عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Culture

AlUla Awarded Middle East's Leading Cultural Tourism Project 2023 by World Travel Awards

AlUla has received the Middle East's Leading Cultural Tourism Project 2023 award at the Middle East World Travel Awards. (SPA)
AlUla has received the Middle East's Leading Cultural Tourism Project 2023 award at the Middle East World Travel Awards. (SPA)
TT
TT

AlUla Awarded Middle East's Leading Cultural Tourism Project 2023 by World Travel Awards

AlUla has received the Middle East's Leading Cultural Tourism Project 2023 award at the Middle East World Travel Awards. (SPA)
AlUla has received the Middle East's Leading Cultural Tourism Project 2023 award at the Middle East World Travel Awards. (SPA)

AlUla has received the Middle East's Leading Cultural Tourism Project 2023 award at the Middle East World Travel Awards, raising the visibility of this Saudi historical oasis that is one of the most attractive destinations in the region.

Royal Commission for AlUla Chief Tourism Officer Phillip Jones, together with other commission representatives, attended the awarding ceremony that was held in Dubai on Sunday.

The award comes in recognition of the commission's efforts to protect the region's unique cultural and natural heritage through a number of sustainable and comprehensive development initiatives.

This win boosts AlUla's status and will further increase its commitment to promote tourism and protect the historical legacy of the old city.

Located in the northwest of the Kingdom, AlUla is part of trade routes from old ages, and home to successive civilizations that have engraved their lives in the landscape and left many monuments that reflect the way of life at the time.

There are many archaeological and historical sites in AlUla governorate, most notably Hegra, which is Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Jabal Ikmah, which has hundreds of rock inscriptions in various ancient languages. The site was recently included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

The old city also has over 900 mud brick houses that were erected at least since the 12th century.

AlUla was named one of the world's best tourist villages for 2022 by the World Tourism Organization.

Most Viewed

 
 
Culture

Egypt Unveils Ancient Rock-cut Tombs and Burial Shafts in Luxor

Egyptian archaeologists restore recently discovered artifacts by the mission of the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage, at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut's Funerary temple, at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank, in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)
Egyptian archaeologists restore recently discovered artifacts by the mission of the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage, at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut's Funerary temple, at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank, in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)
TT
TT

Egypt Unveils Ancient Rock-cut Tombs and Burial Shafts in Luxor

Egyptian archaeologists restore recently discovered artifacts by the mission of the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage, at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut's Funerary temple, at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank, in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)
Egyptian archaeologists restore recently discovered artifacts by the mission of the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage, at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut's Funerary temple, at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile's West Bank, in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)

Egypt unveiled several discoveries near the famed city of Luxor on Wednesday, including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts dating back 3,600 years.

They were unearthed at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut’s funerary temple at Deir al-Bahri on the Nile’s West Bank, according to a statement released by Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities & Heritage. It said it worked in tandem with the Supreme Council of Antiquities on the site since September 2022.

Artifacts found at the tombs included bronze coins with the image of Alexander the Great dating to the Time of Ptolemy I (367-283), children’s toys made of clay, cartonnage and funerary masks that covered mummies, winged scarabs, beads and funerary amulets, The AP reported.

Hawass told reporters that the discoveries could “reconstruct history” and offer an understanding of the type of programs ancient Egyptians designed inside a temple.

The archaeologists also found the remains of Queen Hatshepsut’s Valley Temple, rock-cut tombs dating back to the Middle Kingdom (1938 B.C. - 1630 B.C.), burial shafts from the 17th dynasty, the tomb of Djehuti-Mes and part of the Assassif Ptolemaic Necropolis.

The rock-cut tombs had been previously robbed during the Ptolemaic period and later. Still, the Egyptian teams uncovered some artifacts such as pottery tables that were used to offer bread, wine and meat.

Inside the burial shafts dating back to 1580 B.C. - 1550 B.C., anthropoid wooden coffins were found, including one that belonged to a young child. It remained intact since its burial some 3,600 years ago. War archery bows were also found inside the burial chamber, indicating that those who owned the tombs had military backgrounds and fought to liberate Egypt from the Hyksos.

Not many artifacts from Djehuti Mes’s tomb were found, but the tomb itself reveals more about Djehuti Mes, who oversaw Queen Teti Sheri’s palace. The date engraved on the Djehuti Mes’ funerary stelae indicates that the tomb goes back to the 9th year of King Ahmose I’s reign (1550 B.C. - 1525 B.C.).

Part of the extended Ptolemaic necropolis that occupied the site of the causeway and the Valley Temple was also uncovered. The tombs in the cemetery were built of mud bricks over the remains of Queen Hatshepsut’s temple. A large part of the necropolis was unearthed earlier in the 20th century but wasn’t properly documented.

In November, Egyptian and American archaeologists excavated an ancient tomb with 11 sealed burials near Luxor. The tomb, which dates to the Middle Kingdom, was found in the South Asasif necropolis, next to the Temple of Hatshepsut.