Walking
through
history
Discover the secrets and stories of AlUla
Meet the Saudi city’s expert team of heritage-keepers in a photographic journey through ancient history and contemporary culture destinations
Meet the Saudi city’s expert team of heritage-keepers in a photographic journey through ancient history and contemporary culture destinations
The art of
storytelling
with the Rawis
An ancient storytelling custom has been revived in AlUla, combining history and modernity for a new influx of international visitors. Historically, oral traditions were a cherished way of sharing memories, stories and poems. One of the Arabic terms of a storyteller is a Rawi. This title was the inspiration for AlUla’s term of heritage interpreters. Today’s Rawis offer onsite interaction for new audiences and are ambassadors of the region’s culture. Atif Albalawi and Aljawharah Abdulkarim have both trained as Rawis to create these memorable experiences.
– Atif AlbalawiWe Bedouins really enjoy sharing stories. From childhood, it has taught me how to talk to people and make them feel welcome anywhere.
Wearing traditional Arab dress, the Rawis welcome visitors and introduce them to the area’s topographical and historical features as well as its intangible culture. “I’m passionate about the past,” says Atif, who was inspired by his grandfather’s love of storytelling to become a Rawi. “We Bedouins really enjoy sharing stories. From childhood, it has taught me how to talk to people and make them feel welcome anywhere.”
Atif Albalawi
Carved inscriptions at Jabal Ikmah
The Nabataean city of Hegra, a breathtaking spectacle in the desert, is a high point of the Rawi experience.
The famous Arab hospitality starts as soon as visitors arrive and discover how warm and welcoming AlUla’s people are, Aljawharah says. A traditional way of breaking the ice is over coffee and dates, a beloved ritual here. And as visitors go on to discover more about the region with a Rawi, they get an expertly narrated encounter with heritage highlights such as Hegra, Dadan or Jabal Ikmah, the "open-air library" whose walls bear fascinating ancient petroglyphs and inscriptions.
Atif Albalawi in the vintage Land Rover
Exploring Hegra
The Nabataean city of Hegra, a breathtaking spectacle in the desert, is a high point of the Rawi experience. “It became Saudi’s first Unesco World Heritage Site in 2008,” Aljawharah says. “I want all our visitors to see it.” Organised vintage Land Rover tours are a popular way of exploring Hegra with a Rawi, because seeing the landscape up close enables visitors to really engage with it and better understand its past, says Atif.
Hewn from the desert rock, Hegra’s 110 rose-red tombs date from the 1st century and feature ornately carved drawings and inscriptions. Their craftsmanship sees them likened to those at Petra in Jordan. Atif agrees that Hegra is an essential experience, and he recommends seeing the view of the valleys from Hegra’s basalt plateau in the Hijaz mountains. “It is our own version of the Grand Canyon,” he says.
Atif Albalawi at Gharameel
In addition to the Nabataean landmarks there is archaeological evidence of Dadanites and Lihyanites, as well as Islamic and Roman influences, making AlUla truly diverse. Once a part of the Incense Road, AlUla was a busy trade hub that linked Arabia to other parts of the world, including North Africa, India, and the Mediterranean. Its influence was vast. “As a storyteller you cannot reveal everything in one go,” Atif says. “You must cut it down into parts, as if you’re directing a movie.”
Strolling the
atmospheric
Old Town lanes
with a Rawi,
people can see the
centuries-old
homes up close...
Aljawharah Abdulkarim in a house in Old Town
– Aljawharah AbdulkarimI want to deepen people's understanding of this neighbourhood, inhabited from the 12th century right up until the 1980s
Aljawharah takes groups through AlUla Old Town's labyrinth of ancient streets. These feature some 900 adjoining houses made from mud bricks, many of them successfully restored. “It fascinates visitors when I tell them that my father once lived here,” she says. “I love being a part of their journey through time, deepening their understanding of a neighbourhood that was inhabited from the 12th century right up until the 1980s.” Leila Chapman, RCU’s Narrative Experience Expert, adds “The Rawis cultivate a real connection to every guest with warmth and generosity, sharing their own stories in ways that make a lasting impression.”
Strolling the atmospheric Old Town lanes with a Rawi, people can see the centuries-old homes up close, and shop in Incense Road Market for locally made handicrafts. A visit is not complete without stopping to enjoy coffee, patisserie and popular desserts, Aljawharah says.
Visitors can then take in the sunset at the 10th-century AlUla Fort, an ancient defence point with a panoramic view of the desert, oasis and mountains. Rawis will suggest the best evening dining options for visitors in AlUla, ranging from traditional and modern Middle Eastern restaurants to Mediterranean and French cuisine.
Walking with Rawis is a dynamic way for visitors to experience a place most of them are seeing – or even hearing about – for the first time. Tourism opened up here thanks to new regulations in 2019, allowing culturally curious travellers to visit Nabataean monoliths, the remains of ancient water channels, defensive walls and towers, and AlUla’s awe-inspiring Elephant Rock, standing 52 metres tall and given its distinctive shape by weather erosion over millions of years.
– Leila ChapmanA love for interacting with the public, sincerity, warmth, and a flair for engagement
When it comes to training Rawis, the essential qualities the RCU look for are “a love for interacting with the public, sincerity, warmth, and a flair for engagement,” says Chapman. The Rawis also have ongoing contact with archaeologists and knowledge specialists, in AlUla and beyond. Atif has trained with and shadowed peers at archeological sites and museums in France, the USA and in the Gulf. Like all Rawis, he and Aljawharah are multilingual, addressing audiences in Arabic and English. “It’s not just about the storytelling, but also about personal development. Becoming Rawis has given us a voice to share our history.”