Dadan Ancient City Taxi — Dadanite Kingdom & Lion Tombs Transfer
Taxi from AlUla to Dadan — 10km, 10 minutes. Capital of the Dadanite and Lihyanite kingdoms. Rock-cut lion tombs on cliff face. Pre-Islamic Arabia's oldest urban settlement in the Hejaz. Fixed rate.
Dadan — The Ancient Kingdom
The Dadanite Kingdom
Dadan was the capital of the Dadanite (Dedanite) Kingdom — a North Arabian civilization that flourished from the 8th to 4th century BCE. Dadan controlled a critical segment of the ancient Incense Route running from South Arabia to the Levant and Mesopotamia. Biblical and Assyrian sources mention Dedan as a major trading centre. The site has temple foundations, administrative buildings, and a dense urban layout now partially excavated.
Archaeological excavations ongoing — partial site open.
Lion Tombs of Lihyan
The lion tombs are the most dramatic feature of Dadan — a row of rock-cut tombs carved into the vertical cliff face above the valley, each flanked by carved lion figures. The Lihyanite style (4th–2nd century BCE) is bolder and more stylized than the Nabataean tombs at Hegra. Access is by guided buggy tour up to the cliff level — not reachable on foot. The cliff panorama from the lion tomb level over the AlUla valley is extraordinary.
Ticket includes guided buggy to cliff level.
Archaeological Context
Dadan predates Hegra by several centuries and represents a different phase of ancient Arabian history — before the Nabataean commercial empire. Recent Saudi-French excavations have uncovered temples, votives, and inscriptions in the Dadanite script. The site provides a layered view of north Arabian cultural succession: Dadanite → Lihyanite → Nabataean → early Islamic.
Museum at site entrance: excavation findings displayed.