The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is trying to enhance its archaeological heritage in order to develop tourism. On September 30, 2025, the Saudi Arabian Heritage Committee announced the discovery of rock engravings dating back to around 12,000 years in the Al-Nafud desert, in the north of the country. This research repels the known limit of human presence in the region by 2,000 years.
The study, conducted by an international team led by Maria Guagnin of the University of Sydney, also brings together researchers from the University of Sciences and Technologies of King Abdallah (Kaust), the University College London.
The excavations cover three sites – Jebel Arnaan, Jebel Mleiha and Jebel MISMA – spread over an area about thirty kilometers in diameter. The researchers have identified 66 panels representing more than 170 engravings, including 130 animals. The majority represent dromedaries, but also ibex, gazelles, wild donkeys, aurochs or cattle. Some engravings, close to the actual size, measure more than two meters high and almost three meters long. Several are 39 meters high, forcing the engravers to work on cornices, which testifies to the importance given to these representations. Tools, pigments and materials have also been discovered on site.
According to the researchers, these engravings were used above all to report the water points in this arid region and the travel roads. Maria Guagnin specifies: “These former communities survived the desert by moving between the seasonal lakes, and they marked these sources of water, and the paths that lead, with monumental rock art. »»
She stresses that the specific representation of dromedaries confirms this link: “Most dromedaries represent rutors, identifiable by the tension of the muscles of their necks when they emit a rumble during the love season, which usually falls during the rainy season. Rumpere art is therefore linked to the rainy season and marks the locations of water puddles. »»
Two other hypotheses have been put forward: a symbolic marking of the right of access to water, or a ritual function linked to the hope of the return of the rains. No evidence confirms them for the moment. The tools uncovered, allocated to the styles of El Khiam and Elwan from the Levant, located 400 km, confirm the existence of contacts between the hunter-gatherers of Al-Nafud and other regional populations.
Until 20,000 years ago, this area remained too arid to be inhabited, following the peak of the last glacial era. Climate change that occurred 15,000 years ago, marked by the return of seasonal rains, allowed human trips to the region.
