Landmark rock drawings alongside the hills and mountains of Saudi Arabia capture tales of ancient life, says expert
JEDDAH: Alongside the hills and mountains of Saudi Arabia are little-known archaeological treasures, such as Al-Naslah Rock in Tabuk and Camel Rock of Al-Wajh in the northwest — eye-catching “landmarks that document the land’s heritage,” according to one expert.

Eight-meter-long Al-Naslah Rock appears to have been sliced in half. Historians and geologists have been unable to identify the cause of the split, though centuries of erosion caused by sand and strong wind are believed to be responsible.
Speculation dates the splitting of the rock back to the time of the Thamud, an Arabian tribe that inhabited the region almost 2,800 years ago.
“These rocks are made up of sand residue that has built up over the past 488 million to 542 million years,” geologist consultant Abdul Aziz bin Labon told Arab News.
He said that the rock split a long time ago, and the proof of that is that each rock’s drawings are completely disconnected from the other, leaving no trace of a connection between them.
“From left to right, the two rocks have completely and cleanly parted. Each side’s drawings are different and dissimilar, meaning it has existed in this split-up state long before man was able to draw upon it,” he added.