figures and, most rarely, plants, objects, and structures. Animals appear in interactive scenes such as hunting, herding, and battles, but most commonly, as isolated figures. The rock art is divided into broad chronological phases:'''''' • Early Holocene (~10,000 BCE onward): Rare but distinctive life-sized, highly naturalistic engravings of wild fauna (e.g., wild
camels,
African wild ass/equids with shoulder stripes, ibex,
aurochs), often detailed with eyes, muscles, and coat patterns; no human figures or interactions; clustered near water sources along escarpments. • Pre-Neolithic/Neolithic (broadly Holocene humid period, ~8000–4000 BCE): Medium-sized, stylized depictions in the "Jubbah style" tradition, including hunting scenes with
bows, arrows, dogs, and prey (equids,
lesser kudu,
gazelles); iconic long-horned cattle (lyre-shaped or forward-pointing horns, often with coat/geometric markings or hoof-prints); rare sheep/goat; human figures mostly simple stick forms (Jubbah-style conventions known but infrequently applied); predator conflicts (e.g.,
lions attacking herds); ibex dominant symbolically. • Bronze Age (early 3rd millennium BCE onward): Sparse and harder to identify; limited markers include human figures with lunate pommel daggers and "bracket-like" or "lizard-like" postures; occasional stylized cattle; lighter varnish accumulation. •
Iron Age to pre-Islamic (1200 BCE–6th century CE) and post-Islamic periods (7th century CE–modern): Small, stylized engravings lacking heavy varnish; massive emphasis on domesticated camels (over 50% of identifiable animals, often with riders, hobbled, or in herds; raiding/hunting scenes); horses with riders (far more frequent than camels in battle contexts, reflecting prestige); ibex hunting with dogs;
ostrich motifs (hunting, possible herding, eggs); rare cattle persistence in oases; battle scenes, herding, carnivore conflicts (lions,
leopards, etc.); riders on horseback/camelback; objects (e.g., firearms, motor vehicles, coffee pots) in later phases; Ancient North Arabian scripts often associated. Overall, early rock art reflects wetter conditions with wild fauna and pastoralism, whereas in the late rock art, we see a depiction of arid adaptation, oasis settlement, camel/horse
domestication, trade routes,
warfare, and hunting/herding. Ibex remain prominent across periods, whereas cattle sharpyl decline in the post-Neolithic period. The AlUla corpus is thought to rival the major northern Arabian sites, like Jubbah and Shuwaymis, and are an end-product of the place of AlUla as a cultural and an economic hub across the desert trade networks. == Administration ==