About 2,000 years ago, Mada"in Saleh, or Hegra as the Romans called it, was a thriving city of the Nabataean Kingdom, and a center for the trade of spices, incense, and myrrh, a valuable tree resin used to make perfume and medicine. The Nabataeans were Arab people whose precise origins are unknown. They lived in northern Arabia and the Southern Levant. Mada"in Saleh was their second-largest and southernmost city after Petra, their capital city to the north. About halfway between Petra and Mecca, Mada"in Saleh served primarily as a trading crossroads and was instrumental in establishing the Nabataeans as prosperous middlemen to the rest of the ancient world.
Mada in Saleh, Saudi Arabia
Today in History
-
Composite image of a lunar eclipse
-
Longer days mean warmer sand
-
A stunning sight in Mexico s wilderness
-
Maybe we should be looking up
-
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Louvre Pyramid
-
Vineyards in the Mosel Valley, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
-
Barracudas at Shark Reef, Ras Mohammed National Park, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Find a Rainbow Day
-
Hidden beauty in Thailand
-
Hut, hut, hike!
-
Galeries Lafayette, Paris
-
Feel the spray in Monterey
-
Winter Olympics in Beijing
-
Porto Timoni beach, Greece
-
National Poinsettia Day
-
Happy Easter!
-
Cable car station, Graubünden, Switzerland
-
Humpbacks return to the Inside Passage
-
Humpback whales in Maui, Hawaii
-
Glen Brittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland
-
Travel Sunday: On the Ganges in Varanasi, India
-
Beavers Bend
-
Hot and Spicy Food Day
-
Chittorgarh Fort, Rajasthan, India
-
Marshland, Gloucester, MA
-
Tesla, the visionary
-
Folegandros Island, Cyclades, Greece
-
Belgium celebrates its independence
-
The moth wonderful time of the year
-
Summer solstice
-
Assembling the Smithsonian
-
Castle Day in Japan
-
Celebrating World Water Day
-
Peña Roya beech forest, Moncayo Natural Park, Aragon, Spain
-
The Badlands celebrates a milestone
-
Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana
-
The buzz about bees
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

