Dumat al-Jandal
Dumat al-Jandal (, ), also known as Al-Jawf or Al-Jouf (), is an ancient city of ruins and the historical capital of the Al Jawf Province, northwestern Saudi Arabia. It is located 37 km away from Sakakah. The name Dumat al-Jandal means literally "Dumah of the Stone"; the name Al-Jawf means "depression", referring to Wadi Sirhan. The city's ancient Akkadian name was Adummatu. Dumat al-Jandal has a boundary wall which is considered a historical site. Moreover, there is an oasis that has a number of ruins. The ancient city of Duma was described as "the stronghold of the Arabians" on a Neo-Assyrian clay prism dating from the 7th century BC. Some scholars identify this site as territory of Dumah, one of the twelve sons of Ishmael mentioned in the Book of Genesis. Pre-Islamic history The city has a history dating back to the 10th century BC and is mentioned in Akkadian inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Empire dating to 845 BCE, in which it is referred to as Adummatu and is described as the capital of an Arab kingdom sometimes named as Qedar (Qidri). The names of five powerful Arab queens that ruled this city are known, among them Zabibe, Šamši, Tabūʿa, and Teʾelḫunu. The latter is also given the title of high priestess of Atarsamain, a deity of fertility, love and war associated with Ishtar. Dumat al-Jandal was the site of an important temple dedicated to Ishtar. Sacrifices of animals were common and Porphyry’s De Abstenentia reports that in Dumat al-Jandal, a boy was sacrificed annually and was buried underneath an altar. Some scholars have extrapolated this practice to the rest of the Nabataeans. Excavations made by Khaleel Ibrahim al-Muaikel in 1986 added to observations made in 1976 that a homogenous layer of Roman-Nabataean pottery sherds indicating a prosperous community during the time of the Nabataeans to whose realm this part of the region probably belonged. This town is perhaps intended in a passage from Isaiah: In 106 AD, Dumatha was incorporated into the Roman Empire by Emperor Trajan defeated the Nabataeans. Dumatha remained integral to the Limes Arabicus for over four centuries, serving as the easternmost settlement along the limes. In 269 AD, the place was mentioned by Zenobia, the Queen of Palmyra, as city with an immune fortress. After her forces had captured the city, the Marid Castle withstood the attack in her revolt against the Romans. Later in the fifth century, the city became the capital of the kingdom of Kinda. The ancient oasis town was among a number of cities that the Pre Islamic Arabs would travel to as part of the sequence of market fairs held annually. In contrast to the other market cities, Duma was characterized by its disputed political sovereignty between Arab clients of the Byzantines and Sasanians that made claims to it. The markets of Duma specialized in slavery and prostitution with the Banu Kalb, the dominant tribal group in the area, being known to practice slavery more than other tribes. During