Al-ʿUlā

…the northern Hejaz, such as Dedān (now Al-ʿUlā), Al-Ḥijr (now Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ, barely six miles north of Dedān), and Taymāʾ to the northeast of the other two, have long been known but not fully explored. In south-central Arabia, near Al-Sulayyil, a town site at Qaryat Dhāt Kāhil (now Qaryat al-Fāw)…

It is possible that the Minaean settlement at Dedān (see above) coexisted with a native Dedānite town. But only one “king of Dedān” is recorded. This kingdom seems to have been replaced quite soon by a kingdom of Liḥyān (Greek: Lechienoi). The…

…century bce the oasis of Dedān (al-ʿUlā) was the capital of a short-lived Dedānite kingdom; then, from the 4th century to the 1st century bce, it was the capital of the kingdom of Liḥyān, which for nearly two centuries was home to a colony of Minaean tradesmen from South Arabia.