LOST TREASURES OF ARABIA: THE ANCIENT CITY OF DADAN
Genre
Documentary
Running time
44 minutes
Year
2021
Language
English
Subtitle
English
Country
Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates
Director
Dirk Verheye, Inti Calfat
Bio
Producer
Rob Neuhold
Cast
Scriptwriter
The ancient city of Dadan, home to the Dadanite and Lihyanite kingdoms in North West Arabia is mentioned in three bibles and was an important stopping point on the Incense Road trading route - yet little is known about it. Today, in what is now modern day AlUla, an international team of archaeologists are investigating the ruins of the city and necropolis where the Dadan city stood as one of the most sophisticated cities of its era from around 900 BC until it lost its importance. What remains are hundreds of tombs built high into the red rocks of the mountain including two guarded by an exquisitely carved pair of lions; a temple, a huge well and thousands of petroglyphs and inscriptions in the Dadanite script. For a full season of excavations, the National Geographic Creative Works cameras follow the experts as they excavate, trying to form a picture of life in a city that once ruled the vital trade route for frankincense, the oil of its day. Who were the Dadanites? And where and when did they go?
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