Located 90 km west of Tabuk city in northwest Saudi Arabia, the desert of Hikma is fast becoming a center of “astro-tourism.” Hisma’s distance from high artificial light pollution makes it an ideal spot for observing stars, galaxies, passing meteors, and falling comets at night time, says Majed Abu Zahra, president of the Jeddah Astronomical Society.
A study that examined 431 standing stone circles at various sites in Harrat Uwayrid in AlUla concludes that people living in that part of Saudi Arabia’s northwest during the Neolithic era, or the later part of the Stone Age, were not merely simple pastoralists but had distinctive architecture, domesticated animals, jewelry, and diverse tools.