Featured: Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

See Your Book Here

See Your Book Here

Who's Online

There are currently, 340 guests and 2 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Our Photo Pages >> Al Rajajil - Standing Stones in Saudi Arabia

Submitted by Andy B on Wednesday, 31 May 2006  Page Views: 18628

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Al Rajajil
Country: Saudi Arabia Type: Standing Stones
Nearest Town: Sakaka  Nearest Village: Al Jauf
Latitude: 29.970300N  Longitude: 40.208600E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
no data Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
1
Be the first person to rate this site - see the 'Contribute!' box in the right hand menu.

Internal Links:
External Links:

Al Rajajil
Al Rajajil submitted by Tazeenhasan : Rajajil stone pillers were erected in coppe to 6000 years ago in northern Saudi Arabia. Present location is 12 KM from Sakaka city, capital of Jouf province Saudi Arabia. There are 54 groups of these pillers all in Rajajil village next to an aramco oil terminal. Aerial view shows they are placed in parellel lines. They also show an angle of 90 degree ie perpendicular to sunset and sunrise. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Standing Stones in Saudi Arabia. In the northern desert, Al-Rajajil is a barren plain with groups of standing stones believed to be well over 5,000 years old. The tall thin stones, up to 10 feet high, have Thamudic inscriptions and are aligned to sunrise and sunset.

They are a bit of a mystery and together with pottery shards and nearby rock carvings make the area a magnet for archaeologists.

During the Chalcolithic, or Copper, Age, approximately 6000 years ago, the population of al-Jawf laboriously erected 54 groups of squared-off stone pillars, some of which measured up to 3m (9'6") in height. Called al-rajajil ("the men") today, the pillars appear to the casual observer to be randomly placed, although a bird's-eye view shows that they are placed in roughly parallel east-west lines.

NOTE: Location given is for the town of Sakaka, more precise information needed.



Note: Saudis hope stones mystery will appeal to tourists, see comment, and see 'Nearby sites' for more to see in Saudi Arabia
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Flickr
Zabal Castle, Sakaka, 18th century on Nabatean foundations (5)

The above images may not be of the site on this page, but were taken nearby. They are loaded from Flickr so please click on them for image credits.


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive map of the area

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 304.2km SW 214° Mintar Beni Atiya Tower Stone Fort or Dun
 307.2km SSW 212° Tayma* Ancient Village or Settlement
 307.8km W 276° Jibal al-Khashabiyeh* Carving
 318.4km NW 319° Khirbet Abu al-Husayn* Ancient Village or Settlement
 355.7km NW 305° Jebel Qurma Petroglyphs* Rock Art
 362.1km NW 320° Tulul al-Ghusayn* Hillfort
 380.3km NW 306° Qasr Usaykhim* Stone Fort or Dun
 381.8km NW 314° Khirbet al-Ja’bariya* Hillfort
 384.1km WNW 304° Ayn Qasiyya Burials Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 388.2km WNW 302° Qasr Uweinid* Stone Fort or Dun
 390.0km WNW 302° Azraq Desert Kite* Misc. Earthwork
 390.6km NW 304° Azraq Geoglyph* Stone Circle
 402.7km NW 312° Jawa* Ancient Village or Settlement
 411.0km NW 310° Qasr Deir Al-Kahf* Stone Fort or Dun
 413.9km WNW 299° Kharaneh IV* Ancient Village or Settlement
 415.1km SSW 212° Mada’in Saleh* Rock Cut Tomb
 417.9km SSW 212° Qasr Al Farid Tomb Rock Cut Tomb
 421.6km WNW 286° Big Circle J1 Misc. Earthwork
 421.7km WNW 285° Big Circle J2 Misc. Earthwork
 426.6km WNW 281° Big Circle J4 Misc. Earthwork
 432.9km SSW 212° Al Ula Lion Tomb Rock Cut Tomb
 437.2km W 280° Jabal Al-Aswad* Hillfort
 439.7km W 281° Khirbat Dabur* Ancient Village or Settlement
 440.9km WNW 286° Dhat Ras* Ancient Temple
 443.3km W 281° Big Circle J3 Misc. Earthwork
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Galley Hill (Streatley)

Conguel Menhir >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

The Imagined Sound of Sun on Stone - Sally Beamish

The Imagined Sound of Sun on Stone - Sally Beamish

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Al Rajajil" | Login/Create an Account | 9 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Al Rajajil by Anonymous on Sunday, 04 June 2006

WHY DIDN'T YOU POST PICTURES OF RAJAJIL???????????
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Al Rajajil by Andy B on Sunday, 04 June 2006
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    There aren't any with permission to use at the moment. See photos on the links below. Photo very welcome.
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Al Rajajil by Anonymous on Thursday, 01 June 2006
motist writes:

these stones is not good. forget to visit please
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Al Rajajil by Andy B on Saturday, 03 June 2006
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Why? They look quite interesting in the photos
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Al Rajajil by Anonymous on Saturday, 03 June 2006
    motist writes:

    it is really no good. camels have made big mess there
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Al Rajajil by Anonymous on Thursday, 01 June 2006
motist writes: It's already a well known standing stones site, see:

1.Charles M. Doughty 'Travels in Arabia Deserta(188'

2. Parr P. 1989, Aspects of the Archaeology of north - west Arabia in the First Millennium BC . Pp. 39-66 in 'Larbie preislamique et Son Environnment Historique et Culturel.Edited by T.Fahd. Strasburg university

3. Zarins J. Rajajil: A unique Arabian site from the. fourth millennuim BC,Atlal 3:1979:73-78.
[ Reply to This ]

Rajajil Thamudic script on the standing stones by Anonymous on Thursday, 01 June 2006
motist writes:

the script is later to the stones , in the 3rd millennium BCE script was unknown
[ Reply to This ]

Saudis hope stones mystery will appeal to tourists by Anonymous on Wednesday, 31 May 2006
The stones of Rajajil form a striking pattern against the clear desert sky, the fallen and tilting sand-coloured slabs conjuring up visions of England’s Stonehenge. Nobody really knows why the 50 groups of about five pillars each are clustered on the edge of the Nafud desert in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Local legend says they are a lost tribe punished by God. Whatever their origin, local authorities hope the standing stones and the history-rich al-Jouf region will form the centre-piece of a new tourism drive. “Because of the political situation, tourism has been low but the strategy is to revive it and we are hoping to make al-Jouf a tourist attraction,” said Hussein al-Mubarak, a former museum director who now heads a committee to encourage tourism.

Archaeologists believe the Rajajil stones date from before 3,000 BC — when human civilisation first began to thrive in ancient Egypt and Iraq. The stones also have graffiti linking them to pre-Islamic deities such as the female goddess Widd.

As with Stonehenge, there is no consensus on whether the site was a temple, a burial ground, a place used for astronomy or something else. Scholars believe Stonehenge was built between 3,000 and 1,600 BC. Mubarak says the stones were placed on the desert’s edge deliberately, probably to worship the sun. “The sun was worshipped in the north of the Arabian peninsula and the moon was worshipped in the south. High ground was normally chosen for worship,” he said, surveying the site near the Skaka oasis, 1,200 km (750 miles) from Riyadh.

“Some people say it was a tribe turned to stone for doing unclean things, like using bread to clean with or washing with milk,” Mubarak said. “But these are just myths. We don’t want to connect the site now with religious things since we want to encourage tourism.” Rajajil could be related to “rijal”, modern Arabic for men.

“We have several mysterious sites all over the Arabian peninsula...but we have failed to know the reason why they were made and who made them,” said Majeed Khan, a Semitic script expert who has spent 30 years studying Arabian sites.

Khan said the stones of Rajajil were part of the mystery. “They have something to do with religion, maybe it has an astronomical connection. There is no archaeological evidence to prove the date — we excavated and there is no pottery.”

Rajajil could date from a time when the peninsula was changing from a land of lakes and trees — depicted in rock art sites — into today’s dry, desert region. Reuters

Al-Jouf was a centre of early Arab civilisation, dominated by powerful queens who are listed in the annals of invading Assyrians. The area was also the staging-post for the Arab conquest of the Middle East in the 7th century. The ancient city of Dumat al-Jandal, where the word “Arab” was first recorded by Assyrians, is still standing near Skaka. Many say al-Jouf, which borders Jordan, has been neglected since it became part of the Saudi state in 1932.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, is not known as a popular tourist attraction, partly because of its adherence to the austere Wahabi form of Islam. Plans to bring tourists to al-Jouf ran aground when militants linked to al Qaeda began attacking foreigners in a campaign to topple the Saudi monarchy launched in 2003. However, the violence has largely died down and Saudi Arabia, which already receives millions of Muslim pilgrims to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina each year, said last month it would begin issuing tourist visas to foreigners. Reuters

Tourism could be a lifeline for al-Jouf’s youth. “Some young people round here have gone crazy from not finding a job, even graduates,” said 24-year-old police recruit Bassam, driving along spruce new Tarmac roads that have been built recently as part of the tourism development drive.

Young people say they hope Kin Abdullah will make good on his promise

Read the rest of this post...
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Al Rajajil by Andy B on Wednesday, 31 May 2006
(User Info | Send a Message)
Photos at:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Saudi_Arabia/Sakaka-1806432/Things_To_Do-Sakaka-BR-1.html

http://www.travellerspoint.com/largephoto.cfm?PhotoID=322&CountryID=&UserID=1341
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.