Al-Ula

Al-Ula during the 9th century

al-Ula (Arabic: ٱلْعُلَا) is an Arabian archaeological city and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in what is now Medina Province, Saudi Arabia. At its most prosperous, it had a lively market town with notable agricultural resources coming from the neighbouring oasis, as well as through the Incense Road. Considered an important place for the merchants to resupply, al-Ula was also an essential stop in the hajj, a mandated annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

History

Al-Ula's early history is hard to discern, though its first occupation may date back to the first millennium BCE, when the Dadan and later Lihyanite kingdoms controlled the valley. The city developed on a naturally raised area on the valley's western side, with a large outcrop that offered good defensive prospects and where the Musa ibn Nusayr Fort was later built. The "Old Town" of Al-Ula is characterized by hundreds of mostly small mud-brick houses in narrow lanes to preserve coolness, emerging during the Islamic era from the 8th century CE onwards. Other landmarks included the tantora, a sundial placed on the east side of town, and the open-air market.

In the 860s, Basim ibn Ishaq visited the town while searching for leads on the location of his father, Ishaq ibn Khalid, and the robbers that had been terrorizing the region. While in town, the sound of crying caught Basim's attention, and a young woman in tears requested that he retrieve her journal from a nearby courtyard, which had been closed off by soldiers. There, Basim located the journal near a dead body, which he learned from reading an excerpt to be the young lady's father, who had wanted to marry her off without her say. Basim then returned to the woman and pronounced judgement on her situation.

Basim later saw a contract from an organizer put in charge of designing a contest of speed and skill to celebrate a trade deal between the al-Ula's merchants and a neighbouring shaykh. Basim met the man in the city and was challenged to destroy a number of pots within an allotted time in order to test the game's difficulty. Basim completed the task and received the Toxic Shroud Outfit in exchange for it. Basim also recovered a couple of clues to the robbers' hidden caches, as well as two of the stolen items from caches located in different houses, and recovered a paper containing the oud melody Aḥlāmun Wa Amānī (Dreams and Wishes).

The town was occupied continuously until the 1980s, when a new al-Ula with modern amenities was created.

Landmarks

• AlUla Market
• Masjid Al'Itham
• Musa ibn Nusayr Fort

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Valley of Memory