Najran

Najran
Najran Location in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Coordinates: 17°29′30″N 44°7′56″E / 17.49167°N 44.13222°E / 17.49167; 44.13222
Country	Saudi Arabia
Province	Najran
Established	4000 B.C
Joined Saudi Arabia 1934
Government
- Mayor
- Provincial Governor	Mishal Bin Abdullah
Population (2004)
- Total	246,880
	Najran Municipality estimate
Postal Code	(5 digits)
Area code(s)	+966-7
Website	[1]

Najran (formerly Aba as Sa'ud) (Arabic: نجران‎) is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the frontier with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated a New town by the Saudi Government in 1965 after 30 years of Saudi controle (up untill 1934 was part of the Kingdom of Yemen), Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom, its population having risen from 47,500 in (1974) and 90,983 in 1992 to 246,880 in 2004 (census figures}. The population belongs mostly to the ancient tribe of Yam

Najran in Arabic has at least two meanings. It is a term used to describe the wooden frame on which a door opens and is also a synonym for thirsty. Local tradition also has it that the land derived its name from the first man to settle in the area, Najran ibn Zaydan ibn Saba ibn Yahjub ibn Yarub ibn Qahtan.

It is said that the history of Najran could be traced back to 4000 years ago and that it was once occupied by the Romans and was the first Yemeni city to fall to the Romans on thier way to the Yemeni kingdom of Sheba. Najran's most prosperous trading time was during the first and second centuries B.C. In ancient times it was known as Al-Ukhdood. Najran was also an important stopping place on the Incense Route.

Najran was the Yemeni centre of cloth making and originally, the kiswah or the cloth of the Ka'aba was made there(the clothing of the Kaba first started by the Yemeni kings of Saba). There used to be a Jewish community at Najran, renowned for the garments they manufactured. According to Yemenite Jewish tradition, the Jews of Najran traced their origin to the Ten Tribes.

The town of Najran was already an important centre of arms manufacture during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad. However, it was more famous for leather rather than iron.

Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, a son of King Abdullah, was appointed the governor of Najran at the beginning of 2009 replacing Mishaal bin Saud, who had resigned several months earlier.

Ethnography

The inhabitants of Najran are made up of many races, religions and backgrounds. Islam is the religion of the totality of the Najranis, with Zaydi and Ismaili Shias forming the plurality of the religious adherents. Hanbali and Maliki Sunnis form the second largest ethno-religious group in the city.

Archaeological ruins and artifacts

Najran city is famous for its archeological significance. Old Najran was surrounded by a circular wall, 220 by 230 meters, built of square stone with defensive balconies. It contained several unique buildings. There is also a cemetery south of the external wall. Excavations of this site have uncovered glass, metals, pottery, and bronze artifacts. Square and rectangular buildings have also been found. At Al-Ukhdood which is south of Najran city, carvings from those days and human bones can be seen. A museum displays among other items, a bronze lion head. Najran's landmarks include the "Rass" stone, a 2-meter-high granite stone. ^[1]

Early History

Similarly as with other ancient place names in Arabia "Najran" may have rather been the name of the whole oasis including all towns and villages. The old name of the ruins now known as "Al-Ukhdood" which may have been the central town was probably "Ragmat".

Najran was a focal point of the Incense Route. All routes that left ancient Yemen to the north or west had to meet at Najran where the routes branched into two general directions; the ones leading north through the Hejaz towards Egypt and the Levant and those leading to the northwest towards Gerrha near the Persian Gulf.^[2]

Najran was conquered around 685 BCE by the sabean Mukarrib (King) Karib'il Watar I King of Yemen. The later sabean king Yithi'amar Bayin destroyed Ragmat around 510 BCE. Najran seems to have been under Minaean or Sabean rule at different times during the next centuries and since then it has been Part of Yemen till 1937.

The Roman Aelius Gallus led an expedition to conquer Arabia Felix and won a battle near Najran in 25 CE. He occupied the city and used it as a base to attack the sabean capital at Ma'rib. According to Strabo^[3] Najran was at this time the northernmost city of the realm of Saba.

When the Himyarite Kingdom conquered the Sabeans in 280 CE they probably also took control of Najran. Some time during the third century the people of Najran sided with the Abbysinians who sent a governor named "SBQLM" in inscriptions. The Himyar King Ilsharah Yahdib crushed this rebellion.

The north Arabian Lakhmid king Imru Al-Qais ibn Amqu attacked Najran in 328 CE. Under the influence from Axum, the Christians in Najran thrived and started an alliance with Aksum again at the beginning of the 6th century.

Early Christian community

Christianity must have been introduced into Najran, as in the rest of South Arabia, in the 5th century CE or perhaps a century earlier. According to the Arab Muslim historian, Ibn Ishaq, Najran was the first place where Christianity took root in South Arabia.

Sports

Local Football Clubs

• Al-Okdod Club (Arabic: نادي الأخدود) founded in 1975
• Sharora Club (Arabic: نادي شرورة) founded in 1975
• Najran Club (Arabic: نادي نجران) founded in 1980

Sports Centers

There are many sports centers and complexes within the city including

• Al-Khalidyyah Sport Center (Arabic: مركز الخالدية الرياضي )
• Prince Mishal Sport Center (Arabic: مركز الأمير مشعل )

Hospitals and Medical Care

• King Khalid Hospital
• General Psychiatric Hospital
• Najran General Hospital

Hotels

• Holiday Inn
• Ramada Hotel

References

Hyatt Najran

Further reading

• This text is adapted from William Muir's public domain, The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall.
• Irfan Shahîd, The Martyrs of Najrân. New Documents, Brussels (1971).

• Irfan Shahîd, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century, Dumbarton Oaks (1989), ISBN 0884021521.

• Hugh Goddard, A History of Christian-Muslim Relations, Edinburgh University Press (2000), ISBN 074861009X.

• Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach, Medieval Islamic Civilization, Taylor & Francis (2006), ISBN 0415966922.

• Mark A. Caudill, Twilight in the Kingdom, Greenwood Publishing Group (2006), ISBN 0275992527.

• Andre Vauchez, Richard Barrie Dobson, Michael Lapidge, Adrian Walford, Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, Routledge (2001), ISBN 1579582826.

• Joel Thomas Walker, The Legend of Mar Qardagh, University of California Press (2006), ISBN 0520245784.

Coordinates: 17°29′30″N 44°7′56″E / 17.49167°N 44.13222°E / 17.49167; 44.13222