Al-Ukhdood Taxi — Najran Quranic Archaeological Site Transfer
Taxi from Najran to Al-Ukhdood — 5km, 5 minutes. Pre-Islamic Sabaean city referenced in Surah Al-Burooj of the Quran. Iron Age ruins, ancient inscriptions, archaeological park. Fixed rate.
Al-Ukhdood — History & What to See
The Quranic Connection
Surah Al-Burooj (Chapter 85) of the Quran references the 'Aṣḥāb al-Ukhdūd' — a people who persecuted believers by burning them in a trench. Islamic tradition identifies this with the Himyarite king Yusuf Dhu Nuwas who massacred the Christian community of Najran in approximately 523 CE. This event — one of the most widely known episodes in pre-Islamic Arabian history — is directly connected to this site.
Surah Al-Burooj: ayat 4–8.
The Sabaean City
Al-Ukhdood was a Sabaean settlement in the Najran valley — part of the South Arabian civilisation that controlled the northern ends of the incense and trade routes. The excavated city blocks show stone-built residential and administrative structures, a planned urban layout, and inscriptions in Musnad script (the monumental script of South Arabian civilisations). Najran was a significant trading junction on the route from Yemen northward to the Hejaz and Mesopotamia.
Saudi-international archaeological excavations ongoing.
The Archaeological Park
The Al-Ukhdood site is developed as a heritage park — with excavated ruins, protective shelters over key finds, rock-face inscriptions with interpretation panels, and a visitor pathway. The ancient inscriptions in South Arabian script carved directly into the sandstone cliff faces alongside the ruins are among the most accessible pre-Islamic inscriptions in Saudi Arabia.
Visitor pathway: approx 45 minutes for full circuit.