Madain Saleh, Saudi Arabia Dating back to the second century BC, the Nabataean archaeological site, also known as Madain Saleh, has long been hidden from foreign visitors in this ultra-conservative kingdom that rarely opens up to tourists. But now the largest and best preserved site of the Nabataean civilisation south of Petra in Jordan is the first Saudi archaeological site to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List Archaeology in the News | The ASOR Blog