Al-Shuwaymis Rock Art
Al-Shuwaymis Rock Art
Rock engravings on Jabal al-Manjor and Jabal Rata south of Hail near al-Hait, spanning nearly ten thousand years and forming the second component of the 2015 UNESCO World Heritage inscription.
Plan your visit
Practical information verified separately from the historical record.
Before you go: Check with the operator or a local guide before departure; field access details have not yet been verified.
Why visit?
Discover hunting panels with bows, dogs, lions, leopards, and wild asses that rank among the earliest and finest rock art in Arabia.
Al-Shuwaymis lies جنوب Hail Province near the town of al-Hait within a volcanic landscape surrounded by harrat that funnel movement into the wadis, where the main panels concentrate on Jabal al-Manjor and Jabal Rata. Bedouin of the region knew the carvings for generations; wider attention came when a local school director reported them in 2001, and researcher Saad ibn Abdulaziz al-Rashid described the find as uniquely important.
The engravings include Late Neolithic hunting scenes with men carrying bows and arrows accompanied by hunting dogs, alongside domestic herds and wild animals such as lions, leopards, and onagers. The abundance of feline imagery and the artistry of the composition make the site a rare record of fauna and human activity on the peninsula in deep antiquity.
Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015 together with Jubbah, al-Shuwaymis stands among the oldest and most accomplished rock-art complexes in Arabia, preserving a visual ecology that later desiccation and settlement change largely erased from the living landscape.