DAWADMI — The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage revealed on Saturday that new discoveries unearthed in Dawadimi town, in Riyadh province, showing that it was a mining area from where minerals were exported from 1,200 years ago.

The town, which is home to more than 35 archaeological sites including rock engravings of different kind of animals and historical writings, has attracted since the late 70s archaeologists who showed immense interest in the area. Explorations and excavations took place in Masel site, which is known by the name Jabal Al-Jamah, 40 km southeast of Dawadimi.

Historical events about the region referred to it being famous for minerals like gold and silver especially in the northern part of the Jabal Al-Soodah in the southwest of the region.

The SCTH said different unearthed architectural remnants proved the importance of the new archaeological discoveries of the first phase of the exploration project at Halit archaeological site in Dawadimi.

The head of the excavation team and the manager of the national heritage department in the SCTH in Riyadh region, Ajab Al-Outaibi, said the excavations revealed the existence of a mosque, similar to mosques built during the early Islamic period, in the middle of a settlement of what used to be houses with yards and storage with ovens for metal melting.

Other findings included glass and ceramic implements, and precision tools such as those for making beads and glass beads, which give an initial impression of economic and commercial mobility in the settlement.

Al-Outaibi pointed out that a number of inscriptions and Islamic writings were documented around the site. He said these writings gave a new dimension to the history of the region and its civilization during the early Islamic period.

He went on to say that the pottery that was discovered on the site was studied and classified and it emerged from the preliminary results that it can be dated to the early Umayyad era.

Al-Outaibi said the exploration project at Halit focused on the excavation work in the fenced area of the archaeological site which is 600 m by 100 m. He indicated that the objective of the project was to verify the density of archaeological findings and uncover the tools and means associated with the mining work. — Al-Arabiya English