Al‐'Ula (Saudi Arabia): a report on a historical and archaeological survey

Abstract

trade route was once again changed, this time from land to sea, Al-Hijr declined. The classical Arabian writers tell us that the main city in the area during the pre-Islamic and the medieval Islamic periods was Qurh, known also as Wadi al-Qura, situated at a distance of one night's journey south of al-Hiijr. During the thirteenth century, with the fall of the Abbasid dynasty and the spread of unrest throughout the peninsula, Qurh declined, and eventually even its name was forgotten. Al-tUla then became the chief town in the area, and so it remains to this day. The valley is no longer known as Wadi Dedan or Wadi al-Qura, but as Wadi alUla.