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Helen Betts | all galleries >> Saudi Arabia: Life in the Desert >> UNESCO site Mada'in Saleh, Al-'Ula, Medina > Al-Aswad 'lion tombs'
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12-APR-2014

Al-Aswad 'lion tombs'

We traveled to a valley in Al-‘Ula famous for its ancient lion tombs, so called because of the lion figures cut into the rock above some of the tombs. This is a cropped image as we didn’t walk up to the tombs since we were told we only had 15 minutes here, and it was much farther than it looks in the image below. To the left of center are some rectangles cut into the rock; the figures are lions.

“Located a short distance north-east of al-Ula, on the cliffs within the valley in an area known as al-Khurayba, these tombs are evidence of 2,600 years of settlement in al-Ula, originally called Dedan. They are known as al-Aswad Tombs and were carved around the 6th century BC by the Lihyanites, the people who inhabited the oasis and created the powerful Kingdom of Dedan. The numerous tombs are mostly plain burial chambers carved into the rock, but a small number of them have lion sculptures above them. ... These tombs have become a symbol of al-Ula's ancient past.” (Taken from http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Saudi_Arabia/Mintaqat_al_Madinah/Al_Ula-1807519/Things_To_Do-Al_Ula-TG-C-1.html )


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Dan Greenberg20-May-2014 13:59
A very intriguing site. I like how perfectly rectangular the windows appear to be. Great framing and capture. ~V~
Zoltán Balogh27-Apr-2014 19:38
How interesting! V
Pierre27-Apr-2014 19:18
Un endroit formidable pour l'histoire et la photographie! V
Tom LeRoy27-Apr-2014 08:12
A fascinating place, your close up really shows the details. So interesting~ V
Milan Vogrin27-Apr-2014 06:04
Beautiful place!
Gerard Koehl27-Apr-2014 05:28
Superbe et très intéressant. V
Gill Kopy27-Apr-2014 03:25
Fascinating history of an unheard of era (for me) ! Interesting that they were familiar with lions that long ago !!! V
LynnH27-Apr-2014 00:38
Another interesting find on your desert trip. V
Julie Oldfield27-Apr-2014 00:30
Fascinating!! V
Simon Chandler27-Apr-2014 00:04
Excellent capture with great info. v
Raymond Ma26-Apr-2014 21:56
It amazes me that the artistry and the amount of work that goes into these
structures so many many years ago. V
John Hamers26-Apr-2014 21:12
Great and interesting capture. V!
Jim Coffman26-Apr-2014 20:17
Wow, I would love to investigate this place! Nice image,Helen...
janescottcumming26-Apr-2014 19:41
Very cool! V
Martin Lamoon26-Apr-2014 19:10
Great place in the desert, like the colour of the rocks.
v
Colin Storey26-Apr-2014 19:01
Fantastic image of the caves and carvings. v
William Barletta26-Apr-2014 18:35
Wow, that is very interesting.