In the middle of the endless golden sands in the north of Saudi Arabia, a fortress wall rises in the rock. Its façade is completely straight lines and right angles; they contrast sharply with the rough and uneven stone, and this combination invariably amazes those who see it. It is impossible not to ask the question: who built this? What for? How long has this fragment of civilization been standing here, facing the desert?
This structure is known as Qasr al-Farid, and it was built in the 1st century AD in the pre-Islamic Nabataean kingdom.
It is located in the archaeological complex Madain Salih (also Al-Hijr or Hegra); the region has about a hundred such monuments.
If this reminds you of a city in a rock in Petra (modern Jordan) - it should be. Petra was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom. Madain Salih was its second largest city and a major trading hub.
In fact, Qasr al-Farid is not a fortress or a castle. This is a tomb. Its construction is not finished, and this allows us to learn how the Nabateans built the huge stone structures characteristic of their cities.
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Usually, the Nabateans used huge blocks of sandstone as raw materials and carved parts of the necessary structure into these stones from the bottom up. In their architecture, you can find borrowings from the architecture of Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Assyria.
The size of the tomb spoke of the social status of the person buried in it. Qasr al-Farid is one of the largest of 131 tombs located in the former territory of the Nabataean kingdom.
Despite being 1900 years old, Qasr al-Farid is still in very good condition thanks to its arid climate.
Today Qasr al-Farid, which means "Lonely Castle", is not so alone. It is very popular with tourists; he and similar monuments are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List (the first of two cultural heritage sites in Saudi Arabia on this list). And no, Mecca is not included in the UNESCO World Heritage List - the second such monument in Saudi Arabia is Ad Diriyah, the first capital of the Saudis.