saudi arabia open for tourism

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It's official: Saudi is open to tourists from around the world

Kingdom says it is launching a new visa regime for 49 countries

• Saudi Arabia opens to tourism for the first time
• Kingdom is launching a new visa regime for 49 countries
• Historic change marks major Vision 2030 milestone, fueling investment and creating a million jobs

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has announced that it will open its doors to international visitors as part of efforts to boost tourism.

The Kingdom is launching a new visa regime for 49 countries and appealing to foreign companies to invest in a sector it hopes will contribute 10 per cent of gross domestic product by 2030

Tourism chief Ahmed Al Khateeb said abayas will not be mandatory for women tourists but modest dress is, including at public beaches.

Visas will be available online for about $80 (Dh294), with no restrictions for unaccompanied women as in the past. Access to the Muslim holy cities of Makkah and Medina is restricted.

Further details of the new visa rules will be announced on Friday evening at 10.30pm UAE time during an unveiling ceremony scheduled to take place at Ad Diriyah, a Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site in Riyadh.

Currently only citizens of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and the UAE can travel freely to the country.

Authorities recently launched the website whereintheworld.co that reveals picturesque pictures of attractive destinations accompanied with various straplines such as “This is not the Maldives” and “This is not Petra”.

Economic impact

Opening Saudi to tourism is a key milestone in the implementation of Vision 2030, which seeks to diversify the country’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil.

Saudi Arabia expects to increase international and domestic visits to 100 million a year by 2030, attracting significant foreign and domestic investment and creating a million jobs.

By 2030, the aim is for tourism to contribute up to 10 per cent towards the Saudi GDP, compared to just 3 per cent today.

Billions of dollars are being spent to improve infrastructure and develop heritage, cultural and entertainment sites.

Saudi’s airport capacity is expected to increase by 150 million passengers per annum and an additional 500,000 hotel key cards will be needed across the country over the coming decade.

Details of a significant commitment of private sector investment is also expected to be announced later on Friday.

In a statement, Ahmad Al Khateeb, Chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, said: “Opening Saudi Arabia to international tourists is a historic moment for our country. Generous hospitality is at the heart of Arabian culture and we look forward to showing our guests a very warm welcome.

"Visitors will be surprised and delighted by the treasures we have to share. Five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a vibrant local culture and breathtaking natural beauty. To visitors we say: be among the first to discover and explore the treasures of Arabia. To investors we say: become part of the fastest growing tourism sector on earth.”

Saudi attractions

Visitors seeking unexplored heritage sites, an authentic cultural experience and breathtaking natural beauty will be surprised to discover Saudi Arabia’s many treasures.

Saudi Arabia boasts a surprisingly diverse range of landscapes, including the green mountains of Asir, the crystal waters of the Red Sea, the snow-covered winter plains of Tabuk and the shifting sands of the Empty Quarter.

A number of new tourist destinations are currently under construction, including the futuristic city of Neom, the Qiddiya entertainment city near Riyadh and a range of luxury destinations by the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia is home to five Unesco World Heritage Sites:

• Madain Saleh in Al Ula, the largest conserved site of the civilisation of the Nabataeans south of Petra in Jordan.
• Al Turaif District in Ad Diriyah, the first capital of the Saudi state.
• Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Mecca, characterized by a distinctive architectural tradition.
• Rock Art in the Hail Region, showing 10,000-year old inscriptions of human and animal figures.
• Al Ahsa Oasis, with 2.5 million date palms the largest oasis in the world.

Saudi Arabia is home to 13 regions, each with a distinctive cultural tradition. It is also home to flourishing contemporary culture, with highlights that include the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture in Dhahran, the modernist sculpture park along the Corniche in Jeddah, the Jameel House of Traditional Arts in Jeddah, and the Nassif House in Jeddah’s Historical District.

Other attractions also include the annual Flowerman Festival in Asir, the Winter at Tantora festival in Al-Ula, and the Red Sea International Film Festival that is expected to launch in March 2020.

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Here’s What You Need to Know Before Visiting Saudi Arabia

For the first time in its history, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced that will be opening its doors for tourism by issuing an electronic visa for visitors coming from 49 countries — including the United States.

Anyone over the age of 18 can apply for an eVisa . It costs approximately $120 and is valid for a period of one year with an option for multiple entry, and permits a maximum stay of 90 days in the country. Previously, the Kingdom issued only visitor visas for religious pilgrimage and business visas. This monumental announcement is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reform program, Vision 2030 , which aims to reduce the country’s reliance on oil and diversify its economy by way of tourism and entertainment.

Over the past two years, the government has also announced the launch of several ambitious projects, including an entertainment mega-city in Riyadh (reportedly, twice the size of Orlando’s Disney World ), a futuristic beach destination along the coast of the Red Sea, and restoration of UNESCO World Heritage sites. By 2030, the government expects 100 million annual visits, increased foreign and domestic investment in hotels and associated amenities, the creation of million jobs, and an increase in tourism revenue from the current 3% to 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, according to Reuters.

To attract Western tourists and market itself as a tourist destination — on par with neighboring Gulf states— Saudi Arabia has eased some of its conservative restrictions, like granting women rights to drive and travel without a guardian, curbing the powers of the moral police, permitting unmarried tourist couples to rent hotel rooms, and relaxing dress codes.

Within the first 10 days of the introduction of the eVisa 24,000 visitors entered the Kingdom, according to Arab News . Although there is a lack of adequate tourism infrastructure, those curious to learn about and experience the country will find Saudi’s natural landscape and its welcoming locals incentive enough to visit.

If you find yourself heading to Saudi Arabia to explore the land uncharted to tourists, here are a few basic and cultural tips for first-time travelers to the Kingdom.

With this news, people are asking: Is Saudi Arabia Safe for tourists? Yes, Saudi Arabia is safe for tourists. As with travel to any other country in the world, be respectful of local rules and customs, be mindful of your surroundings, and carry out due diligence before traveling. Be sure to consult travel advisories before your trip.

Public spaces

Public spaces may be segregated, and you will find separate entrances or seating areas for men and women. Refrain from public displays of affection.

Seek permission before photographing locals. Under the public code of conduct , it is a punishable offense. Other offenses include vandalism of public property, playing music during prayer times, and dress code violations.

Female tourists are not required to wear the abaya (a cloak, previously mandated by the government). However, both men and women should dress modestly, avoiding tight fitting and revealing clothes in public. The official Visit Saudi tourism website provides further details on what this entails.

Stores and restaurants close during prayer times, five times a day. To make the most of your trip, plan your itinerary according to these times.

Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country. While non-Muslims are welcome and permitted to practice their religion in private spaces, preaching in public forums or on social media platforms is prohibited. Malicious propaganda against the country, government, and religion is a severe offense.

The sale, purchase or consumption of alcohol and drugs is illegal in the country.

Social customs

You will find locals to be hospitable, generous, and as equally curious about you as you may be about them. It is not uncommon to be invited to share a meal or a cup of gahwa (Arabic coffee) and dates. Your hosts — and even strangers — will want to extend their welcome and offer a token of their hospitality, like food or even a small gift. It is considered rude to refuse such an offering. Just remember, always accept and consume food and beverages with your right hand.

If you are invited into a Saudi house, remove your shoes, unless your host insists you keep them on. In a traditional Majlis, (a sitting hall with floor cushions) you are expected to sit on the floor. If hosted elsewhere, you can expect a modern setup with armchairs and other furniture.

Saudis encourage and welcome Westerners asking questions about their culture. To avoid offending local sensibilities, it's best to steer clear of political or religious topics of conversation.

Familiarizing yourself with Saudi rituals like greetings and handshakes will always make a favorable impression with your hosts. “Marhaban!” (Welcome) is a common way of greeting and you may respond with “Marhabtain” (I give you two welcomes).

Men shouldn’t extend a handshake to a Saudi woman, unless she does so first. To err on the side of caution, place your hand over your heart and greet with a hello.

Related Articles

Since the launch of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is more open than ever before welcoming people from around the globe. With the introduction of the e-visa in 2019, millions of visitors have been drawn to the Kingdom, which has helped in creating jobs and driving local economic growth. To further promote the country as a tourist destination, initiatives in the areas of archaeology, culture, education, and the arts are being undertaken to preserve the Kingdom's rich heritage and natural beauty, while opening it up to the world. Major events like the Red Sea International Film Festival and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix are attracting visitors and showcasing the Kingdom's warm hospitality. Additionally, as a central location in the Arab and Islamic world, Saudi Arabia is enhancing its facilities and services to provide pilgrims with an unforgettable spiritual experience. As it welcomes the world to come and experience its unique offering, the Kingdom's breathtaking beauty and rich heritage make it a must-visit destination.

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz

Crown Prince, Prime Minister, & Chairman of the Council of Economics and Development Affairs

Vision 2030 has enabled an economic transformation that has in turn driven a cultural transformation in Saudi Arabia. Through the digital economy and new sectors like tourism, gaming, entertainment, and culture, we are connecting the Saudi people to the world, and the world with Saudi Arabia.

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Saudi Arabia to open itself up to foreign tourists for first time

Kingdom eyes holidaymakers as part of plan to diversify economy away from oil

Saudi Arabia will begin offering visas on Saturday for the first time to non-religious tourists, days after the country was criticised at the UN for its grim human rights record.

The kingdom – which has imprisoned and tortured women’s rights activists , carries out regular public executions, and was responsible for the high-profile murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Kashoggi – has said it is opening up to holidaymakers as part of a push to diversify its economy away from oil.

The new visa programme for citizens of 49 countries, including the UK and the US, was announced by Saudi tourism officials, quickly followed by a Twitter campaign exhorting users to @VisitSaudiNow .

As part of the scheme, which promises to deliver a visa in seven minutes, female tourists will be exempted from wearing the all-covering abaya robe, but will be required to dress “modestly”.

The Twitter account, which does not appear to accept comments, has so far posted three times, including promoting an image showing rock climbing and one featuring sheep in what appears to be a snow-covered setting.

Getting tourists to visit the austere kingdom, which forbids alcohol and enforces a strict social code, however, is seen by many as a hard sell.

While Saudi Arabia has a relatively well-established hotel and air transit network, serving the millions of Muslim pilgrims who travel to the country to perform the Hajj and Umrah, its new tourism strategy marks a stark departure.

The announcement comes as the country has been on a diplomatic offensive, both to counter criticism of its human rights record and to bolster its proxy conflict with neighbouring Iran, which has been played out largely in Yemen.

The move also prefigures the anticipated acknowledgement by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in a PBS documentary next week, that he bears responsibility for the killing of Khashoggi last year by Saudi operatives “because it happened under my watch”.

Kickstarting tourism is one of the centrepieces of Prince Mohammed’s Vision 2030 reform programme to prepare the biggest Arab economy for a post-oil era.

“Opening Saudi Arabia to international tourists is a historic moment for our country,” its tourism chief, Ahmed al-Khateeb, said in a statement. “Visitors will be surprised … by the treasures we have to share – five Unesco world heritage sites, a vibrant local culture and breathtaking natural beauty.”

He said the kingdom would also ease its strict dress code for foreign women, allowing them to go without the abaya that is mandatory public wear for Saudi women. Foreign women, however, will be required to wear “modest clothing”, he added, without elaborating.

Visas in the desert kingdom, rich in bedouin heritage and archaeological sites, are currently restricted to workers, their dependants and Muslim pilgrims travelling to holy sites in Mecca and Medina.

Among attractions in the kingdom are Nabataean ruins in Madâin Sâlih, once part of the spice route, the palace complex in the Najdi architectural style in Ad-Diriyah , capital of the first Saudi dynasty, and the Red Sea coast.

In a rare move, Saudi Arabia last year began issuing temporary visas to visitors to attend sporting and cultural events in an effort to kickstart tourism.

Prince Mohammed is seeking to change that through a sweeping liberalisation drive that has brought new cinemas, mixed-gender concerts and sporting extravaganzas to Saudi Arabia.

The government, reeling from low oil prices, says it hopes tourism will contribute up to 10% of the gross domestic product by 2030, compared with 3% currently. It says by 2030 it aims to attract up to 100m annual visits by both domestic and foreign tourists.

In 2017, the kingdom announced a multibillion dollar project to turn 50 islands and other pristine sites on the Red Sea into luxury resorts.

Saudi sightseeing

Madâin Sâlih

The ancient archeological site became a Unesco world heritage site in 2008. It is located along an ancient trade route and has a large collection of monumental tombs. With 111 monumental tombs, it is the largest conserved site of the Nabataean civilisation. One remote tomb, known as Qasr al-Farid or the Lonely Castle, is carved into a giant boulder but was never finished.

King Fahd’s Fountain

Standing in the Red Sea between 260 metres and 312 metres high, the fountain is the world’s tallest. It was opened in 1985 and is visible around the city. It does not use freshwater, instead taking the Red Sea’s saltwater.

Jeddah Tower

Construction began in 2013 and has been subject to delays. However, it is expected to be the world’s tallest building on completion in 2020. It will rise at least 1,000 metres, overtaking Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. Previously known as Kingdom Tower, it will be the centre of the Jeddah Economic City development and will contain a Four Seasons Hotel and the world’s highest observatory.

Al Wahbah crater

Once believed to be created by a meteorite, the crater is thought to have appeared due to volcanic activity. Standing at 2km across and 250 metres deep, the bottom is covered with white salt and is home to palm trees and green grass despite being surrounded by desert.

Jubbah rock carvings

The most famous rock art site in Saudi Arabia became a Unesco world heritage site in 2015. Located in the Jabel Umm Sinman range, the carvings cover a wide range of representations including humans, cattle, lions and ostriches. Some of the carvings are possibly 10,000 years old and were created using a range of techniques.

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Saudi Arabia aims for 70 million tourism visits this year

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Reporting by Yousef Saba Editing by Mark Heinrich

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Yousef covers Middle East energy out of Dubai, paying close attention to Gulf state oil giants, their roles in the ambitious region's transformational plans and the shift to green energy. He previously covered Gulf financial and economic news, with a focus on the fast-growing capital markets there. He joined Reuters in 2018 in Cairo, where he covered Egypt and Sudan, including its uprising. He previously had stints at a local paper in Cairo and in D.C. as an intern at Politico during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

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Saudi Arabia Now Open To Tourism

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• Travel News , Visa & Passport Policy Changes

For the first time, Saudi Arabia is open to tourists. Up until recently, Saudi Arabia only provided visas to people traveling to the country for religious purposes. Now the country is looking to boost foreign tourism, and expand the economy beyond the oil industry.

History of Tourism in Saudi Arabia

Tourism in Saudi Arabia has always revolved  largely around religious pilgrimage  and still does. Visas were limited to business people working in the country, and to Muslims traveling to the country to visit the holy cities of Medina and Mecca.

Mecca receives about two million pilgrims during the month of Ramadan to perform Umrah, and more than three million pilgrims a year during the month of Dhu al-Hijjah in Hajj (an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that must be carried out by Muslims at least once in their lifetime). Throughout the year, Mecca receives close to four million for Umrah (the non-mandatory pilgrimage made by Muslims to Mecca, which can be performed any time of the year).

Present Day Tourism

Starting on September 27th, 2019, Saudi Arabia opened up their tourism industry to travelers who want to visit for more than religious reasons. Over  24,000 tourists were welcomed  into the country in the first 10 days after the tourist visas were issued for the first time. To promote the new change, authorities reported that they will allow unmarried foreign couples to rent hotel rooms together – something not allowed in the past.

Working to expand their tourism industry, Saudi Arabia is taking on large projects that are intended to attract more travellers. Numerous hotels, shopping centers and even a metro are set to be  fully operational by the end of 2019 .

What to See in Saudi Arabia

There are many unique places to discover while on your trip to Saudi Arabia. One of the most exquisite locations is Tiran Island. Located at the entrance of the straits of Tiran, Tiran Island is an extraordinary place to visit. Its beautiful beaches and clear blue waters make this destination a paradise for snorkelers, divers, and beach lovers alike.

There are five UNESCO sites you can travel to in Saudi Arabia. One that’s a must-see is Mada’in Saleh. Mada’in Saleh was once a flourishing city along an ancient spice route, and played a pivotal role in building a trade empire. It was the second largest city of the Nabateans (a group that resided across the Jordan Valley and Arabia) until their empire was overtaken by the Romans in 106 CE.

Another of Saudi Arabia’s UNESCO sites to check out is Masmak Fortress in Riyadh. This was built in the year 1865 but is more well known for what happened many years later. In 1902, an exiled royal by the name of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud, went to Riyadh and took over the fortress. He then went on to conquer all the kingdoms of the region, before uniting them to form the modern-day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

For more Saudi Arabia travel destinations, check out our Travel Spotlight on Saudi Arabia  here .

Laws in Saudi Arabia

While visiting Saudia Arabia, be aware of certain laws you’ll need to follow. The first and most important is to avoid breaking the Lese Majeste laws. This entails not publicly criticizing the government, royal family, Kind, or flag of Saudi Arabia (this includes on social media).

Everyone loves capturing memories through photos, but be careful when taking photographs while in Saudi Arabia. Taking pictures of military and government installations is illegal, and could lead to a prison sentence.

Make sure to carry your personal identification with you at all times. Authorities can ask for identification at all times (especially when at a security checkpoint) so it’s a good idea to have a photocopy of your passport on hand.

eVisa Requirements

Before visiting Saudi Arabia, there are a small amount of requirements in order to  obtain your eVisa . You must be 18 years of age or older, and must have a valid passport from an eligible country with at least 6 months remaining from the date of entry. Some of the countries include the United States, Australia, Canada, South Korea, the UK and 45 others (see below for a complete list). The tourist visa allows for a stay of up to 3 month per entry, with travelers able to stay in Saudi Arabia for up to 90 days during the year.

Obtaining Your eVisa with Swift

No matter what you’re looking to do on your trip, make sure to  contact us  to  obtain your eVisa . From stunning architecture to breathtaking beaches, Saudi Arabia is certain to be a trip of a lifetime.

Full List of Eligible Countries for the eVisa (as of the date of this publication)

• New Zealand
• South Korea
• Czech Republic
• Liechtenstein
• Switzerland
• China, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan

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Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 Is Too Expensive For Tourists – And Everyone Knows It

Josh Corder , Skift

May 1st, 2024 at 9:31 AM EDT

Fancy a stay in the heart of Arabia? It'll cost you.

Josh Corder

Are Saudi Arabia’s new tourism offerings too pricey? That’s the sentiment on the ground at the Future Hospitality Summit (FHS) in Riyadh this week.

Between now and the end of the decade, 320,000 new hotel rooms are expected to open in Saudi Arabia. According to Knight Frank, 82% of those new rooms are in the luxury and upscale segments. And 66% of Saudi’s current 149,400 rooms are also upscale and luxury.

Saudi eventually wants 70 million international tourists to come visit. But it was only in 2019 that it opened for tourism at all. Saudi had 27 million international visitors in 2023 – many of them came for religious travel rather than stays at newly-developed leisure hubs.

‘Ego Projects Are Going Away’

Radisson’s regional vice president of development, Elie Milky said on a panel at the summit that “ego projects” by private investors are becoming less prevalent.

“Emotional and ego investments are going away. We need to be in line with the tourism strategy but we need to help it in not only promoting five-star categories,” Milky said. “It’s too risky for some investors to go into a place with a five-star hotel. It might be a nice idea for a five-star hotel, but you might not see return on investment.”

Many developments are being funded by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Chaired by the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, PIF owns and develops tourism sites such as Neom, Diriyah Gate and The Red Sea – three leisure destinations with a swell of luxury facilities.

“Giga-projects” are being built solely with five-star hotels. Some of them are planning to cap visitation as well, making it even tougher to accommodate 70 million visitors.

The Red Sea is one such example: The Maldives-like project along the Saudi coastline is planning to open 50 luxury hotels. The plan is to open 16 hotels by 2025, and another 34 before 2030.

To date, every hotel announced there has been a luxury name.

Despite costing billions, The Red Sea is going to chip in one-seventieth towards achieving international tourism goals. The site will limit visits upon completion to protect the environment.

‘Mid-Markets Democratize Travel’

With luxury projects not moving the needle much in achieving visitor goals, hotel developers are hammering for more economical brands.

At another session at the summit this week, Wyndham’s regional MD, Panos Loupasis said: “Saudi will become exclusive. That’s a problem. If you want to attract people, and have them come again and again, visit more cities, it can’t be so exclusive. Three-star hotels are enablers for travelers. They democratize travel.”

“The market is not well-educated in mid-scale brands. There seems to be a strong focus on luxury in Saudi,” added Leva Hotels CEO JS Anand, a Dubai-based operator serving mid-scale.

“Not everybody will pay $2,000 a night,” he added.

The CEO of a privately-held hotel developer and owner had similar thoughts. “Mid-market hotels are the core accommodation in any city. A lot of people in the segment are just looking for glitz and glamor rather than a real investment strategy,” said Tashyid Urban Development CEO Falih Motasim Hajaj.

Following the publication of this article, a spokesperson from Saudi Tourism Authority sent a statement to Skift acknowledging the importance of luxury accommodation but also the range of mid-market choices in the country.

“Luxury hotels and products are a key part of what we are developing in Saudi, and we know that for some of our target audiences, both domestically and internationally, having luxury destination hotels is essential to their experience,” the spokesperson said. “However, our strategy and ambition are much bigger than that, as set out in our national tourism strategy. It is not just about luxury, it’s about building a year-round offering that caters for visitors across all tiers.”

Luxury First, Mid-market Second

Accor is one of the biggest players in growing Saudi’s tourism and hospitality infrastructure. The French operator wants an additional 45 properties with more than 9,800 rooms by 2030 in Saudi.

In the major locations like the giga-projects, these will be luxury hotels, according to Accor’s Group Deputy CEO and Premium, Midscale & Economy Division CEO, Jean-Jacques Morin.

“Luxury is in the big leisure projects – Neom, Red Sea, Diriyah and so on,” he said. “We are by far the largest operator in the holy cities as well… While in second-tier cities we have a strategy for premium, midscale and economy.”

Are There Any Mid-market Hotels Opening Up in Giga-projects?

There are a few mid-market hotels, but they mostly act as lodging for incoming consultants, contractors and architects. The Red Sea has Turtle Bay hotel to put up staff in, while Trojena – one part of the Neom project – has a Hampton by Hilton up and running.

Even this hotel is commanding high rates as the only hotel for business people to use in the area.

“In terms of today, converting mid-scale hotels will drive super-normal profits,” said Hilton’s Managing Director, Development, Middle East & North Africa, Amir Lababedi. “As much as we can, we will convert existing buildings. Trojena has no hotels that any contractor can use. That’s why we brought the Hampton.”

He added that Hilton is looking at many of Saudi’s existing budget hotels as options for its new Spark brand.

Elsewhere in Neom, Oxagon has a Yotel on the way, again designed mostly for professionals.

How Many Annual Visits Saudi Projects Expect by 2030 :

• The Red Sea: 1 million
• Amaala: 500,000
• Trojena (a part of Neom): 700,000
• Sindalah (a part of Neom): 876,000
• Neom altogether: 5 million
• Diriyah: 50 million (including domestic day trips)

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Tags: diriyah , middle east report , neom , saudi news , Saudi Tourism , The Red Sea

Photo credit: Riyadh

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Arabian Travel Market: Saudi Arabia to open tourism offices in 15 countries

The kingdom is looking to attract visitors from the uk, germany, russia, china, india and north america.

Abundant marine life in the Red Sea. Photos: Saudi Tourism Authority

Saudi Arabia plans to open tourism offices in 15 countries to woo travellers from new source markets and is planning to attract more cruise liners to its shores, its tourism chief said.

The kingdom has already opened offices in the UK, Germany and Russia to promote the destination, Fahd Hamidaddin, chief executive of the Saudi Tourism Authority, told The National during the Arabian Travel Market on Tuesday. The other markets with planned offices are China, UK, Russia, North America, India, GCC, France, South Korea, Italy, the Nordics, eastern Europe, Japan, Benelux [Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg], Malaysia and Germany/Switzerland/Austria.

"We have identified 15 targeted feeder markets and we plan to open offices this year to serve them. Three offices are already opened in the UK, Germany and Russia," he said.

The move comes as Saudi Arabia expects to re-open its borders to foreign tourists "very soon",  Mr Hamidaddin said.

"Definitely, we will aim to make super easy for all vaccinated [travellers]. The discussion now is how can we make it easy through digital integration," he said, pointing to multiple global initiatives on digital health certificates such as the Iata Travel Pass. "Very soon, we're trying to hit summer with international travellers."

Saudi Arabia opened up its tourism industry in 2019, making it easier for foreigners to apply for tourist visas to the kingdom. Developing the nascent tourism industry is part of its Vision 2030 plan to grow the non-oil sector, attract foreign investment and create jobs.

Saudi Arabia is also aiming to expand its cruise ship travel segment.

"During the summer we're activating cruise ships. We tried it last year, it was a dashing success and we're coming back with double the capacity this summer," the government official said. "It's going be the beginning of a growing segment."

This year, it is looking at regional cruises going from the kingdom to Egypt and Jordan, Mr Hamidaddin said.

Cruise Saudi, a business that is wholly owned by the kingdom's Public Investment Fund  that seeks to develop Saudi Arabia's cruise industry, and MSC Cruises, the world's largest privately-owned cruise line, said  in April they will launch Red Sea cruises starting from November.

Overall, Saudi Arabia is "on track" to attract new investments of $58 billion into tourism projects by 2023 from local, Gulf and international investors, Mr Hamidaddin said. These include investments into hotels, accommodation and cruise lines.

If Saudi Arabia hits its target to reach an immunisation rate of 70 per cent of its population, its plan will be to return to normal tourism activity in the fourth quarter of 2021, which would include theatres, concerts, sports and entertainment, he said.

The country is "well-poised" to attract "cautious travellers" seeking sparse crowds and open spaces with its beaches and mountains, while offering "revenge travellers" the opportunity to explore an undiscovered destination, the official said.

Revenge travel is a new term that describes an urgent, pent-up demand to travel after spending so long at home.

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‘To the Future’: Saudi Arabia Spends Big to Become an A.I. Superpower

The oil-rich kingdom is plowing money into glitzy events, computing power and artificial intelligence research, putting it in the middle of an escalating U.S.-China struggle for technological influence.

More than 200,000 people converged on the Leap tech conference in the desert outside Riyadh in March. Credit... Iman Al-Dabbagh for The New York Times

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By Adam Satariano and Paul Mozur

Adam Satariano reported from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Paul Mozur from Taipei, Taiwan.

• Published April 25, 2024 Updated April 26, 2024

On a Monday morning last month, tech executives, engineers and sales representatives from Amazon, Google, TikTok and other companies endured a three-hour traffic jam as their cars crawled toward a mammoth conference at an event space in the desert, 50 miles outside Riyadh.

The lure: billions of dollars in Saudi money as the kingdom seeks to build a tech industry to complement its oil dominance.

To bypass the congestion, frustrated eventgoers drove onto the highway shoulder, kicking up plumes of desert sand as they sped past those following traffic rules. A lucky few took advantage of a special freeway exit dedicated to “V.V.I.P.s” — very, very important people.

“To the Future,” a sign read on the approach to the event, called Leap.

More than 200,000 people converged at the conference, including Adam Selipsky, chief executive of Amazon’s cloud computing division, who announced a $5.3 billion investment in Saudi Arabia for data centers and artificial intelligence technology. Arvind Krishna, the chief executive of IBM, spoke of what a government minister called a “lifetime friendship” with the kingdom. Executives from Huawei and dozens of other firms made speeches. More than $10 billion in deals were done there, according to Saudi Arabia’s state press agency.

“This is a great country,” Shou Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, said during the conference, heralding the video app’s growth in the kingdom. “We expect to invest even more.”

• Shou Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, promoted the video app’s growth in Saudi Arabia during the Leap conference. Iman Al-Dabbagh for The New York Times
• One of the booths at the Leap conference, which was attended by executives from Google, Amazon, TikTok and others. Iman Al-Dabbagh for The New York Times
• A robotic dog walking through the Leap conference. Iman Al-Dabbagh for The New York Times

Everybody in tech seems to want to make friends with Saudi Arabia right now as the kingdom has trained its sights on becoming a dominant player in A.I. — and is pumping in eye-popping sums to do so.

Saudi Arabia created a $100 billion fund this year to invest in A.I. and other technology. It is in talks with Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and other investors to put an additional $40 billion into A.I. companies. In March, the government said it would invest $1 billion in a Silicon Valley-inspired start-up accelerator to lure A.I. entrepreneurs to the kingdom. The initiatives easily dwarf those of most major nation-state investments, like Britain’s $100 million pledge for the Alan Turing Institute.

The spending blitz stems from a generational effort outlined in 2016 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and known as “Vision 2030.” Saudi Arabia is racing to diversify its oil-rich economy in areas like tech, tourism, culture and sports — investing a reported $200 million a year for the soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and planning a 100-mile-long mirrored skyscraper in the desert.

For the tech industry, Saudi Arabia has long been a funding spigot. But the kingdom is now redirecting its oil wealth into building a domestic tech industry, requiring international firms to establish roots there if they want its money.

If Prince Mohammed succeeds, he will place Saudi Arabia in the middle of an escalating global competition among China, the United States and other countries like France that have made breakthroughs in generative A.I. Combined with A.I. efforts by its neighbor, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia’s plan has the potential to create a new power center in the global tech industry.

“I hereby invite all dreamers, innovators, investors and thinkers to join us, here in the kingdom, to achieve our ambitions together,” Prince Mohammed remarked in a 2020 speech about A.I.

His ambitions are geopolitically delicate as China and the United States seek to carve out spheres of influence over A.I. to shape the future of critical technologies.

In Washington, many worry that the kingdom’s goals and authoritarian leanings could work against U.S. interests — for instance, if Saudi Arabia ends up providing computing power to Chinese researchers and companies. This month, the White House brokered a deal for Microsoft to invest in G42, an A.I. company in the Emirates, which was intended partly to diminish China’s influence.

For China, the Persian Gulf region offers a big market, access to deep-pocketed investors and a chance to wield influence in countries traditionally allied with the United States. China’s form of A.I.-powered surveillance has already been embedded into policing in the region .

Some industry leaders have begun to arrive. Jürgen Schmidhuber, an A.I. pioneer who now heads an A.I. program at Saudi Arabia’s premier research university, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, recalled the kingdom’s roots centuries ago as a center for science and mathematics.

“It would be lovely to contribute to a new world and resurrect this golden age,” he said. “Yes, it will cost money, but there’s a lot of money in this country.”

The willingness to spend was front and center last month at a gala in Riyadh hosted by the Saudi government, which coincided with the Leap conference. Hollywood klieg lights blazed in the sky above the city as guests arrived in chauffeured Maseratis, Mercedes-Benzes and Porsches. Inside a 300,000-square-foot parking garage that had been converted two years ago into one of the world’s largest start-up spaces, attendees mingled, debated opening offices in Riyadh and sipped pomegranate juice and cardamom-flavored coffee.

“There’s something happening here,” said Hilmar Veigar Petursson, the chief executive of CCP Games, the Icelandic company behind the popular game Eve Online, who was at the gala. “I got a very similar sense when I came back from China in 2005.”

A Sci-Fi Script

Prince Mohammed’s Vision 2030 project, unveiled eight years ago, seems taken from a science-fiction script.

Under the plan, new futuristic cities will be built in the desert along the Red Sea, oriented around tech and digital services. And the kingdom, which has piled billions into tech start-ups like Uber and investment vehicles such as SoftBank’s Vision Fund, would spend more.

That drew Silicon Valley’s attention. When Prince Mohammed visited California in 2018, Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, escorted him through a tree-lined path at the company’s campus. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, showed him the company’s products. The prince also traveled to Seattle, where he met with Bill Gates of Microsoft; Satya Nadella, the company’s chief executive; and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

It was a key moment for Saudi Arabia’s tech ambitions as Prince Mohammed presented himself as a youthful, digitally savvy reformer. But enthusiasm dimmed a few months later when Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the crown prince, was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Prince Mohammed denied involvement, but the C.I.A. concluded that he had approved the killing .

For a brief period, it was seen as untoward to associate with Saudi Arabia. Business executives canceled visits to the kingdom. But the lure of its money was ultimately too strong.

A.I. development depends on two key things that Saudi Arabia has in abundance: money and energy. The kingdom is pouring oil profits into buying semiconductors, building supercomputers, attracting talent and constructing data centers powered by its plentiful electricity. The bet is that Saudi Arabia will eventually export A.I. computing muscle.

Majid Ali AlShehry, the general manager of studies for the Saudi Data and A.I. Authority, a government agency overseeing A.I. initiatives, said 70 percent of the 96 strategic goals outlined in Vision 2030 involved using data and A.I.

“We see A.I. as one of the main enablers of all sectors,” he said in an interview at the agency’s office in Riyadh, where employees nearby worked on an Arabic chatbot called Allam.

Those goals have permeated the kingdom. Posters for Vision 2030 are visible throughout Riyadh. Young Saudis describe the crown prince as running the kingdom as if it were a start-up. Many tech leaders have parroted the sentiment.

“Saudi has a founder,” Ben Horowitz, a founder of Andreessen Horowitz, said last year at a conference in Miami. “You don’t call him a founder. You call him his royal highness.”

Some question whether Saudi Arabia can become a global tech hub. The kingdom has faced scrutiny for its human rights record, intolerance to homosexuality and brutal heat. But for those in the tech world who descended on Riyadh last month, the concerns seemed secondary to the dizzying amount of deal-making underway.

“They are just pouring money into A.I.,” said Peter Lillian, an engineer at Groq, a U.S. maker of semiconductors that power A.I. systems. Groq is working with Neom, a futuristic city that Saudi Arabia is building in the desert, and Aramco, the state oil giant. “We’re doing so many deals,” he said.

Torn Between Superpowers

Situated along the Red Sea’s turquoise waters, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has become a site of the U.S.-Chinese technological showdown.

The university, known as KAUST, is central to Saudi Arabia’s plans to vault to A.I. leadership. Modeled on universities like Caltech, KAUST has brought in foreign A.I. leaders and provided computing resources to build an epicenter for A.I. research.

To achieve that aim, KAUST has often turned to China to recruit students and professors and to strike research partnerships , alarming American officials. They fear students and professors from Chinese military-linked universities will use KAUST to sidestep U.S. sanctions and boost China in the race for A.I. supremacy , analysts and U.S. officials said.

Of particular concern is the university’s construction of one of the region’s fastest supercomputers, which needs thousands of microchips made by Nvidia, the biggest maker of precious chips that power A.I. systems. The university’s chip order, with an estimated value of more than $100 million, is being held up by a review from the U.S. government, which must provide an export license before the sale can go through.

Both China and the United States want to keep Prince Mohammed close. A.I. ambitions add a new layer of geopolitical significance to a kingdom already key to Middle East policy and global energy supplies. A 2016 visit to Saudi Arabia by Xi Jinping, China’s leader, paved the way for new tech cooperation. Accustomed to top-down industrial policy, Chinese companies have expanded rapidly in the kingdom, forming partnerships with major state-owned companies. The United States has pushed Saudi Arabia to pick a side, but Prince Mohammed seems content to benefit from both nations.

Mr. Schmidhuber, the researcher leading KAUST’s A.I. efforts, has seen the jostling up close. Considered a pioneer of modern A.I. — students in a lab he led included a founder of DeepMind, an innovative A.I. company now owned by Google — he was lured to the desert in 2021.

He was reluctant to move at first, he said, but university officials, via a headhunter, “tried to make it more attractive and even more attractive and even more attractive for me.”

Now Mr. Schmidhuber is awaiting the completion of the supercomputer, Shaheen 3, which is a chance to attract more top talent to the Persian Gulf and to give researchers access to computing power often reserved for major companies.

“No other university is going to have a similar thing,” he said.

Some in Washington fear the supercomputer may provide researchers from Chinese universities access to cutting-edge computing resources they would not have in China. More than a dozen students and staff members at KAUST are from military-linked Chinese universities known as the Seven Sons of National Defense, according to a review by The New York Times. During the Trump administration, the United States blocked entry to students from those universities over concerns they could take sensitive technologies back to China’s military.

“The United States should quickly move to deny export licenses to any entity if the end user is likely to be a P.R.C. actor affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army,” Representative Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin, said in a statement.

A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the default U.S. policy was to share technology with Saudi Arabia, a critical ally in the gulf, but that there were national security concerns and risks with A.I.

The Commerce Department declined to comment. In a statement, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We hope that relevant countries will work with China to resist coercion, jointly safeguard a fair and open international economic and trade order, and safeguard their own long-term interests.”

A KAUST spokeswoman said, “We will strictly comply with all U.S. export license terms and conditions for the full life cycle of Shaheen 3.”

Mr. Schmidhuber said the Saudi government was ultimately aligned with the United States. Just as U.S. technology helped create Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, it will play a critical role in A.I. development.

“Nobody wants to jeopardize that,” he said.

The Gold Rush

Aladin Ben, a German Tunisian A.I. entrepreneur, was in Bali last year when he received an email from a Saudi agency working on A.I. issues. The agency knew his software start-up, Memorality, which designs tools to make it easier for businesses to incorporate A.I., and wanted to work together.

Since then, Mr. Ben, 31, has traveled to Saudi Arabia five times. He is now negotiating with the kingdom on an investment and other partnerships. But his company may need to incorporate in Saudi Arabia to get the full benefit of the government’s offer, which includes buying hundreds of annual subscriptions to his software in a contract worth roughly $800,000 a month.

“If you want a serious deal, you need to be here,” Mr. Ben said in an interview in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia was once viewed as a source of few-strings-attached cash. Now it has added conditions to its deals, requiring many companies to establish roots in the kingdom to partake in the financial windfall.

That was evident at GAIA, an A.I. start-up accelerator, for which Saudi officials announced $1 billion in funding last month.

Each start-up in the program receives a grant worth about $40,000 in exchange for spending at least three months in Riyadh, along with a potential $100,000 investment. Entrepreneurs are required to register their company in the kingdom and spend 50 percent of their investment in Saudi Arabia. They also receive access to computing power purchased from Amazon and Google free of charge.

About 50 start-ups — including from Taiwan, South Korea, Sweden, Poland and the United States — have gone through GAIA’s program since it started last year.

“We want to attract talent, and we want them to stay,” said Mohammed Almazyad, a program manager for GAIA. “We used to rely heavily on oil, and now we want to diversify.”

One of the biggest enticements for A.I. start-ups is the chance to make the deep-pocketed Saudi government a customer. In one recent meeting, Abdullah Alswaha, a senior minister for communications and information technology, asked GAIA’s start-ups to suggest what they could provide for the Saudi government, including for megacity projects like Neom . Afterward, many of the companies received messages introducing them to state-owned businesses, Mr. Almazyad said.

“I would say this process at the first stages is not organic,” he said. “You don’t find this in Silicon Valley. Eventually the process will be organic.”

Deciding to set up in Riyadh comes with challenges. There’s the heat, reaching more than 110 degrees in the summer, as well as the adjustments of moving to a deeply religious Muslim kingdom. While Saudi Arabia has loosened some restrictions in recent years, freedom of speech remains limited and L.G.B.T.Q. people can face criminal penalties.

Mr. Almazyad, who hopes to eventually study in the United States, said cultural differences could make it hard to recruit international A.I. talent. But he cautioned against underestimating Saudi Arabia’s resolve.

“This is just the beginning,” he said.

Adam Satariano is a technology correspondent based in Europe, where his work focuses on digital policy and the intersection of technology and world affairs. More about Adam Satariano

Paul Mozur is the global technology correspondent for The Times, based in Taipei. Previously he wrote about technology and politics in Asia from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul. More about Paul Mozur

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What it’s like to take a road trip in Saudi Arabia

E ditor’s Note: This CNN Travel series is, or was, sponsored by the country it highlights. CNN retains full editorial control over subject matter, reporting and frequency of the articles and videos within the sponsorship, in compliance with our policy .

Think of road trips and you might automatically imagine motoring along US highways, or roaming country to country through the mountains and vales of Europe.

But it’s also possible in Saudi Arabia and – although some people might believe this would be a dusty, boring experience – it offers a surprisingly varied driving experience, along blacktop and gravel, through stunning deserts, bustling towns and lush oases.

While the kingdom has spent many decades largely off-limits to tourism, recent changes made to make it more accessible mean that the bureaucracy around visitors driving in Saudi Arabia has simplified and the roads are wide open. Both men and women can drive solo or accompanied, whether they are locals or visitors.

One popular road trip for expats and locals alike is the highway through the country’s Eastern Province, which stretches along the Gulf coast and borders Kuwait in the north and Qatar, Bahrain (via an oversea causeway), Oman and the United Arab Emirates in the south.

It’s not prime tourism territory – the Red Sea coast is where major resort developments are underway and is better known as a leisure destination – but that can make the Eastern Province seem even more exciting. And there’s no shortage of sights and experiences to explore.

Here’s what you need to know about taking a road trip in this part of Saudi Arabia:

Renting a car

Getting to the Eastern Province coastline is relatively easy with direct flights from other Mideast destinations to international airports near the coastal city of Dammam and Al Ahsa, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) inland. There are also connections from Riyadh.

Cars can be hired at both airports, with most of the international rental companies represented.

Typically, you will be permitted to drive the rental car abroad if desired, allowing some Gulf-coast country-hopping. But you will need to advise your hire company beforehand, and obtain a permission letter from them to show at the border, together with a valid visa.

Driving in Saudi can be a mixed bag, from super-modern highways to gravel tracks, and you’ll often find your path obscured by sand dunes encroaching on the roads, plus there are long distances between cities.

That means it’s advisable to hire a larger 4WD vehicle that will get you out of potential off-road trouble as well as offering comfort and better views from a slightly higher perch.

Hitting the road

The country’s road network is relatively modern, and connects all the major dots on the map. A main road runs all along the eastern coastline, with a new stretch that opened just this year between Salwa, by the Qatar border, and the Saudi seaport of Al Uqair, joining up previous and somewhat patchy road segments.

Now it’s possible to stay on one road, Highway 5, all the way from the UAE to Kuwait, with plenty of worthwhile stops along the way.

The road is a dual carriageway, crossing a sandy and flat desert, with the sea on the right, if you are driving north. The maximum speed on this road is 120 kmh (75 mph), with radar controls along the way.

While the road – and all the main roads in Saudi – are reasonably well maintained, there is a constant threat of stretches being submerged under sand as desert dunes edge onto the Tarmac. Some stretches lack camel fences, so drivers must always be aware of “ships of the desert” strolling into the road.

There are regular service stations but drivers should always keep an eye on the tank, as they can sometimes be quite far apart.

Unless you have sufficient experience or are accompanied by someone who knows the ins and outs of off-roading, it’s best to stay on the main road. Driving in sand takes a lot of know-how – deflating the tires to the right pressure, steering and handling manual gears.

Getting stuck in the sand, miles from anywhere, is a real and dangerous possibility.

But if you do have the opportunity to try it with an experienced driver, go for it. It’s an exhilarating experience, and in the Eastern Province there are plenty of fine sand dunes around due to its proximity to Rub al-Khali, or the Empty Quarter, the world’s largest sand desert.

Along the coast

Saudi Arabia’s rich history dates all the way back to pre-historic times. Long a waypoint on important trade routes and for centuries crisscrossed by Bedouin tribes, the entire country is dotted with ancient historic sites that have only in recent years become accessible to international visitors. And the Eastern Province is no exception.

A drive along the coastal road will encounter several fortresses.

Uquair Castle , which sits roughly halfway between Salwa and Al Khobar, near Bahrain, is backdropped by the beautiful turquoise waters of the Gulf. The history of the castle, which is currently closed due to renovation, is a little vague. There are no records as to who built it, but it’s thought to be some 300 years old.

Along the same road, just north of Dammam, the imposing Tarout Castle sits on Tarout Island, accessed via causeway. With inscriptions found dating to the Mesopotamian era, the base of the castle is thought to be roughly 7,000 years old. The castle itself has been rebuilt numerous times over the centuries resulting in a mélange of historical influences.

On the edge of the island, there are mangrove swamps which in winter play host to countless flamingos that add a splash of pink to the turquoise waters.

Dammam itself is a bustling city, an industrial center, and a mix of old and new. There is the popular Love Market, a large night market selling food, souvenirs, clothes, kitchenware and more.

For fans of modern architecture, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in the suburb of Dhahran, designed by Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta, is a worthwhile stop, while beach and water sport enthusiasts will find plenty of resorts along the stretch of coast south of Al Khobar.

Into the desert

Roughly an hour inland, toward Al Ahsa, lies Al Hofuf, a city that sits within what is described by UNESCO as the world’s largest oasis.

Roughly 3 million palm trees cover the city and smaller surrounding villages. Al Hofuf’s old city center is a great base for exploring the oasis and nearby historic sights.

Must-sees include the Ibrahim Palace, dating back to Ottoman times, and now a museum, and the Qaisariah Souq, which is particularly atmospheric on a Friday night when food stands and numerous musical performances draw the crowds.

Walking around the alleyways of old Hofuf is like a step back in time, discovering old buildings adorned with modern street art, from King Khaleed Street to Ibrahim Palace.

One of the most astounding sights is the Al Qarah Caves . Not caves in the traditional sense, these are actually an entrance into Al Qarah Mountain, a lone lump of rock rising above the oasis that over time has been eroded by rain and wind to form passages, caves, columns, and secluded canyons, with many places open to the sky.

Made safe and beautifully lit, these caves offer a fascinating way to spend an hour or so.

Visitors can climb to the top of the mountain from the other side of the rocks to appreciate the true expanse of the oasis and the numerous farms that make the region one of the world’s largest date producers.

Eastern Province may not be number one on the list of things to see and do in Saudi Arabia, but it would be a shame to overlook it, as it offers great sights between several countries, and a fine and relatively easy introduction into road-tripping in Saudi Arabia.

Just mind those camels.

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Saudi Arabia eyes tourism transformation

Arab state highlights charming heritage sites through sustainable development.

By Jan Yumul in Hong Kong | China Daily | Updated: 2024-05-03 09:05

Desert image

And contrary to its desert image, Saudi Arabia also has islands and beaches you can visit. About 40 kilometers, or about an hour's boat ride, from Jazan, one will find the Farasan Islands. According to the Visit Saudi website, more than 80 islands make up the archipelago.

Furthermore, since the first millennium BC, Jazan Province has been a draw for people from Arab states, Africa and Europe. The islands were once known as Portus Ferresanus, and a Latin inscription dating from 144 AD has been found on the island, indicating the existence of a Roman garrison.

Another growing popular destination is Umluj, famous for its shining blue waters and pristine white shores.

Umluj was once famous for the production of top-tier boats and fishing was a predominant indigenous activity, and a major source of income. It is often referred to as being "the Saudi Maldives".

"Saudi Arabia tourism has huge potential, which is even larger than what digital economy or finance can bring to it," said Jerry Li, founder and managing partner of eWTP Arabia Capital.

Li said the nation's tourism "has a unique charm, with all its cultures, museums and historical heritage places", as he found that the local places may be ordinary looking on the outside, but inside it "can be fabulous with all the luxuries including splendid halls and swimming pools".

Pan Xin, a tourist guide in the Middle East from Hong Kong, said there had been an increasing trend for Chinese tourists to go to Saudi Arabia after the China-Saudi Arabia Summit in late 2022.

Manzo, from Saudi Arabia and former president and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council, credits the leaders' vision, leadership and resources for developing the sector, which she said a lot of countries lacked.

"That's very important. The second fact is that the massive investment that we see is a little bit over $1 trillion when you combine infrastructure and tourism, but only half of that is going to NEOM, the rest is going to projects, is going to airport infrastructure, is going to the development of the sector," said Manzo.

"We have prioritized the sector … so that we can share with the world that we are open for business," she added.

She noted that sports and culture are helping them create products for tourism with their different activities and that she expected it was going to give "more than one percent to the GDP of the country".

In the years to come, there are a couple of new attractions that are expected to rise, making Saudi Arabia's revised target of 150 million tourists by 2030 possible to reach.

Diriyah Company is set to introduce its new visionary and lifestyle destination, Diriyah Square, which is located on the outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The new retail hub will host over 400 new retail outlets and more than 100 restaurants and cafes at the heart of the historic Diriyah development area incorporating 300-year-old traditional architectural concepts and design.

Group CEO of Diriyah Company Jerry Inzerillo said Diriyah Square is more than just a shopping destination. It is a symbol of Saudi Arabia's commitment to driving economic growth and fostering creativity and innovation.

Another one is the mega luxury mountain tourism destination Soudah Peaks, which is in the first phase of development this year and is hoping for specialized Chinese firms to participate in the process, according to a senior executive.

• Saudi Arabia prepares for more Chinese travelers
• Saudi Arabia offers sightseers a new world of experience
• Ethiopian coffee taps into a growing taste among the young
• Chinese tourists to Dubai up 12 pct in 2018: report

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Research Article

First evidence for human occupation of a lava tube in Arabia: The archaeology of Umm Jirsan Cave and its surroundings, northern Saudi Arabia

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected] (MS); [email protected] (MDP); [email protected] (HSG)

Affiliations Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, Extreme Events Research Group, the Max Planck Institutes of Geoanthropology, Chemical Ecology, and Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany

Roles Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom

Roles Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Human Palaeosystems Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany

Affiliation Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany

Affiliations Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany, Department of Bioarchaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Warszaw, Poland, Arne Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia, Climate Change and History Research Initiative, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America

Affiliations Extreme Events Research Group, the Max Planck Institutes of Geoanthropology, Chemical Ecology, and Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany, Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Roles Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Roles Conceptualization, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Palaeontology Division, Directorate of Geological Survey, Survey and Exploration Centre, Saudi Geological Survey, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Museum of Palaeontology, Research Museum Centre, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America

Affiliation Centre for Quaternary Research, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Surrey, United Kingdom

Roles Conceptualization, Investigation, Resources

Affiliation Geotourism Department, Saudi Geological Survey, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Roles Investigation

Affiliation Heritage Commission, Ministry of Culture, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Roles Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Archaeology, College of Tourism and Archaeology, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Affiliations Human Palaeosystems Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

Affiliations Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany, School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia, Griffith Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia, Human Origins Program, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., United States of America

•  [ ... ],

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Extreme Events Research Group, the Max Planck Institutes of Geoanthropology, Chemical Ecology, and Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany, Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta, Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

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• Mathew Stewart, 
• Eric Andrieux, 
• James Blinkhorn, 
• Maria Guagnin, 
• Ricardo Fernandes, 
• Nils Vanwezer, 
• Amy Hatton, 
• Mesfer Alqahtani, 
• Iyad Zalmout, 

• Published: April 17, 2024
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292
• Reader Comments

Recent advances in interdisciplinary archaeological research in Arabia have focused on the evolution and historical development of regional human populations as well as the diverse patterns of cultural change, migration, and adaptations to environmental fluctuations. Obtaining a comprehensive understanding of cultural developments such as the emergence and lifeways of Neolithic groups has been hindered by the limited preservation of stratified archaeological assemblages and organic remains, a common challenge in arid environments. Underground settings like caves and lava tubes, which are prevalent in Arabia but which have seen limited scientific exploration, offer promising opportunities for addressing these issues. Here, we report on an archaeological excavation and a related survey at and around Umm Jirsan lava tube in the Harrat Khaybar, north-western Saudi Arabia. Our results reveal repeated phases of human occupation of the site ranging from at least the Neolithic through to the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age. Pastoralist use of the lava tube and surrounding landscape is attested in rock art and faunal records, suggesting that Umm Jirsan was situated along a pastoral route linking key oases. Isotopic data indicates that herbivores primarily grazed on wild grasses and shrubs rather than being provided with fodder, while humans had a diet consistently high in protein but with increasing consumption of C 3 plants through-time, perhaps related to the emergence of oasis agriculture. While underground and naturally sheltered localities are globally prominent in archaeology and Quaternary science, our work represents the first such combined records for Saudi Arabia and highlight the potential for interdisciplinary studies in caves and lava tubes.

Citation: Stewart M, Andrieux E, Blinkhorn J, Guagnin M, Fernandes R, Vanwezer N, et al. (2024) First evidence for human occupation of a lava tube in Arabia: The archaeology of Umm Jirsan Cave and its surroundings, northern Saudi Arabia. PLoS ONE 19(4): e0299292. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292

Editor: Ran Barkai, Tel Aviv university, ISRAEL

Received: November 19, 2023; Accepted: February 8, 2024; Published: April 17, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Stewart et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.

Funding: We acknowledge the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) and the Max Planck Society for funding this study.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

Intensified field research in northern Arabia over the last decade has highlighted the richness and diversity of the region’s archaeological and palaeontological records. Human occupation in northern Arabia during the Pleistocene was sporadic and seemingly linked to periods of improved climate, though by the Holocene people were able to more consistently settle the region through dry intervals [ 1 , 2 ]. The proliferation of archaeological sites in the Holocene has been interpreted as reflecting population growth in the region, spurred by the onset of the Holocene Humid Period (HHP) at around 10,600 years before present (BP). This was followed by the introduction of domestic livestock, and later by the development of water-harnessing technologies (e.g., wells, dams) and oasis agriculture in the Bronze Age, when arid conditions returned [ 2 ]. Many of the features that define the Neolithic elsewhere, such as sedentism, pottery, and agriculture, are notably absent from northern Arabia until the Bronze Age. As such, we follow previous works [ 3 ] in classifying the ‘pre-Neolithic’ as the period preceding the introduction of livestock (before ca. 8,000 years BP) but for which there are apparent cultural links to Neolithic groups in the Levant, and the subsequent ‘Neolithic’ as the period following the introduction of livestock (after ca. 8,000 years BP) and characterized by highly mobile herders that retain hunting in their cultural subsistence practices.

Evidence for pre-Neolithic occupation is recorded in the rock art of northern Arabia. This includes hunting scenes superimposed by depictions of livestock herds, as well as reference to the HHP in the depiction of fauna (e.g., lesser kudu, African wild ass) that today do not inhabit true deserts [ 4 – 6 ]. Pre-Neolithic artefacts have also been recovered, though such findings are restricted to just a handful of sites. In the Jubbah Basin, lithics with similarities to the Levantine Geometic Kebaran were found deposited on sediments dated to ca. 12,250 years BP at Al-Rabyah [ 7 ]. However, detailed geochronological analysis suggests that this may reflect a minimum age [ 8 ], with similar assemblages in the Levant dating to ca. 18,000–16,250 years BP [ 9 ]. Assemblages with similarities to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN; dated to ca. 12,175–8,450 years BP in the Levant) have been documented at Jebel Qattar 101 [ 10 ] and Jebel Oraf [ 11 ] with finds at the former putatively associated with an adjacent palaeolake dated to 8,978–7,900 years BP. Just south of the Nefud Desert at the recently discovered site of Sahout, a backed bladelet of a type common in the Levantine Natufian (where this period dates to ca. 14,900–11,750 years BP), albeit also known from the PPNA (ca. 12,175–11,000 years BP), was found [ 12 ]. The presence of archaeological deposits at the site dating to the Neolithic, but also to earlier periods (ca. 13,400–8,800 years BP), and their association with large naturalistic camel engravings, supports earlier hypotheses that this rock art tradition may pre-date the Neolithic [ 12 ].

Neolithic occupations in northern Arabia are better represented. This includes a rich rock art record in which the herding of cattle and caprids is commonly depicted [ 4 , 13 ]. Hearth sites are also a common feature of the early Neolithic landscape of northern Arabia, often occurring in high numbers alongside ancient lake deposits. For example, at Jebel Oraf, 170 hearths have been documented, the majority of which date to roughly between 7,300 and 7,000 cal. years BP, but also extending up until the recent period, indicating a recurrent and long-term use of the basin [ 3 ]. At Alshabah in the western Nefud Desert, 125 hearths were documented, with the dating of three of these producing ages between ca. 7,300 and 6,500 cal. years BP [ 14 ]. The abundant rock art, hearth deposits, and associated wild (e.g., gazelle, ostrich) and domesticated faunal remains (e.g., cattle, caprids) suggest that regions like the Jubbah and Alshabah basins were important foci in the landscape for early pastoralists and their herds.

More recently, efforts to document, excavate, and date the plethora of megalithic stone structures that can be found scattered across the deserts have revealed that these too formed part of the pre-Neolithic, Neolithic, and later period landscapes of northern Arabia [ 15 – 22 ]. Of these, the famous hunting mega-traps—commonly known as ‘desert kites’—may be the oldest, as suggested by recent work in southern Jordan indicating their construction by as early as ca. 10,000 years BP [ 23 – 25 ]. Although very few of these structures have been directly dated, it appears that they may have been built and in use for millennia [ 26 , 27 ], including into historic times, as implied in early ethnographic accounts that recall gazelle hunts in Jordan and Syria seemingly employing such structures [ 26 , 28 , 29 ].

The next oldest structures appear to be the circular dwellings with upright stones and the large rectangular structures called ‘mustatils’, both dating from around 7,200 years BP [ 16 , 17 , 20 ]. The latter appears to have had a ritualistic purpose, as suggested by the intentional placement of selected wild and domestic animal remains—namely bucrania—as well as orthostats and small fires within the structure’s chambers [ 17 , 30 ]. More than their ritual purpose, it has been suggested that mustatils were important for maintaining socio-economic and cultural links between families and the wider community through activities such as feasting, as well as having functioned as territorial markers [ 21 ].

Another impressive feature of the region are the ‘funerary avenues’ which comprise long-distance pathways flanked by pendant-shaped structures that radiate out from major oases, and which may date from as early as ca. 5,600 years BP [ 31 ]. The fact that these ‘avenues’ link together major water sources, while the earlier mustatils are often oriented towards water, suggests that these stone structures may have played an important role in pastoralist social, economic, and cultural lifeways over millennia. In addition to these, a variety of other structures such as trapezoidal platforms [ 19 ] and thousands of burial cairns have also been documented [ 16 , 32 ].

Taken together, these findings have highlighted the dynamism of the Holocene—and possibly terminal Pleistocene—archaeological record of northern Arabia. Despite these efforts, however, the exact timing and nature of the various occupations in northern Arabia, and their connections with groups in the nearby Levant, remain poorly understood. A principal reason for this relates to the poor preservation of organic remains (e.g., bone, pollen, phytoliths) in arid environments [ 33 , 34 ]. This is well illustrated at the Oraf 2 hearth site, where of the >1800 bone fragments less than 1% were identifiable to a taxon [ 3 ], and where almost no macrobotanical remains were recovered despite strong use-wear evidence for the on-site processing of plant remains [ 33 ]. Wind erosion, heat exposure, and high amplitude temperature fluctuations all serve to degrade and fragment bones and other organic remains in Arabia [ 34 ]. Such processes are even problematic for remains interred within structures. However, some recent excavations have uncovered exceptionally well-preserved faunal remains due to their positioning under rocky outcrops that serve to protect the remains from the elements [ 17 , 30 ].

To that end, our fieldwork was redirected to investigate caves and other underground settings where organic remains have a better chance of survival. Despite long-standing explorations of caves and lava tubes in northern Arabia [ 35 – 38 ], often for their potential as tourism show caves, none have been subjected to systematic archaeological survey or investigation. Here, we report our work on the Umm Jirsan lava tube (25.5888 N, 39.7570 E; WGS84), approximately 125 km north of Medina. Umm Jirsan Cave represents both one of the first documented underground archaeological sites in the interior of Arabia and one of the few sites in Saudi Arabia that has been dated to the early to mid-Holocene (Figs 1 and 2 ).

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(A) Map showing the location of Umm Jirsan and key sites mentioned in the text, as well as the range of mustatils and desert kites [ 16 , 17 , 20 , 24 , 27 , 39 ] and (B) pendant tombs (black lines and dots) in the Harrat Khaybar [ 31 ]. (C) Location of newly identified archaeological sites are shown in the inset: (A) stone structures (25.6087 N, 39.7502 E, 25.6020 N, 39.7289 E, and 25.5728 N, 39.7330 E); (B) ‘bow-tie’ shaped structure (25.6091 N, 39.7470 E); (C) lava tube collapse with rock art (25.5879 N, 39.7702 E); and (D) Umm Jirsan D area. Made with Copernicus COP-DEM 30 m and “Sentinel-2 cloudless— https://s2maps.edu by EOX IT Services GmBH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2020)”, under CC BY 4.0.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.g001

Top left, looking out of entrance to Umm Jirsan (Trench 1 just out of view on right). Top right, inside lava tube beyond Trench 1. Middle left, another example of a lava tube near Umm Jirsan. Middle right, Jebel Abyad area with obsidian clasts and lithics, beneath obsidian outcrops. Bottom, simple plan of the Umm Jirsan lava tube system with red star indicating the location of the Trench 1 excavation [modified from 40 ].

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.g002

Harrat Khaybar and Umm Jirsan Cave

Umm Jirsan is located in the Harrat Khaybar, a volcanic area comprised of harrats (singular: harra [حَرَّة], Arabic plural: harrat) in north-western Saudi Arabia. Early work by Gilmore and colleagues [ 41 , p. 13] reported archaeology ranging from the Lower Palaeolithic through to the Neolithic, the latter including “tabular flint scrapers, blades, bifacial retouch, ground stone, trianguloids… and “T” shaped notched tools.” More recently, aerial and remote sensing work has documented hundreds of Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic structures [ 22 , 42 , 43 ]. This work has demonstrated the rich archaeological record of the area. However, with only limited excavations and absolute dating, it has remained challenging to build a detailed view on human prehistory in the area.

Annually the area receives little rainfall (<100 mm), soil cover is sparse, and vegetation consists mostly of xeromorphic dwarf shrublands [ 44 ]. Despite the limited rainfall, the harrats often have well-developed wadi systems that feed into major oases, promoting aquifer recharge and the activation of springs [ 18 ]. During the more humid periods of the Pleistocene and Holocene, depressions bordering the lava fields would have boasted freshwater ponds and lakes, generating wetlands along these drainage courses that would have promoted vegetation growth, increased biodiversity, and facilitated human and animal movements [ 45 ].

Umm Jirsan is currently the longest reported lava tube in Arabia in terms of the horizontal length of passages, at 1481 metres (m), and has a typical passage height of 8–12 m and maximum passage width of 45 m [ 36 ]. The lava tube consists of three segments separated by two large collapses. Previously, entry into the cave was rather difficult, but in 2017 a wall was built by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage around the main collapse entrance and a large staircase inserted. From this collapse, the huge western entrance leads to a large passage, at the end of which the passage rises and then soon becomes blocked with boulders.

Here, and elsewhere throughout Umm Jirsan, massive caches of bone can be found, and we previously reported on the excavation of one such cache located in the back chamber of Area A ( Fig 2 ) [ 40 ]. Taphonomic and ethological analysis revealed that the Area A bone assemblage is the product of striped hyena ( Hyaena hyaena ) bone accumulating and denning behaviours. The material is exceptionally well-preserved and preliminary radiocarbon dating revealed that the fossils date as far back as 7,000 cal. years BP. From the excavation, remains of microfauna (e.g., lizards, birds, hare, rock hyrax), carnivores (e.g., wolf, hyena), various ungulates (e.g., gazelle, caprid, cattle, camel, and equids), and two human cranial fragments were recovered, the latter likely resulting from striped hyena’s ability to loot human grave sites. In addition to these two specimens, seven human cranial fragments were recovered from elsewhere in Umm Jirsan: four from the Area A front chamber; one from nearby Trench 1 in Area C; and another further along the eastern passage between Area C and Area D ( Fig 2 ) [see 40 ].

The eastern passage from the main collapse entrance is also very large, around ten metres high and 30 metres wide. Various circular stone structures—as well as apparent rectangular structures and a stone wall found elsewhere at Umm Jirsan—attest to human use of the lava tube at some point in the past (S9 Fig in S1 File ) [ 36 ]. Here, we report on a second excavation undertaken in the eastern passage of the lava tube, supplemented with the discovery of lithic artefacts and rock art in the surrounding region, as well as isotopic data obtained from human and faunal remains recovered from throughout Umm Jirsan.

Survey and excavation

We surveyed Umm Jirsan Cave with an interdisciplinary team to evaluate visible archaeological, palaeontological, and sedimentary materials and identify areas possibly preserving sub-surface material. For ease of description, several areas of the cave have been labelled with simple codes following our earlier exploration of the cave [ 40 ] and shown in Fig 2 .

A pit previously dug along the northern wall of the entrance to Area C, possibly for the purposes of looting or reaching water, revealed that lithic artefacts were present in the sediments. Therefore, we decided to place a 1 x 1 m test excavation in an undisturbed area adjacent to the pit (Trench 1). We used a single context excavation method, differentiating discrete excavation units (XUs) based on the sedimentology, but subdividing them into 10 cm thick arbitrary XUs where necessary to help control artefact provenance within a given deposit. A total station was employed with EDM software [ 46 ] to record the position of large artefacts (>20 mm), as well as spatial extents of each deposit, the location of sediment samples recovered, and key characteristics of the trench location within the cave. All excavated sediments were sieved through 5 mm mesh to enhance artefact recovery, with further sieving of spoil from the pit to collect further finds. Samples for luminescence dating were recovered from the sediment section in opaque metal tubes with associated bulk samples.

In addition to the excavation, the area to the east of Umm Jirsan was surveyed. Where archaeological materials were observed, their location was recorded using GPS devices, photographs taken, and representative samples collected. In the case of rock art, multiple photos were taken and then the ImageJ © plugin DStretch was used to aid visibility. DStretch uses a number of pre-set algorithms that allow reproducible modification of contrast, hue, and colour space [ 47 ]. Although the DStretch plugin is designed to enhance the visibility of rock paintings, several settings also produce good results for rock engravings. In addition, photographs were modified using Adobe Lightroom to enhance visibility of the faded engravings.

Lithic and faunal analysis

Lithics were analysed to record their raw material characteristics and basic typo-technological features. Photographs and illustrations were taken of selected pieces. The methodology follows that previously utilised by our project in the region [ 48 , 49 ]. Samples of obsidian were collected at identified raw material outcrops in the survey east of Umm Jirsan and used for knapping experiments to understand the properties of the rock [see also 50 , 51 ]. While this rock has previously been described as obsidian [ 49 , 50 ], it has not yet been geochemically analysed in detail, and appears rather opaque and may well be characterised as rhyolitic obsidian or rhyolite/obsidian. Hereafter we refer to the material as obsidian but note the need for future studies to elucidate its characteristics.

Faunal bones recovered from Trench 1 and the spoil heap (NRSP = 653) were identified to the lowest taxonomic level, facilitated by key literature [e.g., 52 , 53 ] and osteological collections housed at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium. Maximum specimen length and width were collected using digital callipers and additional morphometric measures taken following Harrison and Bates [ 52 ] and von den Driesch [ 54 ] to assist in taxonomic attribution. Well-established quantitative units were used to present the results: number of recovered specimens (NRSP); number of identified specimens (NISP); minimum number of elements (MNE); and minimum number of individuals (MNI). MNE and MNI were calculated using a zonation system adapted from Dobney and Rielly [ 55 ]. Unlike MNE, MNI was calculated by taking into consideration the laterality (left, right) of the element and age of the individual. Normalized values (%NISP, %MNE) were also calculated following Binford [ 56 ].

Given the limited assemblage, all specimens were placed into one of two size classes of animal; microfauna (<1 kg; e.g., rodents, birds) and macromammals (>1 kg; gazelle, caprids, equids). All specimens were assessed for bone surface modifications (e.g., weathering, gnaw marks) by eye and light microscopy following established methods [e.g., 57 ]. Long bone fracturing (fracture angle, edge, and outline) and circumference completeness were recorded following Villa and Mahieu [ 58 ] and Bunn [ 59 ], respectively. Mandible and maxilla fragmentation and degree of digestion of rodent in-situ molars and isolated incisors were recorded following the criteria described by Fernández-Jalvo et al. [ 60 ]. For full discussion of the methods used, see Stewart et al. [ 61 ].

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating

Three samples (UJS1, UJS2, and UJ3) were collected from the excavated trench at depths of 1.04 m, 0.94 m, and 0.45 m from the surface, respectively ( Fig 3 ). The samples were sent to the Royal Holloway Luminescence Laboratory, Royal Holloway University of London, to be prepared under subdued red-light conditions. The outer, light-exposed portions of each sample were removed and used for environmental dose rate measurements and estimation of the sample’s moisture content. The remaining sediment was treated with hydrochloric acid (1M HCl) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) to remove carbonate and organic matter respectively. The samples were wet sieved to the 150–180 μm fraction size. Quartz and K-feldspars were extracted using density separation at 2.58 g/cm 3 , 2.62 g/cm 3 , and 2.70 g/cm 3 . Full details of the equipment used and results can be found in the S1 File .

Schematic illustration of stratigraphic sequence of Trench 1 at Umm Jirsan showing the five major layers and the location of the three luminescence samples (black stars).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.g003

Radiocarbon dating

Radiocarbon dating of bone samples was carried out at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory. Collagen was extracted using a modified Longin method and the dried extract was subject to combustion, reduction, and AMS measurement following established methods [ 62 , 63 ]. Charcoals were subject to an acid-base-acid cleaning protocol prior to radiocarbon measurement following Dunbar et al. [ 62 ].

Isotopic analysis and Bayesian modelling

Collagen extracted for radiocarbon dating was also subject to stable isotope analysis at SUERC following Dunbar et al. [ 62 ]. Ancillary carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope ratios are expressed using delta notation relative to the Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite (VPDB), Atmospheric Nitrogen (AIR) standards, respectively. Laboratory uncertainty values were calculated as ±0.1‰ for δ13C and ±0.2‰ for δ15N.”

A small number of faunal remains recovered from throughout Umm Jirsan, though primarily from the Area A excavation and reported in Stewart et al. [ 40 , Table 1], were assessed for their δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotope values (n = 9). This comprises teeth (dentine) from two gazelle ( Gazella sp.), a single caprid ( Capra sp.), a single aurochs/cattle ( Bos sp.), and five wild ass/donkey ( Equus sp.). Of the nine human cranial fragments recovered from Umm Jirsan, four were radiocarbon dated and have corresponding stable δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotopic data. One of these originated from the original Area A excavation (UJS-2019-1031), two were discovered in the Area A front chamber (UJS-2019-200040, UJS-2019-200042), and the fourth from Area C near the new Trench 1 (UJS-2019-100013) (see Fig 2 ).

The faunal remains range in age from ca. 400 to 4,100 cal. years BP, whereas the human remains range from ca. 150 to 6,000 cal. years BP [ 40 ]. While these finds were not recovered from the Trench 1 excavation directly, given their proximity to the trench—all from within a few hundred meters of Trench 1—and the broad and overlapping ages, they provide a through time record of climatic and dietary change over a period directly relevant to the findings from Trench 1.

Local annual rainfall and temperature is correlated with the prevalence of plant photosynthetic pathways in the grass cover of arid regions [ 64 – 66 ], with typically a greater presence of C 4 plants in hotter and drier settings. Using δ 13 C values from the skeletal remains of grazing herbivores, which randomly sample from available grasses and are not subject to foddering by humans, it is possible to reconstruct past grass covers [ 67 ]. In addition, aridity is also correlated with δ 15 N values in plants, with higher aridity levels resulting in higher δ 15 N values for plants and consequently for grazers [ 68 , 69 ]. Therefore, there is an expected relationship between δ 13 C and δ 15 N values for grazers feeding on wild grasses.

Bayesian dietary estimates were made using the R-based software ReSources, an upgraded version of the Bayesian mixing model FRUITS [ 70 , 71 ]. To model herbivore C 3 vs. C 4 intakes, a two-member model was employed with reference δ 13 C values of -25.2‰ and -11‰, respectively. These correspond to averages of modern grasses published by Cerling and colleagues [ 67 ] shifted by 1.5‰ to account for fossil fuel contributions to atmospheric CO 2 δ 13 C values. An isotopic offset of 5±0.5‰ between plant diets and herbivore bone collagen was included in the model. A similar model was implanted for human estimates of C 3 vs. C 4 protein intakes. This assumes that there is a negligible isotopic difference in human δ 13 C values when consuming directly C 3 or C 4 plants or animals fed on these. Finally, for human estimates of plant vs. animal protein intakes, a two end-member model was implemented with an δ 15 N offset of 5.5±0.5‰ between diet and consumer [ 72 ]. Reference plant and animal δ 15 N values were 6.8‰ and 10.3‰, respectively. The latter correspond to selected herbivore average and to obtain a plant reference an offset of 3.5‰ was subtracted.

To produce a smooth curve for human δ 13 C values though time, the Bayesian software PlotR was employed. This uses a thin plate spline approach to produce smoothed curves following Wood [ 73 ]. The curve was generated using 4 basis functions with a uniform distribution for x-values (95% calibrated ranges for individual radiocarbon dates). Full model description can be found on the Pandora & IsoMemo software platform [ 74 ].

Ethics statement

All necessary permits were obtained for the described study, which complied with all relevant regulations.

The nine human skeletal remains from Umm Jirsan mentioned in the described study are presently housed at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Germany. Once all analyses are finalized, these specimens will be returned to the Saudi Heritage Commission, Saudi Arabia, for permanent storage. Collection and analysis of these specimens were done under a permit granted by the Saudi Heritage Commission.

Specimen numbers: UJS-2019-1031, UJS-2019-100013, UJS-2019-200040, UJS-2019-200041, UJS-2019-200042, UJS-2019-200043, UJS-2019-200044, UJS-2019-200045, UJS-2019-300027.

Umm Jirsan archaeology

Archaeological remains were found in various parts of Umm Jirsan ( Fig 1 ). We describe these from west to east. At the far western end of the lava tube, Area A consists of the large bone accumulation that was published in Stewart et al. [ 40 ], where, among the bones, fragments of cloth and worked wood were found. Moving east, three lithics were found just inside the western entrance to the lava tube (Area B). One large lithic (360 g) and a fresh obsidian flake were found on the entrance slope down into the tube, and two smaller flakes were slightly further underground at the base of the passage where a small streambed has incised the floor. At least one semi-circular structure is located against the northern wall of the western entrance, the age of which remains unknown. Occasional lithics were also found at the base of the main entrance collapse (i.e., at the base of the newly built stairs).

In the eastern entrance (Area C) we retrieved several lithics located in the spoil heap of the previously dug hole. Sieving the spoil heap produced 20 lithics with an average weight of 11.4 g from approximately 375 litres of sediment ( Fig 4A–4G ). Eighteen of these are of different forms of dark green obsidian, with the other two being of chert and basalt. Most of the lithics consist of small flakes, but interesting pieces include three similar retouched flakes ( Fig 4C, 4E and 4F ), which are invasively retouched distal fragments of large flakes. The repeated shape suggests that flake breakage to produce short and wide flakes was deliberate and a way to produce thick squat ‘scrapers’. The chert piece is a very thin plaquette ( Fig 4D ), laterally broken and finely retouched along one margin. The chert must have been imported from quite a considerable distance, probably from the north [ 75 ]. Semi-circular stone structures and pits are also present in the Area C entrance (S9 Fig in S1 File ). Due to the volume of stone, dust, and bird droppings, it is hard to distinguish these features clearly, but a large proportion of the area is clearly anthropogenically modified.

A-G: Area C looters pit spoil heap, H-O: Trench 1, P-AI: Area D. Grey areas are retouched. a,b,h,k,n,n,p-ab = flakes, c,d-f, ac-ae = retouched flakes (including burins: ac and ad), cores: o, af-ai.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.g004

Following the eastern passage underground eventually leads to another collapse entrance (Area D; 25.58823 N, 39.7648 E). Just inside the entrance, several circular structures (essentially cleared areas) are present (S9 Fig in S1 File ). In the eastern part of this collapse, a lithic assemblage was identified from an area measuring approximately 6 x 6 m ( Fig 4P–4Ai ). This Area D lithic scatter included six cores ( Fig 4Af–4Ai ), 91 flakes, eight retouched flakes, and 28 chips and chunks (n = 133). Most of the assemblage (86%) consists of obsidian of varying colours from green, to grey, and black, with greenish colour being the most common. Aside from a single rhyolite artefact, the rest of the assemblage consists of quartz. The lithics are in a fresh condition and are mostly very small, with an average weight of 1.8 g, with the smallest weighing only 0.1 g. Indeed, aside from a single retouched flake at 18.1 g and a quartz core at 17.4 g, all lithics from the site weigh less than 10 g and 75% are less than 2 g. The assemblage reflects the use of bipolar reduction to produce small and elongated flakes. There is also some use of multiplatform methods, likely with free-hand percussion. Three burins were identified ( Fig 4Ac and 4Ad ), and retouched forms display relatively simple and informal retouch, focussed on the lateral margins. Overall, the weathering and technology of these lithics suggest that they are younger than those from Area C. While not confirmed by absolute dating, it is possible that the Area D lithics date to a period such as the Chalcolithic or Bronze Age. In addition to the lithics, a piece of pottery and three ostrich eggshell fragments were recovered among the Area D lithic scatter.

Trench 1 excavation and dating

A 1 x 1 m trench (Trench 1) was excavated a few metres east of the previously dug pit (Figs 2 and 3 ) resolving five major layers excavated across thirteen excavation units (XUs), reaching a total depth of 114 cm.

Surface deposits (Layer 1; XU 001) were excavated as a single 18 cm thick layer, comprising dry and dusty greyish brown silty sands that were distinguished from underlying deposits due to differences in moisture content. Layer 2 (XU 002–005) comprised a ~30 cm thick deposit of increasingly moist, moderately compacted pale yellowish-brown silty sand. Potentially bioturbated deposits observed at the interface with the underlying sediment unit were constrained in a single XU (XU 006), which comprised a soft dark grey deposit containing charcoal and rootlets. Layer 3 (XU 007–009) comprised a ~25 cm thick deposit of mid greyish brown silty sands supported by pebble to cobble sized clasts. Underlying this, Layer 4 (XU 010–011) was an approximately 20 cm thick deposit of pale to dark yellowish brown silty sand with some clast support present in XU 010. The basal deposits uncovered (Layer 5; XU 012–013) were observed to a minimum thickness of ~25 cm and composed of a firm pale brownish yellow silty clay with sub-angular geometric texture.

Animal bone fragments were common throughout the sequence but were fragile and generally turned to powder as soon as they were touched. Charcoal was also relatively common, and four samples were selected for radiocarbon dating ( Table 1 ). The sediment sequence suggests early sediment formation in very low, humid depositional settings (Layers 5–4), interrupted by potential cave wall collapse or increased clast mobility within the lava tube (Layer 3), with a return to lower energy but drier depositional conditions towards the top of the sequence (Layers 2–1).

Radiocarbon dating analysis conducted at the SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Glasgow.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.t001

The upper part of the trench dates to the mid/late Holocene with the OSL sample from XU 005 (Layer 2) and radiocarbon sample from XU 004 both giving ages of ca. 5,800 cal. years BP (Tables 1 and 2 ). The main occupation horizon, XU 011 (Layer 4), has a radiocarbon date of ca. 10,300 cal. years BP. OSL ages from just beneath this were ca. 8,700 years BP for XU 012 and ca. 9,800 years BP for XU 013 (Layer 5). There is a slight inversion with regards to the lower OSL and radiocarbon ages, so the age of the main occupation layer may conservatively be described as more than the ca. 6,000 years BP and less than ca. 10,300–8,700 years BP. Given the depth and presence of another episode of roof fall between XU 011 and the upper dates, we suggest the most likely age range is towards the older end of that range, at approximately 10,300–8,700 years BP. Given the thin concentration of lithics in the main occupation horizon, and the fact that most of the radiometric age estimates are in stratigraphic order, we assume that we are dealing with a basically in-situ deposit. Radiocarbon ages from faunal remains obtained from earlier works are provided in Table 3 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.t002

Calibrated using Calib (v. 8.20) and IntCal20 [ 76 ]. Radiocarbon dating analysis conducted at the SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Glasgow. Specimens with an asterisk (*) were obtained by Pint [ 36 ] and the remainder by Stewart et al. [ 40 ].

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.t003

Trench 1 lithics and fauna

A total of 44 lithics were recovered from the Trench 1 excavation ( Fig 4H–4O ), all made of fine-grained dark green obsidian. Thirteen of the lithics were widely distributed in XUs 003 to 010. All remaining 31 lithics (71%) were found in the thin XU 011. Aside from a single core in XU 007 ( Fig 4O ), which shows bidirectional flaking perhaps by the bipolar method, the lithics from the trench all consist of flakes and chips. The 31 lithics found in XU 011 consist of 13 flakes and 18 chips with an average weight of 2.3 g, although 75% are below 1.3 g. Some flakes have a relatively laminar form, while others are very wide. Overall, the character of the assemblage indicates on site knapping.

A total of 653 faunal bones were recovered (NRSP) from the trench and spoil heap, of which 161 (25% of NRSP) were identifiable to a specific skeletal element (full results of the zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis are provided in the Supplementary Online Material, S5–S11 Tables in S1 File ). Micromammals dominate the assemblage, whereas larger mammals (e.g., equids) and non-mammalian microfauna (e.g., birds, reptiles) are rarely represented. Bone preservation is variable and appears to correlate with animal body size: microfauna show fragmentation and digestion due to predation by raptors but are on the whole comparatively well-preserved, whereas remains of larger animals are fragile and often heavily fragmented.

A minimum number of 15 individuals representing 11 taxa were recovered from the trench and spoil heap (S5 Table in S1 File ). Macromammals include small carnivores (NISP = 3, MNI = 1), gazelles (NISP = 2, MNI = 1), caprids (NISP = 2, MNI = 1), and equids (NISP = 2, MNI = 1). Non-mammalian microfauna include birds (NISP = 5, MNI = 1), reptiles (NISP = 4, MNI = 2), and frog (NISP = 1, MNI = 1). Rodents (NISP = 63, MNI = 7) dominate the assemblage and are represented by at least three taxa: Gerbillus sp. (gerbil), cf. Arvicanthis niloticus (African grass rat), and either Mus sp. (mouse) or Acoyms sp. (spiny mouse) (S6 Fig in S1 File ). Interestingly, throughout the sedimentary sequence there is an inverse relationship between microfauna and larger animals (S7 Fig and S9 Table in S1 File ). This suggests that raptors were utilizing the Area C entrance as a roosting site when humans were absent.

Subaerial weathering appears to have had little impact on the assemblage (S7 Table in S1 File ), suggesting that bones were buried relatively quickly or, in the case of microfauna, protected from the elements by the pellets in which they were encased. A small number of bones (2.5% of NISP), as well as plant remains, are burnt (S6 Fig in S1 File ). Three of these were found in the spoil heap and therefore might be of more recent origin, while a single burnt small animal midshaft fragment was recovered from XU 011. A few small-sized animal midshafts exhibit flake scars and pits that might be of anthropogenic origin, and several bone flakes were also recovered. Several long bones exhibit oblique, curved, and smooth fracture patterns indicative of fracturing while fresh (S10 Table in S1 File ). Gastric corrosion is common among micromammal remains. For limb bone elements, corrosion is light and restricted mostly to the epiphyses and protuberances (e.g., trochanters). Most teeth had no signs of digestion ( n = 6), while the remainder exhibited light ( n = 2) to moderate ( n = 2) levels of digestion. Only the mandible bodies were preserved, falling into the low and moderate breakage categories of Fernández-Jalvo et al. [ 60 ].

Stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotopes of faunal remains

A significant correlation (R 2 = 0.94, F(1,3) = 23.46, p<0.01) between δ 13 C and δ 15 N values for herbivores (excluding asses) was observed at Umm Jirsan ( Fig 5A ). Although caution is warranted given the limited dataset (n = 4), the correlation suggests that both domesticates and non-domesticates exploited throughout their movements locally available wild grasses instead of being fed with crops managed by humans. There is a wide range in δ 13 C herbivore values, from -18.3 to -8.0‰, with corresponding Bayesian estimates for the consumption of C 4 plants ranging from 9±9 to 89±8%. Comparison of the regression trend for grazing herbivores with equid isotopic values shows that three of the latter deviate from the trend ( Fig 5B ). Two asses, dating to the 15 th to 17 th centuries CE, exhibited a substantial consumption of C 4 plants, yet the lowest δ 15 N values of all herbivores. This suggests they were likely fed with plants grown under wetter conditions, either locally available or from other regions. Another equid showed similar δ 13 C values to the previous two, yet higher δ 15 N values, which implies the consumption of plants from manured plots and/or from more arid conditions. No correlation was observed between grazer δ 13 C values and their median calibrated radiocarbon age (R 2 = 0.12, F(1,3) = 0.4218 p = 0.5623).

(A) Correlation between δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotope ratios for tooth collagen from Umm Jirsan herbivores other than asses. (B) Biplot of δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotope ratios for bone and tooth collagen samples for humans and all herbivores from Umm Jirsan. Ellipses identify human group and groups of asses that do not follow the overall herbivore trend. (C) Bayesian plot of the relationship between chronology and human bone collagen δ 13 C values. The continuous line is the estimated mean while the band represent the 95% credible interval of the standard error of the mean. Calibrated human radiocarbon ages are summarized by the mean (points) and 95% credible intervals (whiskers).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.g005

Human isotopic results show a wide range in δ 13 C values (-16.3 to -10.9‰) and relatively high and constrained δ 15 N values (15.7 to 17.2‰) ( Fig 5B ). Bayesian estimates of C 4 intake by humans vary from 21±14 to 65±10%. This could be accounted for by direct consumption of C 4 plants, including cereals such as millet or sorghum, or by the consumption of animals fed with C 4 plants, as observed for Umm Jirsan. Due to a lack of reference plant isotopic values, estimates for the intake of plant versus animal protein are difficult to determine. Nonetheless, the difference of c. 6‰ between the δ 15 N herbivore average (10.3±1.6‰, excluding equids) and the δ 15 N human average (16.4±1.6‰) indicates a heavy intake of animal protein. Under a scenario where we assume a standard δ 15 N offset of 3.5‰ between animal bone collagen and plant protein [ 77 ], Bayesian estimates of the dietary protein contribution from animal products range closely from 74±28 to 88±18%. The wide variability in δ 13 C values is indicative of the different individuals consuming different proportions of C 3 plants. Notably, there is a significant correlation between the median chronological range for each human and respective δ 13 C values ( Fig 5C ). This shows that, although a tradition for high protein intake was maintained across time, there was a temporal increase in the consumption of animals fed on C3 plants and possibly also some direct consumption of C 3 plants such as fruits (e.g., dates, figs) or cereals (e.g., wheat) associated with oasis agriculture. While the human and faunal isotopic trends are intriguing, more samples should be sought to further test these correlations.

Rock art and close environs

Surveys in the area surrounding Umm Jirsan resulted in the discovery of additional archaeological findings ( Fig 1 ). Approximately 2.5 km to the north and 3 km to the west of Umm Jirsan, various subcircular cell-like structures were identified, as well as low densities of lithics including small obsidian flakes. Near the circular structures north of Umm Jirsan a ‘bow-tie’ shaped stone structure, low in height but covering a large area was also recorded. The age of these structures remains unknown.

The most interesting locality is a large collapse entrance to another lava tube 1.3 km to the east of Umm Jirsan. The lava tube entrance at the end of the collapse is large, but sediments reach the ceiling after ca. 75 metres. Several small structures (including two small cairns, small clearings, and cells) are located both in the entrance and in the base of the collapse area. Low density non-diagnostic lithics were identified at the base of the collapse area. In addition, 16 rock art panels were documented within the collapse, representing the only documented rock art in the vicinity of Umm Jirsan (Figs 6 and 7 ). The depicted content is similar across all panels, and most motifs are shown in a similar style. Almost all figures have been produced with very small and fine peck marks that remain visible, attesting to the preservation of the rock surfaces at the site. These peck marks also suggest that a similar tool was used for most of the engravings.

(A) sheep (Panel 8); (B) goat and two stick figures with tools on their belts (Panel 8); (C) long-horned cattle (Panel 6), photo enhanced using the ybk setting on DStretch; (D) ibex with ribbed horns and coat markings (Panel 4). Bottom: tracings of examples A-D.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.g006

Top left: Panel 8, showing a mixed herd of sheep and goats as well as an ibex and several human figures. Bottom left: Photo of Panel 8 modified using the ybk setting on DStretch. Two engravings of dogs are shown in the inset and indicated with a circle on the panel. Both dogs are extremely simplified but show the characteristic curled up tail. Top right: close up of Panel 9, highlighting the difference in rock varnish, likely caused by water running down the rock face. Bottom right: close up of Panel 9 enhanced using the ybk setting on DStretch.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.g007

The varnish of the engravings is advanced but not complete. On most panels, engraved lines are distinguishable as a reddish grey colour against the dark grey surface of the varnished rock ( Fig 6 ). However, many of the figures have areas that have darker varnish, and it appears that to an extent this may be the result of vertical streaking, caused by water running down the rock face, which can accelerate or slow varnish formation. The incomplete varnish on surfaces unaffected by steaking is comparable to possible Chalcolithic panels that have been observed at multiple locations in northern Saudi Arabia, although a difference in geological substrate and local environment may result in difference varnish accumulation rates. Stylistically the rock art shares similarities with the Neolithic rock art of northern Arabia. However, there is some indication of time depth, suggesting that the art may cover multiple cultural periods. In some instances, engravings overlap others, such as a human figure superimposed over an ibex on panel 7, or a bovid superimposed over a cow/bull on panel 6 ( Fig 6C ). Nevertheless, these superimpositions could have been achieved within a relatively short time span. Only two substantially later additions can be observed, both carved in a more simplistic style, and coated with markedly lighter varnish: a stick-figure ibex on the upper right of panel 7, and a stick-figure human on the lower left of panel 8. These two figures are also pecked with a cruder tool, producing larger and less precisely placed peck marks.

Based on stylistic conventions, four different bovid depictions can be identified—cattle, sheep, goat, and possibly ibex ( Fig 6 ). Goats are depicted with their horns rising in almost parallel lines, with the tips curved outwards ( Fig 6B ). Another type of bovid is shown with the horns curving back in large arches. In some cases, the ridges that are typical for ibex horns can be identified ( Fig 6D ) and it is possible that bovids with large arched horns represent ibex. Sheep are depicted with their horns curving back over the neck and ears in a characteristic curve ( Fig 6A ). Several bovids with backward curving horns are shown with very large, exaggerated horns, giving them a cattle-like appearance ( Fig 6 ). However, the direction and shape of the horns, combined with a very short tail suggest these are all sheep. Only two bovid depictions could be confidently identified as cattle, and both have large forward pointing horns. In one of the depictions the tail is preserved and is depicted as long and downward pointing as is typical for cattle ( Fig 6C ).

Following this stylistic distinction, sheep are the most commonly represented animal in the rock art, with 23 identifiable depictions. In addition, 15 ibex, seven goat, and two cattle were identified and these are frequently associated with human figures in apparent herding scenes (S12 Table in S1 File ). The inclusion of ibex-like animals, in mixed scenes with domesticated species is interesting. However, the possibility remains that some of the bovids with backward arching horns represent a different type of goat breed rather than ibex. Panel 2 shows an animal with a mixture of both traits with backward curving horns which flare outwards at the tip.

At least six herding scenes were identified on panels 2, 7, 8 (2 scenes), and 9. This is notable as these are generally quite rare in the rock art of northern Arabia. At least one of the pastoral scenes also shows the use of dogs (panel 8) to herd a mixed herd of goats and sheep ( Fig 7 , bottom left and inset). The human figures are very simple, most are stick-figure like with straight legs and curved arms, which echo the horn shape of the sheep depictions ( Fig 6B ).

Given the content and advanced varnish, the engravings most likely relate to the later occupation phase of the cave, perhaps during the middle Holocene. The dominance of sheep and goat is significant, as they are rarely depicted in the rock art of northern Arabia, particularly in oasis settings such as Jubbah and AlUla [ 6 ], as well as sites such as Shuwaymis [ 13 ] which are dominated by cattle.

Finally, we surveyed the volcanic area around Jebel Abyad ( Fig 1 ) to attempt to locate the source(s) of obsidian found at and around Umm Jirsan (S4 Fig in S1 File ). At two localities (named Locality 1 and 2), obsidian clasts and lithics were abundant, which, at the former, included Levallois lithics as well as probable Holocene structures. At a third locality (Locality 3), lithic artefacts were also identified but unlike the other two localities which had a rather mixed character, this locality appears to be comprised entirely of Middle Palaeolithic artefacts. Cores showed a focus on centripetal preparation, while most of the larger Levallois flakes have primarily unidirectional scar patterns, often with additional minor lateral or distal preparation. We also collected some obsidian blocks for knapping experiments. The obsidian was of reasonable quality for flaking, but is very brittle. The prevalence of edge damage on the experimental sample matched that of the archaeological materials observed at Umm Jirsan. Images of archaeological and our experimentally knapped obsidian are shown in S5 Fig in S1 File .

The excavation and survey work conducted in and around Umm Jirsan reveal repeated occupations of the lava tube and surrounding region by Chalcolithic/Bronze Age, Neolithic, and possibly pre-Neolithic peoples over at least the past seven thousand years and perhaps for as long as ten thousand years. The occupation at Umm Jirsan represents one of the first documented archaeological cave sites in the Arabian interior, and one of the few sites in Saudi Arabia dated to the early to mid-Holocene. The site highlights the potential for archaeological surveys and excavations in underground cave settings in the region for the recovery of novel natural and cultural archives.

Based on the radiocarbon and OSL dating, the age of the main occupation layer (XU 011) falls between ca. 10,300 and 7,000 years BP. This age range overlaps with other early Holocene archaeological sites in northern Arabia, notably Al Rabyah, Jebel Qattar, Jebel Oraf, and Sahout, where distinctive Epipalaeolithic/PPN artefacts in the form of El-Khiam points and Helwan points and bladelets hint at cultural connections to the Levant [ 7 , 10 , 12 ]. However, the lithic assemblages recovered from the Trench 1 excavation and surrounding area lack diagnostic forms such as arrowheads or geometric microliths which would allow comparisons with Epipalaeolithic/Neolithic assemblages in the wider region. A Neolithic presence at Umm Jirsan is attested by the recent identification of a human cranium dated to ca. 6,800 years BP from Area A, the hyena accumulation at the western end of the lava tube [ 40 ]. This age matches well with recent radiocarbon dates obtained from mustatils in the Harrat Khaybar, as well as circular domestic structures from the nearby Harrat ‘Uwayrid, which suggest that the construction and use of these megalithic structures largely took place between ca. 7,200 and 6,800 years BP [ 16 , 17 , 20 , 21 ], with the age of this particular individual perhaps related to the final stages of the use of these structures.

Later occupations are evident at Umm Jirsan, as documented by the Area D surface lithic scatter and the nearby rock art which likely dates to the Chalcolithic, as well as the four human cranial remains recovered from elsewhere at Umm Jirsan dating to between ca. 4,500 and 3,000 years BP [ 36 , 40 ]. There is again an interesting correspondence between the age of the archaeological findings at Umm Jirsan and megalithic structures in the region, in this case the pendant tombs, dating to between ca. 4,600 and 4,000 years BP [ 18 , 31 ]. These structures form what have been termed ‘funerary avenues’ [ 31 ]. Essentially, these avenues comprise composite path and monumental features connecting oases and, in some instances, extending over hundreds of kilometres. Notably, Umm Jirsan is situated between the Khaybar oasis on the one hand, and al Ha’it and al Huwayyit oases on the other, each of which is connected by extended funerary avenues (see Fig 1 ).

If, as Dalton and colleagues [ 31 ] suggest, these avenues were used by pastoralists during the movement of their herds between oases and hinterland pastures, it seems probable that Umm Jirsan marks a stopping off point. Clearly, pastoralists visited the area, as evidenced by probable Chalcolithic depictions of goat, sheep, and cattle herding scenes in the rock art and the recovery of livestock remains. For such pastoralists, Umm Jirsan may have served as a place of refuge, providing protection from the sun and wind and potentially as a natural reservoir of water. Indeed, the use of lava tubes as water reservoirs in antiquity has been suggested previously. In the Harrat al-Sham (Black Desert) of eastern Jordan, artificial channels leading to and damming walls within lava tubes have been documented, as well as various structures (e.g., walls, crescent-shaped shelters, and possible “post holes”) clearly associated with the lava tube entrances [ 78 – 81 ]. Although the age and function of these various features is not yet known, some scholars have suggested that they date to prehistory [ 81 ], and it is of note that the Late Chalcolithic/Bronze Age settlement of Jawa is nearby to these lava tubes. Even today, some of these caves are used as sheep pens [ 80 ].

Additional insights regarding human herding and dietary practices over time can be gleaned from the isotopic data. Human isotopic results show a wide range in δ 13 C values and relatively high and constrained δ 15 N values. The wide variability in the former indicates that individuals consumed different proportions of C 3 plants and/or C 3 -consuming animals, while estimates of the dietary protein contribution from animal products range closely from 74–88%. Notably, there is a significant correlation between the median chronological age of each of the human remains and their respective δ 13 C values. Taken together, this suggests a tradition of high protein alongside an increase over time in the consumption of C 3 plants (e.g., fruits, cereals) and/or browsers (e.g., goats), with the Neolithic-aged individual having the lowest proportion of C 3 resources in their diet. The increasing trend in C 3 resource consumption may relate to the arrival of Bronze Age oasis agriculture which saw the emergence of sophisticated farming and water management technologies that allowed people to cultivate an increasingly diverse array of plant foods, as well as settle more permanently in the deserts [ 2 , 82 ]. This is well documented in the Tayma Oasis some 200 km northwest of Khaybar, where palynological evidence indicates the cultivation of grapevine ( Vitis vinifera ) and fig ( Ficus ) by as early as ca. 5,300 years BP and the farming of date palms ( Phoenix ) before 3,000 years BP [ 83 ]. Although no direct evidence for early agriculture exists yet for Harrat Khaybar, the oasis, with its large catchment area, deep sediments and wadi channels, underlying geology, and shallow water table [ 18 , 84 , 85 ], would have been amenable to oasis agriculture during Bronze Age times.

The strong correlation between faunal δ 13 C and δ 15 N suggests that these animals consumed grasses locally available instead of being fed with crops managed by humans. For the latter, crop management practices such as irrigation or manuring would likely deviate isotopic values from the observed correlation. Interestingly, the δ 13 C values indicate highly varied diets, with some individual consuming mostly C 4 plants, whereas others incorporated into their diets a significant proportion C 3 and/or CAM photosynthesizing plants (e.g., as sedges and succulents). Only the more recent 15 th to 17 th century CE equids remains show a deviation from this trend, with δ 13 C values that suggest they were fed with plants grown under wetter conditions, either locally available or from other regions.

Given the limited size of our dataset and lack of mobility isotopic data (e.g., O or Sr isotopes) it is difficult to put forward robust interpretations on animal mobility. It is possible that the herbivores were fed in two distinct ecozones having extreme isotopic end-members. In this case, one would expect the observed correlation between δ 13 C and δ 15 N for grazer bone collagen to result from different residence times and seasonal mobility across end-members. However, it is also possible that there were an unknown number of ecozones with intermediate isotopic values spread across extreme isotopic values. More data is needed to test these hypotheses.

The rock art nearby Umm Jirsan attests to prehistoric livestock practices and herd composition in the region. Of particular note is the dominance in the rock art of sheep and goat, which are rarely depicted in other oasis settings in northern Arabia, such as at Jubbah, or at sites like Shuwaymis [ 13 ], which are dominated by cattle. It is possible that the local environment made sheep and goat herding more economically, and perhaps more symbolically, important. Hunting of gazelle and perhaps of ibex is also attested at the site in the rock art, consistent with the faunal remains from Trench 1.

Both domestic (e.g., caprids, cattle) and wild (e.g., gazelles) animals were processed and/or consumed at the site, with evidence pointing to people as the likely accumulators of these remains for several reasons. Firstly, the large open entrance to the eastern passage is not an ideal denning spot for carnivores like striped hyena and foxes, which tend to prefer more sheltered settings [ 52 ]. Secondly, the assemblage is rather distinct from clearly carnivore accumulated assemblages found elsewhere throughout Umm Jirsan. This includes the large hyena accumulated caches as reported in [ 40 ], as well as small fox accumulated caches which comprise primarily small accumulations of microfauna (e.g., rodents, birds) remains surrounding small cracks and crevices in the cave walls. Thirdly, the inverse relationship between the micro and macrofauna is easily explainable by a human presence—through the disturbance of raptors via activities such as hunting and fire use—but less so by a carnivore presence. And lastly, the faunal remains are associated with lithic artefacts, while some of the bones have possible evidence for human butchery in the form of burning, percussion pits, and fresh fracturing (i.e., midshafts with oblique, curved, and smooth fracture characteristics). Taken together, the evidence points to humans as the main accumulating agent of the macromammal remains recovered from the excavation.

In contrast, the microfauna found at the site appear to be the result of raptor predation, most likely some nocturnal owl based on the degree of breakage and digestive corrosion. There is a clear inverse relationship between the micro and macrofauna throughout the sequence. Namely, when larger fauna are present, microfauna are largely absent, and vice versa , indicating that raptors were using the cave while people were absent. A simple reading of S6 Fig in S1 File suggests perhaps as many as four distinct occupational phases of the cave by people, possibly related to the various Neolithic and Chalcolithic/Bronze Age occupations of the area. While little is currently known on questions such as occupation continuity in the area, our findings suggest pulses of occupation reflected in both the cultural and faunal records.

Conclusions

Our findings point to use of Umm Jirsan by predominantly pastoral populations that had increasing links through time with oasis settlements. The lava tube does not appear to have served as a permanent habitation location, but rather as a site that likely lay on herding routes and that allowed access to shade and water for passing herders and their animals. Prior to this, as well as during pastoral periods, the lava tube was likely also linked with hunting activities, which probably remained a cornerstone of local economies into the Bronze Age. Lava tubes like Umm Jirsan offered a rich resource for human populations living in arid habitats and provide important insights into the resources these populations drew upon to increase their resilience in a challenging environment.

Our research at Umm Jirsan highlights the value of further research and testing of northern Saudi Arabia’s rich record of caves and rock shelters. These records hold substantial potential to address major limitations of the current archaeological record, which relates to open air sites subjected to major post-depositional transformations and taphonomic degradation. Future research should target additional sites, drawing upon the full potential of multiproxy methods to document linked cultural and environmental records, in a key and fascinating arid region of the Eurasian continent.

Supporting information

S1 file. supplementary online material..

Additional information on the OSL dating, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses, and archaeological findings.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.s001

Acknowledgments

We thank HRH Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the former President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) for giving us permission to carry out research at Umm Jirsan, and HH Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan Al-Saud, Minister of Culture. We also thank Dr Jasir Alherbish, CEO of the Heritage Commission, and Dr Abdullah al-Zahrani, General Director for Archaeological Excavations. We thank Emmanuel Gilissen of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, for assisting us during our visit to study comparative material.

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