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Madain Saleh is a pre-Islamic archaeological site located in the Al-Ula sector, within the Al Madinah Region of Saudi Arabia. A majority of the vestiges date from the Nabatean kingdom (1st century CE). The site constitutes the kingdom’s southernmost and largest settlement after Petra, its capital. Traces of Lihyanite and Roman occupation before and after the Nabatean rule, respectively, can also be found in situ, while accounts from the Qur’an tell of an earlier settlement of the area by the tribe of Thamud in the 3rd millennium BC.

According to the Islamic text, Allah punished the Thamudis for their persistent practice of idol worship and for conspiring to kill the prophet whom He sent, the non-believers being struck by an earthquake and lightning blasts.

Al Ula is an oasis, some 110 km southwest of Tayma in northwestern Saudi Arabia. It was the capital of the ancient Lihyanites, and is well known for its archaeological remnants, some of which are over 2,000 years old!

The older history of the oasis has been divided into several phases. The Dedanite kingdom spans to the seventh and sixth century BC. Dedan is mentioned in the "Harran Inscriptions". In these it is told how Nabonidus the king of Babylonia made a military campaign to northern Arabia in 552 BC or somewhat later, conquering Tayma, Dedan and Yathrib, the old Medina. It is thought that around the turn to the fifth century BC the kingdom became hereditary.

The next four hundred years, until around 100 BC, were the time of the Kingdom of Lihyan. The Nabataeans were the lords of the region at least until 106 CE when the Romans conquered their capital Petra. The Nabataeans made Hegra, the modern Mada'in Saleh, their second capital. The power center of the region thus shifted to Hegra some 22 km to the north of Al-`Ula.

Muhammad passed through Al-`Ula in 630 on his campaign to Tabuk. Al-Mabiyat some 20 km away near Mughaira became the next commercial center of the region. It thrived from around 650 until it declined at some time before 1230.

In the 13th century the old city of Al-`Ula was built and many stones of the old Dedanite and Lihyanite ruins were reused. Al-`Ula now became the major settlement of the region again until modern times. A railway station was built for the Hejaz railway in 1901-08. The railway line was built through the western part of Al-Khuraiba some twelve kilometers to the north of the old medieval town which is believed to be the site of the old Dedanite and Lihyanite town. In the 20th century the new town center was established beside the old town and eventually the people left the old buildings. The last family is said to have left in 1983, while the last service in the old mosque was held in 1985. Both the ruins of the medieval town and the site of the Liyhanite settlement now lay within the limits of the modern town.

is a large oasis with a long history of settlement, located in northeastern Saudi Arabia at the point where the trade route between Yathrib (Medina) and Dumah begins to cross the Nefud desert. Tayma is located 264 km southeast of the city of Tabouk, and about 400 km north of Medina.

he oldest mention of the oais city appears as "Tiamat" in Assyrian inscriptions dating as far back as the 8th century BCE. The oasis developed into a prosperous city, rich in water wells and handsome buildings. Tiglath-pileser III received tribute from Tayma, and Sennacherib named one of Nineveh's gates as the Desert Gate, recording that "the gifts of the Sumu'anite and the Teymeite enter through it." It was rich and proud enough in the 7th century BCE for Jeremiah to prophesy against it (Jeremiah 25:23). It was ruled then by a local Arab dynasty. The names of two 8th-century BCE queens, Shamsi and Zabibei, are recorded.

In 539 BCE, Nabonidus retired to Tayma for worship and looking for prophecies, entrusting the kingship of Babylon to his son. From this we can recognize Tayma as being an important place.

Cuneiform inscriptions possibly dating from the 6th century BCE have been recovered from Tayma. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. The biblical eponym is apparently Tema, one of the sons of Ishmael.

Archeological investigation of the site, under the auspices of the German Archaeological institute, is ongoing.

Stele with dedicatory Aramaic inscription to the god Salm. Sandstone, 5th century BC. Found in Tayma by Charles Huber in 1884. Now in the Louvre.

The Tayma stele discovered by Charles Hubert in 1883, now at the Louvre, lists the gods of Tayma in the 6th century BCE: S.alm of Mah.ram and Shingala and Ashira. This Ashira may be Athirat/Asherah.

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