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00:00...of extraordinary wonders.
00:01It's epic out here.
00:03Where ancient civilizations...
00:06There were rock inscriptions scattered all over this landscape.
00:09...meet rising modern cities.
00:13I'm Clive Standen.
00:15Time to head the ground running.
00:17And I'm embarking on a journey across the Arabian Peninsula.
00:20This place is unlike anywhere else.
00:23I'm forging far and diving deep.
00:26This is amazing.
00:27Uncovering its best-kept secrets.
00:30A little precarious.
00:31...meeting the people who call this place home.
00:34And the pioneers preserving its natural treasures.
00:37That is remarkable.
00:39I want to show you the beautiful.
00:41It's just a little untouched piece of paradise.
00:43The surprising.
00:44It's an unbelievable sight.
00:46And the heartwarming.
00:47What am I supposed to do?
00:49Exploring the secrets that make this land so captivating.
00:53I really do feel like an armbologist.
00:56Mum, I'm never coming home.
00:59Wow.
01:00This is Arabia like you've never seen before.
01:04Come on.
01:05There's plenty more to see.
01:06My journey across the Arabian Peninsula has led me to the largest nation in the Middle East.
01:23Until recently, Saudi Arabia was closed to tourism.
01:27But in 2019, it opened its doors to the world.
01:31And now, it's a country ripe for discovery.
01:34I'm making my way to a lesser-known desert region in the remote northwest, a place steeped in ancient mysteries.
01:44This place is full of grandeur, artistry, and evidence of the adjuring spirit of human history, etched in all these rocks.
01:56This is Alula.
01:58Defined by deserts, canyons, and monumental rock formations, Alula is an epic landscape.
02:11A crossroads in the desert that's seen the rise and fall of civilizations.
02:16You can see a staircase leading all the way up to the top of the mountain.
02:21Now, archaeologists are scouring this land for clues to a lost world of antiquity.
02:29I can't wait to get down there and start climbing some of these rock faces and discovering the secrets in between some of these canyons.
02:41It's an exciting time to be visiting Alula.
02:44It's one of the world's last unexplored frontiers.
02:49And it's the ancient secrets being uncovered that have drawn me here.
02:56Time to head to ground running.
02:59Two and a half thousand years ago, Alula was a strategic pit stop on Arabia's incense trade routes.
03:16It was a land ruled by a succession of great kingdoms that thrived on the wealth and power the trade routes gave them.
03:24And the most valuable commodity of all was frankincense, used in ceremonies and rituals across the ancient world.
03:34Today, a few miles out of the main town lies the southern tip of Alula's Oasis Valley.
03:46One side is scattered with ruins and tombs, while on the other side, beneath the imposing Jebel Ikhmar Mountain, the rocks are crowded with mysterious markings.
04:03This rugged terrain is a stepping stone into the lost kingdoms of the past.
04:13Today, I'm doing a bit of bouldering and climbing around Jebel Ikhmar, which is a vast mountainscape, which is more like an open-air library.
04:28It's covered, as far as the eye can see, with pictures and inscriptions of ancient civilizations.
04:34So this is a newly discovered archaeological site, ripe for exploring, and I've only just arrived, and already I can see these incredible carvings.
04:46And you see here, this image of what could be, you know, a horse and camels, and then above it, it's a very, very different inscription.
04:57It could be just graffiti, for all we know, but it is an archaeological conundrum as to how many different cultures passed by here,
05:06and how much is communication between tribes and cultures, journeymen, the caravans, the traders,
05:12and how much was the locals, the inhabitants, leaving behind the messages from the past.
05:25When the incense trade routes first started, around 1000 BCE, goods from southern Arabia passed through Alula
05:32on their way northwards to Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Mediterranean, and beyond.
05:45Experts are still deciphering the true meaning of these markings.
05:49But who were the people who left the messages on the rocks all over Alula?
05:55And what drew them here all the way across the desert in the first place?
06:02Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air
06:09Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air
06:14I'm in Alula, Saudi Arabia.
06:24This arid desert region is a hotbed for ancient history, that's seen the rise and fall of civilizations.
06:30But why here?
06:35The answer lies in the vast green oasis that runs through the Central Valley.
06:44The water found here made it a safe haven from the parched wilderness beyond.
06:49To find out more, I'm going to meet leading archaeologist Dr. Wissam Khalil
06:56at one of the most important archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia.
07:04Wissam.
07:06Whoo!
07:07Hello.
07:08That is a lot of snares.
07:09Yeah.
07:09Welcome to Dadan.
07:11The view is worth it.
07:12Yeah, this is Dadan, the most famous northwestern Arabian kingdom, was prosperous during the first
07:18millennium BC, and we will have the chance to see all of that.
07:21The most famous Arabian kingdom.
07:23Arabian kingdom.
07:24I'm in.
07:26It's an amazing place.
07:27And behind you, you have the lion tombs, the famous lion tombs.
07:31Wow.
07:32Let's go.
07:33Dadan was the first regional power to rule Alula.
07:39By the 6th century BCE, it became part of the larger Lian kingdom, and for over 400 years,
07:46Dadan prospered as a center of trade.
07:49So you've brought me up here, high up on this cliffside, to look at these tombs.
07:53How did they get up here, and why are they up here?
07:56Well, first of all, the tombs are always outside of the living area.
08:01So you don't bury where you live.
08:03It should be, like, slightly outside.
08:05So one of the reasons why it's on the cliff and around, or on top of the cliff, because
08:10that was the place where nobody can live.
08:12People with, you know, some means, they would send somebody to carve the tomb.
08:17So this is where we have the tombs of the rich.
08:21Why lions here, specifically?
08:23The lion has always symbolized the power.
08:27And its strength and bravery.
08:29So the person who was buried in here, he wanted to highlight the fact that he was imported
08:32during his lifetime, and he put those two lions even dead.
08:38He is a powerful man, or a person, or a woman.
08:41This is what I find most fascinating about the pictures and the art and the inscriptions,
08:46is it gives you a real sense of humans just trying to tell their stories, record it for
08:50future generations.
08:51People would put on the walls anything.
08:53What they did, their worship, everybody was trying to put on a stone that he accomplished,
08:59fulfilled his, a kind of duty toward that god for the well-being of his family, or for
09:06his farm, or himself.
09:07Can you tell me more about the Dadanites?
09:13Dadan is a kingdom that got its importance through this oasis and this trade route.
09:20So all those who are traveling from north to south, or south to north, they have to pass
09:27by this specific place, because this is where they can get food, water, and shelter, and
09:33hence becoming one of the most important northwestern Arabian kingdoms.
09:38These cliffside tombs offer valuable insights to how the people of Dadan once lived.
09:44Now archaeologists are looking for clues further down on the valley floor.
09:52Wisam is keen to give me a taste of the old city before darkness descends.
09:58Can you bring this site to life, bring Dadan, ancient Dadan, to life for me?
10:04What kind of people were they?
10:05Let's start with the place where we are exactly.
10:07This is the sanctuary.
10:08So this is the place in the city, was supposed to be in the middle of the city, where the
10:12people would come to pray. And then you have to imagine all around, you have the
10:16neighbourhood, the streets, the trade, and this is the sacred place.
10:20They had their oasis, so they had a way to dig wells, really well-masoned, engineered.
10:26If you look to the quarries, you look to the tombs, it's not a city with 100, 200 people.
10:31We're talking about a real city, like we're talking about thousands.
10:34And with the incense road, there's going to be traders that have got very expensive products.
10:38They're going to be bringing in guards, soldiers.
10:40We have inscriptions about soldiers.
10:43They place soldiers all over the place to control the passages, the city, the oasis.
10:49So they have to protect the crops, they have to protect the products.
10:52This has been absolutely extraordinary to be able to stand on an archaeological site that's
10:57still being discovered.
10:58Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
11:12Arabia's Best Kept Secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
11:15I'm in Alulah, Saudi Arabia, on the hunt for clues to its long-lost civilizations.
11:33As archaeologists explore previously untouched areas, lots of exciting finds are being unearthed.
11:40The artefacts are taken to the Royal Commission conservation store to be examined.
11:50When they first arrive, they come under the discerning eye of the conservation team.
11:54Head cultural heritage conservator, Julia Edimond, is going to give me a rare look behind the scenes.
12:05Hi, Clive.
12:06Hi.
12:06I just said they find you down here in the vaults.
12:09This place is incredible.
12:10It looks like, you know, the vaults of MI6.
12:12So you're an expert in conservation of objects and artefacts.
12:17What needs to happen before it ends up in a museum?
12:20I first do a documentation, I do a mapping, I assess the structural stability, and then I
12:25assess also the surface of the items.
12:28We provide advices if they need to leave particularly sensitive items from the site.
12:33Then we transport them to our storage facility.
12:36Are there any more special kind of items in maybe some of these top secret vaults you might
12:42have to show you?
12:42Yes, I will show you one of my favourite group of items.
12:48The collection houses thousands of rare objects, and not just from Dedan.
12:54Many are from the time of the last great kingdom to rule Elula, the Nabataeans, who seized control
13:01in 50 BCE.
13:03They're objects that offer a glimpse of everyday lives, like these shards of pottery, the better
13:09marks of a skilled craftsman.
13:11They're so thin, and you can see how fragile they were.
13:15Incredible, in my opinion, because they are very refined.
13:19How old are they?
13:20They're about 2,000 years old, so it's quite impressive.
13:24Am I allowed to touch these?
13:26No, I'm sorry.
13:27I believe the size of your hands are not suitable for this kind of fragile items.
13:32Oh, what's wrong with my hands?
13:36It's no surprise, given the role of incense in these ancient societies, that hundreds of
13:41burners have already been unearthed.
13:46Thousands of small figurines have also been found.
13:49Experts are still piecing together what they were used for.
13:52But it's the coins from the Nabataeans that hold special significance.
13:57Now I can allow you to touch one coin, one real treasure.
14:03Okay.
14:05Oh.
14:07This is an Nabataean coin in silver, which is representing Aretas IV, which was the king,
14:13and his wife, Uldu.
14:15The detail, this is amazingly intricate detail.
14:20It's quite impressive.
14:23Before I take my leave, Julia wants to share one last object, far older than anything I have
14:30encountered so far.
14:34I got a little something that you might recognize.
14:37What do you think it is?
14:39Well, my first thoughts are, looks like a Viking drinking horn.
14:43Almost.
14:44It just predates Viking by 6,000 years.
14:48Really?
14:49Yes.
14:50This animal remains was found in a ritual stone structure in the desert.
14:56Wow.
14:57So it was a ritual ceremony, so maybe it could have been used as a sacrifice.
15:02Sacrifice or asking some more rain because the climax was drying.
15:08Drying up.
15:09Drying up.
15:09But at the end of the day, the fact that this horn exists 7,000 years ago,
15:13proves that cattle and animals were grazing the land, which means it wasn't necessarily
15:18a desert.
15:19The oasis was thriving.
15:20Exactly.
15:21And everything was green and the soil was fertile.
15:23Exactly.
15:24Arabia's best kept secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
15:35Arabia's best kept secrets, presented by Gulf Air.
15:38I'm in Saudi Arabia, exploring a region in the remote northwest called Al-Ula.
15:54At its heart lies a giant oasis where once great kingdoms prospered.
16:00They may have come and gone, but the oasis still sustains life out here in the desert.
16:05There's so much greenery on the left of me, palm trees as far as I can see.
16:10Now there are date plantations and other farms in Al-Ula's oasis.
16:14Now this oasis is the reason why civilizations have been able to survive here for thousands
16:19of years.
16:20Now I'm going to take a little detour through the oasis and have a little respite from this
16:25heat.
16:26After the foundation of Islam, the oasis became important for a new set of travelers, pilgrims
16:35making their way towards Mecca.
16:40In time, a small town developed as the oasis expanded to service the needs of this new flow
16:45of people.
16:50I'm meeting local expert, Ouidad Yassin, to find out more.
16:59Ouidad, this is a welcome relief from the heat.
17:03It really is a sanctuary.
17:06How big does the oasis span in its entirety?
17:09We are now in the southern part of the oasis.
17:11It goes back all the way to the north, to Dadan's side.
17:16In this oasis, there are more than 40 water springs that occurred from underground.
17:22Much like today, in the time of the pilgrim routes, date farming was key to the local economy.
17:29They prepare for the season of harvesting the date, which is normally around early August.
17:36Everyone, all of the families, we call it an Arabic jdad, mean the hard work.
17:40The season of hard work.
17:42And it became part of our heritage.
17:44One of the first things that we give to our guests are the dates.
17:50And can you, pardon the pun, can you date how old the parts of the oasis are by the age of the trees?
17:57Yeah.
17:58So once you look at the palm tree, it's very tall and it's thin.
18:02The thinner, the taller the palm tree, the oldest it is.
18:05My ancestors, who live in the old town, chose this valley specifically because of the fertile soil.
18:13This is what Al-Ula provided, water and food and protection for the traders and even the pilgrimage during the Islamic period.
18:21The old town itself overlooks the oasis.
18:26Its stone fort stands guard above a narrow warren of houses and streets that once bustled with life, but now lie abandoned.
18:34Withad is going to show me part of the town that's being restored.
18:39And it turns out she's no ordinary guide, but continuing an age-old Arabic tradition, that of a storyteller known as a Rawi.
18:50Can you tell me a bit more about the history of a Rawi?
18:55Our history is passed by the Rawis.
18:58If the Rawi did not exist, many of our oral history would even exist now.
19:03So every town or every tribe or every small settlement would have a Rawi and they would be responsible for gathering the knowledge and then passing it to the community.
19:11It was a big privilege to be a Rawi.
19:13I hold the knowledge of my father, my ancestors.
19:17I would love it if you would tell me the story of this very, very old town.
19:23My ancestors, they settled here around 700 years ago.
19:27People start to build their houses and shops around this mountain.
19:31I remember when I was young, me and my siblings, we used to come with my father to where he spent his childhood.
19:38Over there, in that spot, where my great-grandfather used to be.
19:44Wow.
19:44Now my grandfather's house is one of the houses that are currently under restoration.
19:49And I can't wait to, you know, take visitors or our guests to show them, actually, the house.
19:56How do you think it's going to change the landscape of the old town in Alula?
19:59It means a lot for the locals.
20:02We can basically see the old town going back to life again, how it used to be.
20:06They feel very proud.
20:11Legacies from the past are found all around in the ruins of Alula.
20:15But there's more than just history here.
20:19Next time, I head into Alula's untamed wilderness in search of natural wonders.
20:26They're so graceful.
20:27Meeting the nomads who mastered this harsh environment.
20:32This is how you really make coffee.
20:34And revealing Alula's ultimate treasure.
20:38Come on.
20:38There's plenty more to see.
20:39There's plenty more to see.
20:40There's plenty more to see.
20:40There's plenty more to see.
20:41There's plenty more to see.
20:42There's plenty more to see.
20:43There's plenty more to see.
20:44There's plenty more to see.
20:45There's plenty more to see.
20:46There's plenty more to see.
20:47There's plenty more to see.
20:48There's plenty more to see.
20:49There's plenty more to see.
20:50There's plenty more to see.
20:51There's plenty more to see.
20:52There's plenty more to see.
20:53There's plenty more to see.
20:54There's plenty more to see.
20:55There's plenty more to see.
20:56There's plenty more to see.
20:57There's plenty more to see.
20:58There's plenty more to see.
20:59There's plenty more to see.
21:00There's plenty more to see.
21:01There's plenty more to see.
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