The old Al-Ula or called by the local people “Deera” was built at the narrowest point of the valley that extends from Madain Saleh in the north to Al-Bada’e station near Al-Moghira in the south. This area is formerly known as Al-Qura Valley. The town built around a high plateau adjacent to the mountain above which is Musa bin Nusair or Umm Nasser Castle. The reason for the building in this location was to protect the town easily from raids of the flash floods that hit the valley in the winter and autumn and to protect it from the frequent attacks of the invaders in earlier eras. The town was also built in a manner rendering is to secure and defend it. It was similar to a residential compound with a compact residential units, pathways and streets within it. It has several gates the can be easily controlled in terms of opening and closing when necessary. This area constitutes the Old Town. The town's streets are narrow in terms of the current standards as they are less than 2 meters in width.

They ceiled almost entirely in some places for lighting purposes. The ceiling is made of a set of rooms that built above called by people of the town “attayarah”. The width of these roads expands in places to four or five meters. These areas called Al-Rahba, which was also covered. They used as commercial centers where products, goods and commodities sold and brought by the Bedouins. Every man of the desert had a sponsor or a host called Nadeem who protect him and buys his products such as butter, Marissa, leather, etc. in addition of using the domestic markets such as Al-Hujairi, Al-Muhammad, Ben Shukur and Al-Atrash markets. On top of the mountain located to the east of the town, a castle called Um Nasser or Jubail or Musa bin Nusair was build. The town had no fences or fortresses, but it was totally enclose by a fence with 14 gates at the main roads.

Most famous gates included Alhoush, a Turkish name meaning military that called by the local population as Sour. It was name Alhoush after being use as seat of the Ottoman military. From this gate, the flood goes from the western mountain adjacent to old town to the east until it ends at the West. Other major gates included Hasnaa, which is located to south of the town and opens at the sandy arena Abu Dhiab Gate (Abu Dhiab Sour), Abu Huwayan Gate (Abu Huwayan Sour), Ibn Amer ibn Abdul-Kareem Sour, Ibn Eid Sour, Shawakin Sour and Al-Hamed Sour. All western and southern gates are still there. However, the eastern and northern ones have been remove due to the opening of Salman Street (Musa bin Nusair Street).

The building of this town dates back to the first Islamic era. It is not build at one time, but it was gradually form until completed in compact form. Studies indicate that the first district built in the town was Al-Khokha adjacent in the north to Umm Nasser Al-Jubail Mountain or Musa bin Nusair Castle.

After every clan or tribe that wanted to settle in the town built their homes in buildings constructed according to applicable laws and customs, beginning with request for protection and housing from the existing tribal sheikhs who and ending with agreement to abide by the town laws, customs and traditions. Protection and care provided to the newcomer who was subject to the rules governing the rest of the people. The town included the Friday Mosque and other small mosques including the Rock Mosque, Azawayah or Moroccan Mosque, Al-Ali Mosque, Northern Mosque, Arayes Mosque and Azawayah Mosque in Al-Shoqeq Lane. It also included Bet Al-Moalem (teacher’s house) where on top there is tantoura, which was use to determine the time for distribution of water among farmers.

It is located at the entrance of Adarb market. It includes Al-Geneina, the main place for drinking water, for bathing and water for everyday use for town residents. The old town as we indicated above had no external walls. However, in later periods, walls started building outside the boundaries of the town, which enclosed the farms and orchards. The people of Al-Ula had no animosities or revenges with any neighboring tribes because of those walls. In the last period of the Ottoman Empire especially in the last century, the state sovereignty over the area was almost non-existent. The regulations of domestic life are left to the tribal and clan leaders where chaos, looting and banditry prevailed especially that the area was overwhelmed by poverty, hunger and great needs. An incident occurred during the authority of Al-Rashid in Hail when he appointed a governor called Saeed to Al-Ula. That governor was a servant of Ibn Rashid. He was bad in conduct and treatment. He had a son live and go with him to the farms and orchards where he used to take whatever he wanted without any deterrent. One day, a dispute occurred between the son of Saeed and a peasant. The peasant killed the son of Saeed and buried him in his orchard. It is narrated that a palm tree was planted above his grave. The efforts of Al-Ula clan and tribe leaders failed to contain the crisis with his father.

The father traveled to Hail seeking help of ibn Rashid. The tribe and clan leaders realized that ibn Rashid would invite ably invade them in retaliation for the son of his man. They agreed to protect their town from the north with a wall to prevent the arrival of soldiers of Ibn Rashid to the town and made the battle far from the town. All the people of Al-Ula, elders, men, wives and children worked on the construction of the wall, which is now Asaba’ah Wall or Seven Fence. The elders provides food, men built the wall and the young people brought stones from the mountain or Khuraybah (Dedan) and assisted in the handling of mud and stones to builders and girls brought water from Al-Geneina to mix in the mud. In addition, older women helped in cooking and preparing food for the workers. The wall completed in 1891 for less than a month, as narrated. When the vanguards of Al-Rashid army arrived to explore the situation in Al-Ula, they encamped outside the fence after they found that the town was fortified and could not be access. People leaned of the arrival of the Army.

They wanted to show to the enemy their readiness to fight. They sent a delegation to the enemy vanguards outside the fence telling them that the Sheiks of Al-Ula wanted to speak to them and find out what they wanted. It was an opportunity for the delegation to know the town from within. At that time, Al-Ula was consisting of fifteen leaders representing fifteen clans that made up the population of the town. Ibn Rashid delegation entered into the first sheikh's reception area where they received cordially. Every clan leader position some men armed with guns, swords, and knives at the entrance to each café. The delegation completed its tour to the fifteen leaders’ reception area and saw the force that every tribe leader had. In addition to their solidarity and cooperation with each other, they returned to Ibn Rashid and told him that Al-Ula is fortified, had brave men and it was a dangerous adventure to enter the town Accordingly. Ibn Rashid retreated due to this smart plan. This is the story of the construction of Asaba’ah Wall.

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