Saudi Arabia
Tayma
An oasis inhabited for six thousand years whose ancient stele now stands in the Louvre.
The walls of ancient Tayma still trace the outline of a city that was trading with Babylon when most of Europe was forest. Bir Haddaj — the great well — is over 12 metres across, carved into rock to water the caravans that passed through for millennia. The oasis feels patient, as though it has been waiting for each new visitor with the same calm it showed the Assyrians.
Tayma is one of the oldest continuously inhabited oases in the Arabian Peninsula, with archaeological evidence of settlement dating back at least six thousand years. The Tayma Stele — a carved stone recording an Aramaic treaty between local rulers — was discovered here in 1883 and now stands in the Louvre in Paris. The oasis appears in Assyrian records from the eighth century BCE and served as a temporary residence for the Babylonian king Nabonidus in the sixth century BCE. Bir Haddaj, the great well, provided water for the caravan traffic that made Tayma a waypoint on routes connecting the Mediterranean to the Gulf. The modern town is quiet and largely unvisited, its ancient walls and inscriptions awaiting the kind of attention they deserve.
Solo
Tayma rewards the archaeologically curious solo traveller — the kind of person who reads the Louvre plaque and wonders what the original setting looks like.
- The Tayma Stele — a carved stone recording an Aramaic treaty — now stands in the Louvre in Paris.
- Walls from the ancient city still trace the perimeter of what was once a regional trading capital.
- Bir Haddaj, the ancient well, is over 12 metres in diameter — large enough to water entire caravans.
- The oasis has been continuously inhabited for at least six thousand years.
Tayma dates — prized across the peninsula — eaten fresh from the palm or stuffed with almonds.
Thick lamb broth with turmeric and dried black limes, sipped from clay bowls after a desert drive.
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