A citadel above the wadi
Al-Okhdood spreads over about 5 km² on the southern bank of Wadi Najran, some 14 km south of Najran city, beside the Najran Regional Museum. Its heart is a citadel enclosed by a wall of 235 m by 220 m, believed to have been founded around 500 BC and occupied until the middle of the first century AD.
Around 25 buildings of carved stone and clay survive, mostly as foundations, with some walls still standing 3 to 4 m high. A great millstone for grinding grain lies among them, and nearby rocks carry animal drawings and inscriptions. Ancient South Arabian texts here name the city "NJRN": the Najran of today.
Faith, trade and memory
The name means a ditch or pit, and it is linked to Surat al-Buruj, which contains the verse "Cursed were the people of the ditch." The city was a centre of farming and commerce and a station on the Incense Route, contested by the kingdoms of South Arabia.
Government-led excavations began in 1981. In 2018 they turned up the "Najran Treasure", a jar of silver coins struck by Qatabanian and Himyarite kings, and in 2023 a granite inscription 230 cm long, which Saudipedia describes as the longest Musnad inscription found in the region.