My journey through Saudi Arabia came to a wonderful end in Alula. Everybody knows about Petra in Jordan, the capitol of Nabatean civilization; but who has ever heard about Hegra?

As a tourist guide speciali in Roman funerary culture in my city, Carmona, I couldn´t leave the country without paying a visit to this jewel. Nowadays, I have to confess that in that moment, I was trully eager to explore Hegra; one of the most important settlement in the Nabatean region, dated between the first century BC and the first century CE. I was impressed by the large number of funerary structures and the detailed front entrances of these tombs for which AlUla is well known. The meaning of what happend those days ressembles the magnificent of this society.

Unlike the romans, what really caught my attention, was the roll of the woman in this world; if we take a moment to analyse Hinat tomb, we can see all of this. She own a tomb, so she had rights over it and she could established rules about the use of it in the present and in the future, for generations, as revealed by an inscription in the entrance. Even there is a warning for those who decided not to pay attention to it.

Maybe, the lack of information about the rite itself was the point for me as a professional in this field. My talk during my tour is mostly focuses on the roman culture, particulary on this, so I really missed that side of the story, but anyway, what an experience.

MariadeA

AlUla, one of a kind.