Entering The Oasis: A Journey into the Heart of AlUla

Explorer Journal by Charles Phillips. 2023. Written for the Royal Commission of AlUla’s website: The Living Museum.

There is a magical quality to AlUla’s landscapes and nature. The enormous oasis running through this ancient and fertile valley is like few places I’ve experienced before. A vast expanse of 2.3 million date palm trees lines a natural corridor framed by steep cliffs with a rich red hue. The trees here stretch almost continuously for around 10 kilometres north to south. Beyond offering a deep tranquillity, these landscapes are steeped in history and were once home to ancient kingdoms.

Many travellers who come here find that AlUla far exceeds their expectations. At the beginning of the 20th century, two French priests and scholars, Antonin Jaussen and Raphael Savignac, described AlUla’s oasis as a “land of milk and honey.” In 1962 Canadian scholars Frederick Winnett and William Reed remarked “AlUla is undoubtedly the most strikingly beautiful oasis in all North Arabia.” Visiting in 1994, one Saudi visitor, Mishaal Al-Sudairi, described AlUla’s oasis as “surrounded by formations of mountains lavish in colours, as if they were a bracelet surrounding the wrist of a beautiful girl.” And in 2017, the modern British explorer Levison Wood simply described how being here was “as if I’d woken up in paradise.”

With these storied descriptions in mind, this is the place that I have come to explore today. AlUla is somewhere that I’m deeply excited to experience firsthand. I’ve long held a fascination with the wider region – an area that I've studied and explored over the past 15 years. Yet the beauty of northwest Arabia is one that I have only recently begun to encounter.

While here, I want to revive the adventures of renowned explorers, and re-imagine their experiences as they entered this natural haven. Can I retrace their footsteps and tread the same paths as they did? Will I come across the same natural features that once captivated them—the refreshing waters, the succulent dates, the vast landscapes? In my quest, I aim to delve into the very heart of the oasis, unravelling its rich history and drawing comparisons between the past and the rejuvenation unfolding in present-day AlUla. Join me on this journey of natural discovery.

The Welcome of the Oasis

Capturing the euphoria of escaping the desert and the challenges within, the famed 14th century traveller Ibn Battuta wrote, “he who enters it is lost, and he who leaves it is born.” These words echo to me down the centuries. For joy is indeed the feeling you experience when crossing the threshold into AlUla. Gazing out of my window to the left, I'm met with a sight of plentiful trees. “A beautiful village abounding in palm trees and water” is how Khalid al-Balawi described AlUla in 1367. He was speaking of the 12th century mud and stone-built Old Town and the oasis surrounding it. I feel a strong connection to the past as I realise I’m witnessing the same scenes he beheld 700 years ago.

The Oasis Heritage Trail

By its very nature, an oasis exudes hospitality, serving as a haven of welcome and respite for travellers. I sense it pulling me in, prompting me to start exploring and head to the meeting point for the tour I’m about to join. Upon arrival, a friendly wave catches my attention—Nora Almuqhim, my guide for the afternoon. An energetic young Saudi woman and local storyteller or ‘Rawi,’ Nora previously worked in the heritage sector and taught French. Now, she serves as an ambassador for AlUla’s rich history. Nora's joyful presence and animated demeanour introduces what I know is going to be an afternoon filled with adventure. Our small tour group includes a young Saudi university student from Jeddah, a Belgian backpacker who’s currently exploring Saudi Arabia, and myself! We commence our journey in typical AlUla hospitality style, with delicious dates and tasty coffee. We then set out on the Oasis Heritage Trail.

Birdsong

Upon entering the trail, I can soon hear birdsong echoing all around us. The chirping birds must be hidden within the bushes and trees that envelop us. Greenery and plant life abound. Tall palm trees are dotted about everywhere. Underneath some of these palms, green leafy grass carpets the floor. Amidst this we can see a series of small, well-tended open plots of land where different crops are growing. It is very pleasant and calming to be here, nourishing for the soul. One plot has small purple flowers sprouting amidst a covering of green plant life and a backdrop of palm trees. In the distance, the red cliffs of AlUla Valley line the horizon, materialising into a few majestic peaks in the distant north before us. Seeing this scene, I feel as if I’m in a primal land.

Farms and Crops

Continuing our journey, we follow a network of slightly raised, dusty paths that criss-cross the oasis.

These divide the plots of land, and Nora tells us they are the same ones that would have been used by visitors and farmers in the distant past. We are stepping in the footsteps of the ancients! My mind turns to another intriguing traveller who explored AlUla in the 19th century, a curious English explorer named Charles Montagu Doughty. In 1876, he ventured into this land and wrote vivid accounts of what he encountered. His observations are among the most detailed written accounts available of the past, many of which I shall draw upon.

We pass a field of plump blueish-purple cabbages, and all manner of vegetables seem to be growing in the ground. It often strikes me that in our modern lives, few of us know where most of our food comes from and how it's grown, making this experience all the more enjoyable. Doughty, too, relished the sight of this natural splendour. “It is delicious to see all this beautiful burden of green,” he recalls. He spoke of “the sweet lemon-groves at el-Ally” (the name he used for AlUla), noting the cultivation of plums and “great pumpkins,” all of which were “very well husbanded.”

Nora tells us that the oasis is still a working farm today, and in true farm-to-table style, much of the produce is used by restaurants within the oasis. As I look at all of the lush plant life and the group, I’m with, I realise that the oasis is once again fulfilling its historical role as a source of food for not just residents but also for the travellers that pass through here. For millennia, it would have provided food for the ancient towns that prospered in the AlUla Valley, in addition to the camel caravans of traders and pilgrims transiting through here.

Date Palms

We continue walking until we meet a denser collection of palm trees and pause within their shade. I think of the passing traders who would have paused here for shelter, in need of respite from the desert heat. The most prominent of crops in our midst are, of course, the date palms which have grown here for over 2,000 years. These dates are famous. “Theirs be the best dates in the country” said Doughty 150 years ago, describing them as “soft and tasting almost like honey.”

On my travels, I’ve enjoyed observing how dates grow. Starting from small green pea-shaped spheres that look like mini Brussels sprouts they mature into large oblong shapes the size of your thumb. They grow in bunches at the top of the tree. Then, under their heavy load, the branch carrying them droops down below the palm leaves.

What interests me the most is how the tree itself grows. In its infancy, it looks like the whole fully grown top of the tree is just sitting on the ground, yet a full tree trunk is still to be grown below it. Palm trees then need stewarding as they grow taller. Farmers cut the tree each time it grows larger, giving it its characteristic grooves running up the trunk. If left to grow freely, coarse branches would sprout out of these.

Trading

As I stand amidst the date palms, I wonder how far afield these dates are traded today and which corners of the world have the pleasure of consuming them. Doughty described how, in his time, many animal skins were filled with sweet dates and sent north every year to Damascus, where they would be served as a sweet treat to visiting guests. He also mentioned that AlUla sent an offering of dates and corn to Madinah every year. Some of the dates were sold for rice from India, “which is brought hither in the sack from el-Wejh (…), the Red Sea coast village.” A camel would carry two sacks of rice on this route. Remaining dates were sold to the Bedouins: “that which is [left] over they sell for silver to the Beduw,” wrote Doughty.

Goats

In one of the next fields we enter, we meet a pack of goats. They walk amidst palm trees and eat the green grass while their shepherd watches over them. He allows us to approach them and to varying degrees of success we attempt to pet any that are tame enough to let us get close.

There were plenty of animals here in Doughty’s time. He observed small humped cows used for field labour, a few donkeys for carrying things, poultry, and milking goats. As we move on, we encounter a new creature. Ever the daring outdoors enthusiast, Nora confidently picks up a black beetle, around the size of the upper part of a thumb. I haven’t seen one like this before but it has a lovely shape and looks pretty safe to hold.

A Shell

We are now in the very middle stretch of the oasis, and one of the most prominent features are the remains of mud brick walls in almost every direction we look. They line the paths we are walking on and are within the fields either side of us. In one of the walls, we spot a tiny shell embedded within it. To our surprise Nora says she’s never seen one like this here before. But I think these may be the shells that Doughty saw in the oasis 150 years ago. “In all [of the springs] are the same small turreted shells.” Perhaps this shell I see today is ancient? Perhaps it was brought here by someone from the Red Sea?

Summer Houses

Some of the mud walls look like they have almost melted. Nora explains that many of these are the remains of summer houses that people used to live in, and that was not too long ago. These structures were abandoned in the early 1980s when the inhabitants of AlUla’s Old Town moved to modern neighbourhoods nearby. Before that, the oasis used to teem with life. Every summer, the Old Town’s residents would move to their farms here where most families owned a summer house. The summers were when dates were almost ready to harvest, so it was beneficial for the townspeople to be close to their crops and protect their dates. The heat of the summer also meant the oasis was a better place to be. It had the shade of the palm trees and fresher air of the outdoors. There was also a social aspect to relocating to the oasis. While evening life in the Old Town was usually quiet, the palm groves bustled with life during the summers. All-night gatherings were held with singing and games and endless conversation.

Water

As we near the end of our tour, we come to a deep and wide well lined with ancient stones that have a faded reddish hue. It is here that I am reminded of the most important resource amidst Arabia’s arid landscapes; water. Nora tells us that the presence of water beneath the surface is what allowed life to flourish here. But low-rainfall meant innovative techniques were needed in the past to collect and distribute water so that crops could be irrigated. One ancient technique was to dig a series of underground channels called qanats which tapped into water sources sitting at the base of mountain plateaus here.

In Doughty’s time, he noted that the palm groves were irrigated by a “lukewarm brook” emerging from “a dark pit twenty-five feet deep to the under-rushing water.” I think this small stream may have been connected to the ancient qanat water channels. He also encountered “some other lesser springs which rise in the midst of the oasis,” and large well-pits in which water was “drawn by the walking to and fro” of a small humped cow.

Water was a limited resource and Nora explains that it was distributed to each farm on a timed basis. A sundial in the Old Town was used, known as the Tantora. As the shadow moved between markers on the ground, it signalled that it was the turn of the next farm to receive water.

Wonders of Arabia

At the close of our journey, I reflect on another of Ibn Battuta’s famous sayings, and it resonates deeply with my day: “Who lives sees, but who travels, sees more.” Being here has unveiled for me yet another of Arabia's wonders, now being rediscovered by today’s travellers. Despite being predominantly characterised by vast deserts, this country is home to unexpected beauty and remarkably diverse landscapes which I have come to witness firsthand. From AlUla’s Oasis to the snow-dusted peaks of NEOM in winter, the green valleys and wild baboons of the Sarawat Mountains in the south, the terraced hill farms of the Fayfa Mountains, dormant volcanoes, extensive lava fields, and vast coastlines—Saudi Arabia comprises a tapestry of landscapes. Each has its own unique story waiting to be told. Today, in the heart of the oasis, I've thoroughly enjoyed discovering just a small part of AlUla’s captivating tale.

Entering The Oasis: A Journey into the Heart of AlUla

Unearthing AlUla’s Old Town - Part 1: In the Footsteps of Explorers