The historic Maarid Castle, Qasr Maarid in Jouf, Saudi Arabia

Domat Al-Jandal commonly known as Dumah is one of the historic cities of Saudi Arabia. It is located in the province of Al Jouf, which in the northwest of Saudi Arabia. The ancient city is just 350 km northwest of Hail. The city is named after the 6th son of Prophet Ismail A.S.

According to the biblical sources, the grandson of Prophet Ibrahim was named Dumah. So this traces back the history of the city. Also, the Assyrians records have a mention of the city. The city, during the ancient times, was used as an important center, it was proclaimed as an important Arab center.

The historic asset, the city of Domat Al-Jandal, is quite interesting to discover. The city has a historic and ancient castle which is named as the Qasr Maarid (meaning the Maarid Castle).  The castle is a huge building carved out of rough stones.

The mortar is used to hold the rocks together. The building architect used the ancient designs. It has four towers placed on each corner of the building. This gives it a look of a place of great significance. The castle not only uses the fine stones for building up the walls but also uses the corbels to support the castle’s building.

Other architectural techniques used in the castle are the use of lintels made up of stone and the mud-brick superstructures. Also, an underground tunnel was there to connect the castle with the Umar bin Khattab Masjid.

Archeologists believe that the castle was built in the first century AD. The foundations were kept in the region of Nabataeans. Interesting isn’t it? People at that time could build up a great castle and that too using different architectural design!...[ Continue to next page ]  /  Source: lifeinsaudiarabia