wonder if the saudis are trying to restrict archaeological work to ancient arabia and not the late pre-islamic period
Archaeologist Laila Nehmé, co-director of the Hegra Archaeological Project—a French-Saudi partnership working to safely excavate the site—explains why Nabataeans remain such a mystery despite their influence. “The reason we don’t know much about them is because we don’t have books or sources written by them that tell us about the way they lived and died and worshipped their gods,” she says.
https://mymodernmet.com/hegra-tourism/maybe not. a potential oversight by those tasked with selling their culture to westerners.
Recent studies of inscriptions in Saudi Arabia (including these around Dumat al-Jandal) increasingly suggest that by the 6th cen Christianity was widespread in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula. Great stuff from Laila Nehmé:
https://mobile.twitter.com/GabrielSaidR/status/1259103863447130114