Overview
Himā is a cluster of desert wells north of Najran surrounded by rock inscriptions, on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2021.
Why visit Hima Cultural Area
The wells have supplied water on the caravan route for roughly 7,000 years, and travellers left a record on the rocks around them the entire time. The inscriptions run through Musnad, Aramaic-Nabataean, South Arabian, Greek and Arabic scripts, so a single site carries the writing systems of the peninsula in sequence.
The wells still hold water. That is unusual for a site of this age: the reason it was used has not stopped being true.
Nearby: Najran, Al-Okhdood.
Located in an arid, mountainous area of southwest Saudi Arabia, on one of the Arabian Peninsula’s ancient caravan routes, Ḥimā Cultural Area contains a substantial collection of rock art images depicting hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyles in a cultural continuity of 7,000 years.
History of Hima Cultural Area
Hima Cultural Area was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021.
Tours that include Hima Cultural Area
Travel Tips Before Visiting
Hima Cultural Area is in Najran.
Photograph: Heritage Commission, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Plan your visit to Hima Cultural Area
Want to include Hima Cultural Area in your trip? Browse our journeys or ask for a custom plan.
- Najran Shared destination context
- Al-Okhdood Shared destination context
- Abha Tourism relevance match
- Al Ahsa Tourism relevance match