The chance of stumbling across a piece of history is enough to pique the curiosity of most travellers, but Dil’ Masil is also a great route for anyone partial to a classic wadi bash. The drive zigzags along the valley, the sheer sides of the mountain rising to the sky on either side.

  Rock Carvings

If you’ve come for the petroglyphs, they are situated at the northern entrance of Dil’ Masil wadi, where antiquities teams have erected fences around the site. The gates are unlocked, however, and it’s even possible to scramble up the basalt mountain face to see the Sabaean inscriptions up close.

The inscriptions on the northern rockface date back to 516 CE and detail the various tribes, forts and possessions of Himyarite kings, the ancient kingdom of modern-day Yemen. The first inscription is easy to get to, but the second is located in a difficult-to-reach overhang. Copying down the script was reportedly “a very laborious process” that took Philby, who was forced to use binoculars, more than three hours. A third etching depicts the figure of a Himyarite king, while another inscription discovered nearby is in Thamudic script – an early Semitic language related to Arabic. Along with roughly hewn depictions of camels, ibexes and a palm tree, there is a zigzag line that appears to be a rudimentary map of Dil’ Masil – perhaps the very first map of the wadi in existence.

  Ruins

Along the way, there are plenty of shaded places among the trees to have lunch, and you can also explore the crumbling remains of abandoned mudbrick villages and old wells. The further down the wadi you go, there are some wonderfully remote places to camp for the night, especially in the tracks snaking off the valley, which have soft, sandy surfaces. Apart from camel herders guiding their animals, there’s scarcely any sign of modern life.

  Picnic Spot (White Sand)

The end of this route is marked by immaculate white sand nestled among rock formations. The scenic setting begs to be photographed and is a great spot for a picnic after a morning of off-roading.

There’s a real sense of remoteness on the windswept plains beyond Dil’ Masil, which offer vast perspectives and countless herds of camels, which roam about grazing on different varieties of grasses, shrubs and trees.

DRIVING DIRECTION

The petroglyphs and picnic spots along this route are easily accessible from the main road, with a longer more adventurous wadi drive beyond.

  1     After exiting the road, before the military compound gate, follow the track until you reach the rock carvings (the petroglyphs). The mountain is on the left-hand side surrounded by a yellow fence.

  2     Continue through the wadi, exploring the ruins and avoiding the military perimeter on the left.

  3     Turn left to enter the sandy wadis for a shaded picnic or turn right and head back towards Arwa on the road that’s under construction.

  4     Go left or right to explore more wadis.