Al-Rabatha (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

الربذة) is a settlement in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

located some 200 km to the north-east of

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

on the pilgrim route from

Kufa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, known as Darb Zubaydah. The archaeological excavations directed by the

King Saud University King Saud University (KSU, ) is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulalziz to address the country's skilled worker shortage, it is the first university in Saudi Arabia. It was known as Riyadh U ...

, have shown that, Al-Rabadha yields important information for the early phases of Islamic culture. The town is also known as the place

Abu Dharr al-Ghifari Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari Al-Kinani (, '), also spelled Abu Tharr or Abu Zar, born Jundab ibn Junādah (), was the fourth or fifth person converting to Islam, and a member of the Muhajirun. He belonged to the Banu Ghifar, the Kinanah tribe. His dat ...

spent his last years and died at. The excavations at Al-Rabadha give a good insight into urban housing in the Early Islamic Period. The site is dominated by a palace structure, consisting of 13 rooms all with doors opening on a central courtyard. Each room is likely to have served a different purpose, with evidence for ovens, grain storage and a furnace for glass-making found in separate areas. A more typical house from the site is similar in its design, but smaller in area, with divided rooms averaging 3x2m.Rashid p.31 In contrast with Western Europe, timber is not used in construction, with all houses being made from sun-dried mud brick, with stone foundations.

References

{{coord, 24.6319, N, 41.2906, E, source:wikidata, display=title Archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia