Hillat al-Ajnab () was a quarter and a douar within the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...

in the erstwhile fortress-city of

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

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 in the northeastern corner of the

walled town The following cities have, or historically had, defensive walls. Africa Algeria * Algiers * Ghardaïa * Timimoun Egypt See List of Egypt castles, forts, fortifications and city walls. * Al-Fustat * Cairo * Damietta Ethiopia * Harar Libya *Apo ...

. It was situated east of

Masmak Fort Al Masmak Palace (), also called the Masmak Fortress or Masmak Fort, is a historic clay and mudbrick fort in the ad-Dirah neighborhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, located in close proximity to the al-Hukm Palace in the Qasr al-Hukm District. Com ...

ress, at the entrance of Bab al-Thumairi. The ruins of the settlement today include most of Souq al-Suweigah in the ad-Dirah neighborhood and its name was derived from ''al-ājānib'' (), the Arabic word for outsiders as most of its residents where foreigners who were given accommodation as guests or advisors of King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, such as John Philby and

Muhammad Asad Muhammad Asad (born Leopold Weiss; 2 July 1900 – 20 February 1992) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Muslim polymath, born in modern day Ukraine. He worked as a journalist, traveler, writer, List of political theorists, political theori ...

. The settlement shared close proximity with the

Duhairah Hillat Al-Duhairah (), alternatively transliterated as al-Zuhayri, was a neighborhood and a douar partially within the former city walls that is under rehabilitation in southern Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Located in close proximity to the Qasr al-Hukm D ...

settlement from the east and al-Gadimah settlement from the south and following the dismantling of the city walls and subsequent expansion and modernization of Riyadh in the 1970s, the settlement evolved into Souq al-Suweigah and assumed most of its current form during the Qasr Al-Hukm District Development Project between 1983 and 1992. The settlement once hosted a garage that belonged to the future monarch of Saudi Arabia, Saud bin Abdulaziz and also hosted the residence of Princess Noura bint Abdul Rahman al-Saud, elder sister and adviser of King Abdulaziz ibn Saud and the eldest daughter of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal al-Saud, the last emir of the

Second Saudi State The second Saudi state (), officially known as the Emirate of Najd, was a state that existed between 1824 and 1891 in the Najd region of what is now Saudi Arabia. Saudi rule was restored to central (Najd) and Eastern Arabia after the first Sau ...

References

{{Reflist Former populated places in Saudi Arabia Neighbourhoods in Riyadh History of Riyadh