Rock Art in Jubbah

Rock Art in Jubbah are archaeological site dating back to the Stone Age, located one hundred km north of Hail City in Hail Province, in the heart of an-Nufud Desert, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Jubbah is one of the governorates of Hail Province, covering an area of 12,000 km². It is well-known for agriculture due to the abundance of water in the area.

Jubbah was a station for trade caravans on the ancient trade route that connected the civilizations of the Levant and Mesopotamia. Modern studies indicate that Jubbah is one of the ancient human settlement sites in the Kingdom. Two sites dating back to the Middle Stone Age (eighty thousand – forty thousand years ago) have been uncovered, one located at the archaeological Jabal Umm Sinman and the other on the southern side of the same mountain.

The Jubbah archaeological site serves as an open-air museum for rock art and is one of the largest rock art sites in the Kingdom. In ancient times, a large lake and rock shelters existed near Jubbah, where hunters would lie in wait for the game that came to drink from the lake’s waters. As a result, Jubbah became a center for cultural and social exchange in prehistoric times. This is evidenced by the rock art and ancient inscriptions, confirming that this location was a gathering place for inhabitants, where social, cultural, and religious activities took place.

The Jubbah archaeological site includes twelve rock art locations dating back to the Early Neolithic Period (7,000–5,000 BCE). The carvings include depictions of long-horned cattle and life-size human figures. The rock art from the Late Neolithic Period (5,000–3,000 BCE) is characterized by schematic representations of human and animal figures. The number of cattle carvings decreased, while depictions of deer, ibex, horses, and gazelles became more prominent.

During the Chalcolithic Period (3,500–2,000 BCE), rainfall became scarce, limited to short seasonal periods, leading to the settlement of small groups of people. This is evidenced by circular and rectangular stone structures, as well as stone tools made from flint, such as side scrapers, fine awls, and large cleavers. The predominant carvings from this period depict deer, ibex, goats, and hunting scenes, along with a limited number of short-horned cattle.