ABSTRACT
Madain Salih, which lies 110 km. south-west of Tayma’, was known in ancient times as Hegra. Virtually, all the visible remains at Madain Salih are Nabataean and come from the 1st century A.D. The Nabataean people are in fact of rather obscure origin. Their earliest settlements were in southern Jordan and Palestine, though it is likely that they came ultimately from the east, possibly from the marginal regions to the north of modern Saudi Arabia. Nabataean settlements are found principally along these trade routes at places like Al-Jawf and Bosra. To the north-east of the site towers the Jabal Ithlib, a line of precipitous rocky summits surrounding a central hollow approached through a narrow gorge, called, by analogy with the much longer gorge at Petra, the Siq. Religious meals or banquets seem to have had some importance at Madain Salih as at Petra and they are mentioned as characteristic of the Nabataeans by ancient writers.
