BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Mining and Merchants in Ancient Arabia

Viewing Arabia through archaeological and biblical lenses

Aerial view of the site of Al-Ma’mala in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Courtesy Heritage Commission of Saudi Arabia.

Archaeological work at the site of Al-Ma’mala in Al-Aqiq Governorate, Al-Baha (Saudi Arabia) is beginning to reveal a substantial early Islamic settlement associated with mining, trade, and movement across southwestern Arabia. Reporting after the Heritage Commission’s fourth season of excavation, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) describes Al-Ma’mala as a center for the extraction of gold, silver, and copper across different historical periods. For readers of the Bible, the site presents a picture of economic activity that is consistent with earlier descriptions of the Arabian Peninsula found in the Bible.

Wall inscriptions from an early mosque located in Al-Ma’mala in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Courtesy Heritage Commission of Saudi Arabia.

Laboratory analyses from previous seasons indicate that mining activity flourished at Al-Baha from the late sixth century through the ninth century CE, i.e., from the pre-Islamic period into the medieval Islamic period. The discovery of a seventh-century mosque further demonstrates the site’s importance during the early Islamic period (which dates to the first century AH—the Islamic dating system that begins in 622 CE when Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina). The mosque has inscriptions on its qibla wall—the wall facing the direction of Mecca—and on an exterior wall, including religious supplications and Quranic passages.

Earlier excavations uncovered substantial stone architecture, including carefully constructed granite walls, two architectural units, and artifacts such as pottery, stone objects, colored glass, and metal and stone tools. SPA also reported a larger architectural complex containing eight rooms, four warehouses, three basins, three furnaces, and five supports. Al-Ma’mala appears to be a place where extraction, processing, storage, habitation, and commerce took place.

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Al-Ma’mala lies near the ancient Elephant Road, which SPA describes as an important route used by commercial caravans coming from southern Arabia both before and after Islam. Historian Saad Al-Kamukh also emphasizes the site’s strategic importance as a hub for merchants, pilgrims, and military campaigns.

Ancient Arabia consisted of numerous peoples, tribal confederations, kingdoms, oasis settlements, mining communities, and trading centers that were connected by caravan routes. Biblical writers knew this world through its peoples and commodities, making multiple references to Arabian commerce. Isaiah refers to the “caravans of Dedanites” (Isaiah 21:13), while Ezekiel 27 describes Dedan, Kedar, Sheba, and Raamah within a wider commercial network—where Dedan is associated with trade, Kedar with livestock, and Sheba and Raamah with spices, precious stones, and gold.

The Heritage Commission has reaffirmed its commitment to continuing excavation projects in the area “to preserve the Kingdom’s cultural heritage and civilizational identity for future generations.”

Lauren K. McCormick is an assistant editor at Biblical Archaeology Review and a specialist in ancient Near Eastern religions, visual culture, and the Bible. She holds degrees in religion from Syracuse University, Duke University, New York University, and Rutgers University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship on religion and the public conversation at Princeton University.

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