Al Faw: A beacon of tolerance on the edge of the Saudi desert

The Kingdom’s latest addition to the world’s premier heritage sits on an ancient trade route and brought together various faiths, creating a historic treasure trove that has been recognised by UNESCO

The cultural landscape of Al Faw Archaeological Area

Al Faw: A beacon of tolerance on the edge of the Saudi desert

Abdullah Al-Rashid

last update on 21 Sep 2024

Around 700km southwest of Riyadh, Al Faw has become Saudi Arabia’s latest site to be added to the World Heritage List kept by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Its inclusion follows half a century of excavations at Al Faw, the capital of the first Kindah kingdom, with houses, markets, roads, cemeteries, temples, and water wells all discovered.

Al Faw is believed to date back around 2,500 years, but the 2,807 graves that have been discovered here have been classified into six groups representing different historical periods and there is evidence of human settlement as far back as the Neolithic period 8,000 years ago.

Al Faw was first unearthed by archaeologists from King Saud University after being obscured by the sands on the edges of the desert for centuries at the intersection of the Wadi al-Dawasir governorate and the Tuwaiq mountain range. Its discoveries, led by the late pioneering archaeologist Dr Abdulrahman al-Tayeb al-Ansari, can help teach the world about a vital era of history on the Arabian Peninsula and a time of religious tolerance in the region.

© Thomas Creissen/UNESCO — The cultural landscape of Al Faw Archaeological Area

Forgotten by history

Also known as Qarya or Dhu Kahl, meaning the city of the God Kahl, Al Faw appears in ancient texts dating back from five centuries before Islam. It was also referred to as al-Hamra or Dhat al-Jinan.

Sometimes described as a village, Al Faw was significant as the capital of the Kingdom of Kindah for a span of eight centuries—its golden age—from the fourth century BC to the early fourth century AD. Ansari highlights its importance in a study called The Village of Al Faw: City of Temples.

A 3km site along Khashm Tuwaiq, Al Faw faced attacks from the kings of Sheba and Dhu Raydan, as documented in Sabaean texts from the late 2nd century to the late 3rd century AD. Imru Al Qais later visited it on his way to Najran in 328 AD, during which the ruling Madhhaj tribe sought refuge there. Despite its significance, Al Faw faded from history and was only briefly mentioned during the Islamic era by al-Hamdani in his work The Attribute of the Arabian Peninsula.

The first modern mention of Al Faw came from St John Philby, a British explorer who wrote about it in the Royal Journal of Geography. Henry Field, an American anthropologist, also documented it as part of a project set up by Saudi Aramco to study prehistoric Saudi Arabia.

The settlement is on an ancient trade route, making Al Faw a significant commercial hub for caravans travelling the Arabian Peninsula

Strategic location

The settlement is on an ancient trade route, the Najran-Jarha Road, and this made Al Faw a significant commercial hub for caravans travelling between the southern and north-eastern Arabian Peninsula. This greatly influenced the lives of its inhabitants and their interactions with other nations.

Excavations reveal that Al Faw evolved from a crossing point to a commercial hub on the eastern branch of the trade route linking southern Arabia with Najran, the Arabian Gulf, and Mesopotamia. It became a major economic, religious, political, and cultural centre, and a powerful metropolis for the Kingdom of Kindah, as evidenced by its temples, monuments, and altars. Ancient inscriptions associate the city with the idol Kahl.

Al Faw embodied a remarkable religious tolerance—it was home to temples for a range of deities including Abbat, Anther, Wad, Shams, Kahl, Lat, among others from Lihyanian, Aramaic, and Nabataean traditions. Its diverse pantheon of gods helped make it a focal point for tribes from across the Arabian Peninsula.

© Antoine Darchambeau/UNESCO — Cruciform Tomb

Room for all gods

Dhu Khal was important in Al Faw among its panoply of deities, and the Musnad inscriptions from southern Arabia reveal that it was this god that took on a central role in the settlement's mainstream religious life. There are inscriptions honouring Dhu Khal on the rocks of Mount Tuwaiq, the walls of its houses, and numerous pottery vessels, including majmar and wall paintings. Similar inscriptions were left by the Arab Bedouin tribes of Lihyan and Kindah.

The northern deity Lat, another pre-Islamic figure worshipped by Arabs, is also associated with Al Faw, appearing in compound names such as Jurm al-Lat and Zaid al-Lat. This evidence of multiple faiths means Al Faw accommodated different religions. This is also shown in the al-Ahwar Temple, which is dedicated to Hadrami deities such as Sin Dhul-Alim and Shams. An inscription by a temple servant indicates that he was a subject of the Hadrami king, reflecting the temple's role in serving Hadhramaut's deities. Therefore, Al Faw was a centre of religious pluralism and a magnet for religious diversity in the Arabian Peninsula.

Al Faw embodied a remarkable religious tolerance, housing tribes from across the Arabian peninsula and their temples for a range of deities

Trade route melting pot

Its position on a major trade route connecting the south and north of the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the Levant and Mesopotamia, further fed its prominence, making it a place of cultural and civilisational exchange, where religions mingled. Its assortment of temples, tombs, and monuments from the religions that converged there were built both by local people and those who came from much further afield.

Ansari's team has uncovered significant remains, including a palace, a temple, and a market, with shops arranged around a central square, as detailed in his book Al Faw Village: A Picture of Arab Civilisation before Islam in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This highlights the city's role in trade and agriculture, as well as its connections with southern Arabian kingdoms such as Sheba, Maeen, Qatban, Hadhramaut, and Himyar.

The latest discoveries include a worship area on the rocky facade of the Tuwaiq Mountains, known as Khashm Qarya, to Al Faw's east. This area features a stone-built temple, remains of an offering table, and devotional inscriptions.

Notably, a devotional inscription dedicated to the god Kahl was found in the temple on Mount Lahq, attributed to a person named Wahb al-Lat from the family of Malha, originally from the city of Jarha. This inscription is significant because it references a person and family from Jarha and highlights the role of Kahl, the god of Al Faw, in the temple on Mount Haq in the Tuwaiq Mountains, indicating the ancient name of the location.

© Simone Ricca/UNESCO — The cultural landscape of Al Faw Archaeological Area

Saudi UNESCO listings

Al Faw now sits alongside Saudi Arabia's seven other UNESCO world heritage sites, including al-Hajar, the al-Turaif neighbourhood in historic Diriyah, historic Jeddah, the Rock Arts Site in Hail, the al-Ahsa Oasis, the Hima cultural area, and the Orouk Bani Maarid Reserve. UNESCO's listing notes that Al Faw was abruptly abandoned around the fifth century AD and contains 12,000 pieces of archaeological remains spanning from the prehistoric period to the late pre-Islamic era.

Key features include tools from the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods, tapering structures, rock piles, circular buildings, the sacred mountain Khashm Qarya, rock inscriptions, funerary rock piles, forts/khans, and an oasis with an ancient water management system.

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