[citation needed] The Egyptian scholar Ptolemy mentioned a trade route leading from Kafafah to Lihyan (today's Al-`Ula).

The Syrian scholar and poet, Sheikh Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, wrote about Duba in 1790, in his account of traveling to Mecca for the Hajj.

According to the Quran, Prophet Moussa settled in Madian (the region starts from Jordan river and extends to the city of Duba).

[4][dubious – discuss][self-published source] Duba is located in the northwest of Saudi Arabia on the coast of the Red Sea on the Egyptian road of the Hajj, about 300 km from the intersection of Egypt, Jordan and Palestine.

Saptco Saudi Road Transport offers bus services from Jeddah and Mecca to Tabuk via Duba.

Duba is the subject of a painting by Samuel Austin, an engraving of which was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833 as Thubare, a Port on the Arabian Coast.

along with a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon that recalls the story of the Fairy Pari-Banou and Prince Ahmed.