A market and a stage
Souk Okaz, an archaeological site in Taif Governorate, began in 501, about a century before the emergence of Islam. Each year it ran from the first to the twentieth of Dhu al-Qa'dah, after which traders moved on to the markets of Mujanna and Dhul-Majaz, and then to the Hajj.
Goods came from across Arabia and beyond: embroidered cloaks and leather from Yemen, weapons from the Levant, perfume and silk from Persia, raisins and grapes from Taif. Its name comes from mu'akazah, contests of boastful verse, and leading poets hung their poems at Okaz to show their eloquence.
Fall and revival
The site was damaged and looted by the Haruriyyah Kharijites, who seized Makkah in 747, though it remained a station for trade and pilgrimage until the twelfth century.
It was revived in 2007, in the reign of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, after an absence of nearly 1,300 years, and Souk Okaz City was inaugurated on 1 October 2017.