First published: 21/02/23.

Jarek Pokrzywnicki

Himā Cultural Area

Himā Cultural area (Inscribed)

Himā Cultural area by Jarek Pokrzywnicki

Area visited recently, November 2022. Certainly one of the best example of rock art (similar to those in the Hail region) with interesting addition of ancient wells. As located quite far from main roads site requires organised transport to get there.

It consist of several petroglyph’s sites located near small village of Hima (southern Saudi Arabia, around 120 km from Najran, and some 25 km from main Riyadh – Najran highway) and historical wells (5 cut in the rock, 2 of them looked as still in use).

Wells as a historical site are fenced but the gate is always open. It is probably because they are still in use, during my visit there were several cisterns pumping water from  the tank. The site is located near the village mosque, access by asphalted side road. Entrance to Hima Wells – Google coordinates 18°15'01.9"N 44°27'05.3"E.

Adjacent to wells there is another archaeological reserve – Jabal Hima petroglyphs. Also fenced, access from Hima village by the same road leading to the wells on the left, entrance - same coordinates as above - doors may be closed but they are not locked. On the main rock there are Arabic inscriptions, different animals and humans. English / Arabic table explains that petroglyphs depict military raid, written in Musnad Fort around 518. Frankly speaking there is also a bilingual table (English and Arabic) informing that visiting the site is not permitted. But I noticed that just after leaving the site.

Another site connected with petroglyphs is located on the opposite side of the village - Saidah – Google coordinates (entrance) - 18°14'37.3"N 44°27'43.8"E It located just by the main road leading to Hima. Pretty similar to Jabal Hima, fenced with door that is not locked. Near the entrance there is a similar table informing that trespassing the site is prohibited, so the entry at your own risk. Saidah contains similar petroglyphs as Jabal Hima, mostly inscriptions from early Arabic period.

Official UNESCO website shows more petroglyphs in the area Northeast of Hima. In reality it difficult to explore the area as there are no roads, paths no clues where to find them. While wandering there I found two places with rock carvings but having in mind map scale they are too close to Hima to be Dhibah or An Jamal (those are official locations). But anyway they are both pretty interesting and containing different human figures, different animals, hunting scenes. Approximate Google coordinates of the place 18°15'50.8"N 44°27'50.7"E – second site is located on the opposite side of the valley.

Practicalities:

Hima is a small village, do not expect any restaurants or places to stay. The nearest big city is Najran in the south. Locals do know the area, they can locate petroglyphs (at least those near Hima Wells).

More about the site: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1840351/saudi-arabia

Places on the photo, bottom left, than clockwise: Saidah, Hima Wells, petroglyphs from northeast of Hima, Jabal Hima insriptions.

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