AlUla’s Jabal Ikmah receives world recognition, listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register

ALULA, Saudi Arabia: The efforts of the Royal Commission for AlUla to conserve the region’s heritage have been acknowledged with the listing of Jabal Ikmah on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.
The RCU has been heavily investing in the study and conservation of sites such as Jabal Ikmah — which has been described as an “open-air library” situated in the world’s largest living museum — said a media statement on Wednesday.
Efforts to enhance the world’s understanding of the site, while improving visitors’ access in a sustainable way, have contributed to the public affirmation by UNESCO of the magnitude and international significance of AlUla’s documentary heritage.
Jose Ignacio Gallego Revilla, the commission’s archaeology and heritage research executive director, said the significance of the site’s inscriptions transcended regional boundaries to reach the level of global relevance, in particular as part of the evolution of Old Arabic languages and dialects.
He said: “Their authenticity and integrity, both for the information preserved about ancient societies as well as the conservation of the site, bring together the essentials that make this place unique for the Memory of the World as the chronicle of a lost time through the largest number of inscriptions in an ancient North Arabian script.”
The spectacular mountain and its sandstone canyons feature 450 historically significant carved inscriptions, most of which date from the second half of the first millennium B.C.
The site features the largest collection of inscriptions recording the ancient Dadanite Kingdom’s religious rituals, daily activities, and relations with neighboring peoples.
As a crossroads on the incense and pilgrimage routes, the AlUla oasis was a hub of commercial and cultural exchange. It hosted merchants of myrrh, frankincense, and other precious commodities. This cultural richness propelled the growth of settlements, including Dadan.
The Dadanite Kingdom flourished and developed its own alphabet form of the South Semitic writing system. The Dadanites then recorded their history through petroglyphs carved into the sloping red and yellow sandstone rocks of AlUla.
The greatest concentration of inscriptions is sheltered in the gorge of Jabal Ikmah, which is characteristic of AlUla’s jagged landscape formed by tectonic movements that date to the opening of the Red Sea 30 million years ago.
Many of Jabal Ikmah’s inscriptions reflect a variety of subjects such as rituals, kings, animals, and agriculture, key to the story of AlUla’s past.
Conservation of such landmarks is central to RCU’s vision for the future of AlUla, which emphasizes the region’s cultural heritage as both a beacon for tourism and a springboard for innovation and economic benefits that raise the quality of life for the community.