The Heritage Authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia revealed that an Islamic inscription was found related to the third rightly-guided caliph, Caliph Othman bin Affan - may God be pleased with him - and dated to the 24th year of Hijrah. Makkah Al-Mukarramah, previously registered with the authority in the Kingdom's National Antiquities Register.
The Heritage Commission presents a new reading of an Islamic inscription dating back to the year 24 AH.
It documents one of the most important events in early Islamic history and refers to the third rightly-guided caliph, Uthman bin Affan, may God be pleased with him.
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The authority extended its thanks to Dr. Eid Al-Yahya and his team, who indicated the inscription, and the expert on Islamic inscriptions, Muhammad Al-Magdawi, who participated in the initial reading of the inscription, as they published a partial reading of the inscription via social media.
Those interested considered the inscription as one of the most important archaeological inscriptions, as its importance lies in the fact that it is a historical inscription documenting one of the important events in early Islamic history.
The authority explained that the archaeological studies conducted by a team of specialists from the Heritage Authority on the rock - led by Dr. Nayef Al-Qanour, Director of the Protection Department at the Heritage Authority - provided a reading of the inscription, after examining and documenting it, as the mystery of the first line of the inscription that reveals the name of the flag (Zuhair) was read and revealed. Who wrote and transcribed the text, and the initial reading came as follows: "I Zuhair believed - in God and wrote a time - Amr bin Affan in the year twenty-four."
The inscription appears similar to the content of the Zuhair inscription in the province of Al-Ula, in which its writer documented the time in which the Commander of the Faithful, Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab - may God be pleased with him - died. Later with the entire inscriptions on the site in its scientific vessels.
The importance of the inscription comes as the third oldest rock document dated Islamic inscriptions after the Salamah inscription in Yanbu al-Nakhl dated in the year (23 AH) and the Zuhair inscription in the province of Al-Ula (24 AH).
The Al-Juhfa site is one of the most important archaeological sites in the north of the Makkah region, where the Heritage Authority is working on a project to survey archaeological sites for this season (2022AD), to complete the work on the archaeological sites in the northwest of the Makkah region in the previous two seasons (2018-2019), which started from Jeddah Governorate to Al-Kamil Governorate, and it included a number of its affiliated centers, during which a number of archaeological sites dating back to the Neolithic period, sites of rock art and writings, Islamic sites, and urban heritage sites were monitored.
The Heritage Authority valued the great role of those interested in preserving archaeological sites and highlighting their importance, stressing the importance of community members’ participation in the care and preservation of cultural heritage, and the initiative to report any observations or discoveries related to the country’s national heritage, based on its belief in the necessity of integrating efforts in Developing the cultural heritage sector.