Preserving Documentary Heritage in AlUla
A meeting point for societies of the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean world, and Asia, AlUla has borne witness to 200,000 years of human memory and served as a setting where the arcs of common cultural heritage, the Arabic language, and humanity’s relationship with the natural environment has evolved and endured.
AlUla’s Hegra Archaeological Site (Al-Hijr / Mada’in Salih) was the first World Heritage property to be inscribed in Saudi Arabia, and in serving as a canvas that contributed to the region’s record of its cultural origins, it embodies the same spirit as UNESCO’s Memory of the World (MoW) Programme.
Documentary heritage forms our memory of AlUla
Beyond the towering monumental World Heritage sites are historic epigraphs, petroglyphs, and ancient inscriptions spanning the rocks of AlUla, enabling us to form a memory of the region's past by preserving its rich documentary heritage.
Documentary heritage has a palpable and universal value. It makes up the shared past of our humanity and continues to shape the present. As something that belongs to us all, documentary heritage is a tangible force and resource for intercultural dialogue and global citizenship education.
As such, UNESCO’s MoW Programme works with a range of partners to preserve and protect documentary heritage, ensuring its permanent accessibility and enhancing public awareness of the significance of our shared heritage in Saudi Arabia, across Arab States, and throughout the world.
Key facts and figures
Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU)
The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) was established in 2017 with the purpose of safeguarding and elevating the significance of AlUla’s cultural heritage for present and future generations. In accordance with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, RCU’s development in AlUla encompasses initiatives within archaeology, education, tourism and arts.
Sharing the MoW Programme’s vision for the potential of documentary heritage to serve as a resource for education and intercultural dialogue, RCU seeks to sensitively and sustainably revive AlUla’s status as a hub that welcomes visitors from across the world to participate in cultural exchanges and witness the record of our heritage written in stone.
The MoW Programme’s AlUla Documentary Heritage Project: Preservation and Awareness-raising of Documentary Heritage in AlUla and Saudi Arabia is a UNESCO multi-field office programme funded by RCU.
"This project is an opportunity in the face of risks to the region’s inscriptions and manuscripts to equip memory institutes with tools for preserving our documentary heritage, to animate the Arab world’s public awareness of its significance and use it as a force for unity, diversity and intercultural dialogue.”
“This partnership will connect AlUla's past, present and future by harnessing the power of education, science and culture to act as a catalyst for sustainable development model and long-lasting change.
Get in touch
Expressions of interest, comments and suggestions are welcome. Please contact mowsecretariat@unesco.org (UNESCO Documentary Heritage Unit, Communication and Information Sector), or our project contacts below.
Phone: +33145682303
Phone: +33145680908
