This natural and sumptuous Saudi archaeological site has tombs along the sandstone massifs scattered in a vast alluvial plain in the middle of the desert. The Nabateans settled there in the middle of the first century. They built a vast city surrounded by a rampart beyond which lie the necropolis where they buried their dead and the area reserved for their religious brotherhoods. In the oasis, they cultivated cereals, all kinds of fruit trees, and even cotton.

This guide, the first of its kind, offers a detailed tour of the site and its superb monuments, as well as summary chapters on the history of the Nabataeans, accompanied by focus maps, a bibliography and a glossary.