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:
-
World Olive Tree Day
-
Shark Awareness Day
-
Surströmming Day
-
Flower of Life symbol drawn in snow
-
Tegallalang terrace farms in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
-
Bobbing for crab apples
-
Wartburg Castle overlooking Thuringian Forest in Germany
-
A bison preserve
-
The (Inca) empire strikes back
-
A day for our oceans
-
West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Connecticut
-
Cherry blossom season in Tokyo
-
Harbor and longtail boats at Ko Samui, Thailand
-
Glowworm caves in Australia
-
International Surfing Day
-
Christmas Eve
-
Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
-
Miravet, Catalonia, Spain
-
Skyscraper Day
-
Fall comes to the Last Frontier
-
Iguazu Falls at the border of Argentina and Brazil
-
Aerial view of Venice, Italy
-
Hiking the High Trestle Trail
-
Sand dunes in the Sahara, Algeria
-
Holey moley–it’s National Doughnut Day!
-
‘The memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever’
-
Short-eared owl
-
Collared aracari in Costa Rica
-
Every day is Napping Day for this screech owl
-
An uncommonly cool critter
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

