Al-Ula: Situated in the Hejaz, a region that features prominently in the history of Islam as well as several pre-Islamic Semitic civilizations, al-Ula was a market city on the historic incense route that linked India and the Persian Gulf to the Levant and Europe.
The immediate vicinity contains a unique concentration of precious artifacts, including well-preserved ancient stone inscriptions that illustrate the development of the Arabic language, and a concentration of rock dwellings and tombs that date from the Nabatean and Dedanite periods that coincided with Greco-Roman influence during classical antiquity. Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hegra (also known as Al-Hijr, or Mada'in Salih), is located 22 km (14 mi) north of the city, in Al-Ula governorate. Built more than 2,000 years ago by the Nabataeans, Hegra is often compared with its sister city of Petra, in Jordan. Meanwhile, the ancient walled city of Al-Ula ("Old Town"), situated near the oasis that allowed for its settlement, contains a dense cluster of mud-brick and stone houses. Al-Ula was also the capital of the ancient Lihyanites (Dedanites).