Souq Haraj Ibn Qasim (), locally pronounced as Haraj bin Gassem, Haraj bin Jassem, or simply Souq Haraj (), is an outdoor

second-hand Used goods, also known as secondhand goods, are any item of personal property that have been previously owned by someone else and are offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender. Used goods may ...

flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...

marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...

in the al-Masani neighborhood of southern

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 ...

. It is one of the oldest

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

s in the city where largely used furnitures, carpets and other household related appliances are sold and auctioned. It was previously situated in the al-Manfuhah district until 2014 when the

Riyadh Municipality Riyadh Municipality (RM) (), officially the Riyadh Region Municipality or the Municipality of Riyadh, is a municipal body which has jurisdiction upon overall city services and the upkeep of facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the Riyadh Gove ...

relocated the place to further south of al-Batʼha Street, overlooking al-Anoud Park Mall. The place gets flocked mostly by

migrant workers A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

during weekends.

History

Haraj bin Qassim has its origins around the 1940s in the

Deera Square __NOTOC__ Deera Square (), also known as Justice Square () or Safa Square () is a public space in the al-Dirah neighborhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, located adjacent to the al-Hukm Palace compound and Imam Turki bin Abdullah Grand Mosque in th ...

, in front of present-day Grand Mosque of Riyadh in the city's ad-Dirah neighborhood. It is attributed to a person called ibn Qassim (), who is believed to be the eponymous founder of the souq after

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

granted him the land for setting up an auction market. It was later relocated to al-Batʼha Street in al-Manfuhah neighborhood in 1971. One branch of the souq was also opened in Asir Street and Raʾīs Street, in close proximity to al-Shumaisi neighborhood but was soon closed down as the site was unspecified for the purpose by the authorities. In 2007, the

announced that it would be relocating the souq further south of al-Batʼha Street in a 48-hectares area allotted in the al-Masani neighborhood, in close proximity to the

al-Mansurah Mansoura (; ' , rural: ) is a city in Egypt located on the eastern bank of the Damietta branch of the Nile river. The city is the capital of the Dakahlia Governorate and has a population of 621,953 as of 2021. Etymology ''Mansoura'' in Arabic ...

district. The land was donated by Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz and after conducting a well-planned study of the area, the market was shifted there in 2014.

References

{{Reflist Souqs Economy of Riyadh