Database: Tantora
On the east side of AlUla Old Town stands the tantora. Built of stone and set atop a wall, it is a sundial that was most useful annually, in December, on the winter solstice, when about midday its shadow reaches a certain rock fixed in the ground of the open area in front of it. For the inhabitants, this signalled the start of a 40-day period for planting fields crops, such as wheat and barley, which need cooler weather and irrigation to grow.
Community leaders carefully managed the distribution system of water to ensure every farmer received his fair share of the vital resource. Even though the introduction of mechanical pumping brought the complex underground and surface channeling system and distribution practice to an end, the elders of AlUla still hold the ceremony on the winter solstice, which is attended and celebrated by many locals and visitors and marks the start of the Winter at Tantora Festival instituted by The Royal Commission for AlUla.