Hegra

In the desert north of AlUla in Saudi Arabia, the archeological site of Hegra (Mada'in Saleh) has been left nearly undisturbed for almost 2,000 years. Once a thriving international trade hub, the rock-cut constructions at Hegra look similar to its famous sister site of Petra, a few hundred miles to the north in Jordan. Hegra was the second city of the mysterious Nabataean kingdom. Nabataeans were desert-dwelling nomads turned merchants, controlling the incense and spice trade routes through Arabia and Jordan to the Mediterranean, Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia. Caravans laden with fragrant peppercorn, ginger root, sugar and cotton passed through Hegra, a provincial city on the kingdom’s southern frontier. The Nabataeans prospered from the 4th century B.C. until the 1st century A.D., when the expanding Roman Empire rose to prominance.

Like Petra, Hegra is a metropolis turned necropolis: most of the remaining structures that can be seen today are tombs, with much of the architectural remains of the city still buried.