The Kingdom is rich in many aspects of its heritage and originality, and God Almighty has singled it out exclusively for the presence of the honorable Kaaba, and many traces of the forerunners; To enter with this great heritage in a race with the civilizations of other peoples, and to sit on their throne, and among the monuments that distinguished the Kingdom are the ruins of Mada’in Saleh, which are great rock-cut tombs and palaces called Mada’in Saleh.

It was called by this name in relation to the Prophet of God, Salih, peace be upon him, who is said to have lived and his people in that area, and the people of Salih, peace be upon him, are the people of Thamud who roamed the rocks in the valley; They are the first to carve great houses and palaces with rocks; It was reported from the Sunnah of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, that he and his companions passed by that area while he was on his way to the Tabuk expedition. When they were about to drink from it, he forbade them and told them that it was for the people of God's wrath on them, and he took them to drink from the place where Saleh's camel, peace be upon him, was drinking.

Mada’in Saleh, which was known as the city of Al-Hajar, is located in the northwest of the Kingdom, specifically in the Al-Ula governorate, which is 300 km north of Medina. This place occupies a distinct strategic location, because it links the south of the Arabian Peninsula with Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Levant, and the convoys of pilgrims coming to Makkah pass through it, and the city of Al-Hajar is considered one of the most important cities of the Nabateans, and they are Arabs from the south of the Arabian Peninsula who inhabited Madain Saleh (Al-Hajar), long after the Thamud people, and they had an ancient civilization whose traces appeared in those cities.

Mada’in Saleh was called the miracle of the mountains, for thousands of years man was able to carve great palaces in them without machines and equipment, and God Almighty brought out of those rocks the she-camel of Saleh, peace be upon him; When his people asked for a verse; In order for them to believe in God Almighty, and she was a great she-camel like no other, she drank all the water of the well in one day, and on the second day she watered the people of Thamud with her milk, but they disobeyed God, crippled her, and returned to worshiping idols again, so God sent down the torment on them, and the shouting took them.

The Al-Hijr area remained deserted for many centuries, after God destroyed the Thamudis, until it was re-established. Among the people who inhabited it were the Nabataeans; They are among the Arabs who came from the south of the Arabian Peninsula and made it their second capital, after Petra in Jordan. The Nabateans had a great civilization; They built tombs in it, and added a lot of architecture and sculpture to it, and historians say that their influence extended to the east and south of the Arabian Peninsula, which worried the Romans and made them wage a war against the Nabateans that ended with their victory, and the defeat of the Nabataeans in 106 AD, and thus their kingdom was destroyed in the stone, and the region returned deserted again.

The stone came back to life a second time after the emergence of Islam and its spread in all parts of the world, as pilgrims who came to the Sacred House of God began to pass by it and stop there; to be provided with food and drink to complete their journey to the Kaaba; The commercial movement in it flourished a lot, and there was a kind of boom, and many historians mentioned it in their books, such as Al-Maqdisi, Ibn Battuta, and Yaqoot Al-Hamawi.

The antiquities in Madin Saleh are divided into two parts: the ancient monuments of palaces and tombs that were carved in the rock, which is about 153 facades carved in the rock, and the Islamic monuments that date back to the Islamic era, which is an Islamic castle, and the Hejaz railway station, and among the ancient monuments that were carved ingeniously. Al-Sanea Palace, which is a facade carved with columns, decorations, and statues, and within it is a burial chamber. There is also the Al-Bint Palace. The number of tombs in it is 31, and they are among the most beautiful of the Nabataean tombs.

There is also the Al-Farid Palace, and it was named so because it is isolated from an independent rocky mass on which the drawings are inscribed. A deep cave in which water collects, thus containing among its sanctuaries a great heritage of greater civilizations, but time has passed over it and only Madain Saleh remains.