Al-Qadeer Site

Al-Qadeer is located 10 kilometres south of Sakaka, on the western edge of Qara town. It is an archaeological site that sheds light on an aspect of ancient life in the Al-Jawf Region. The site comprises a small stone building and, to its north, an ancient well, surrounded by the remains of stone foundations, most of which have now disappeared. In addition, a substantial corpus of rock art and Thamudic inscriptions is scattered across the nearby rock faces, testifying to human activity at the site in antiquity.

Also appearing near the building is a collection of Islamic writings dating back to the period between the 6th and 8th centuries AH. The most important of these is a foundation text chronicling the construction of the small building in the month of Muharram, 518 AH. Another inscription, dated to the month of Jumada al-Akhira, 640 AH, states that a person named Abd al-Salam bin Ahmad bin Yusuf bin al-Sheikh Abi al-Qasim visited this place. This suggests that the location may have been situated on one of the ancient route paths used by travellers and caravans.