Historic tombstones and artefacts unearthed in Makkah 

Dozens of artefacts dating back to the end of the Abbasid Caliphate era have been unearthed during construction work for a car park in the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia. The find has potential to boost the country’s growing tourism sector.

The 24 engraved artefacts that make up the tombstones, one of which dates back to the year 1257, were found in the city’s Al-Mu’alla Cemetery. Following their discovery, the items were handed over to the Kingdom’s Ministry of Tourism, a government body which was recently upgraded from commission status a few months after Saudi Arabia issued tourist visas for the first time.

Saudi Arabia found 24 artifacts in Makkah. Engraved inscriptions on archaeological tombstones & ancient antiquities written in Arabic calligraphy, some of dates back to 655 Hijri or 1257 AD, while digging for smart car parking project near the Ma'alla Cemetry in the Holy Capital. pic.twitter.com/Eg8vlYsmt8

— . (@OfficialMohd1) June 24, 2020

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Al-Mu’alla Cemetery is the resting place of a number of relatives of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It is also where artefacts have been found during previous construction work. Other tombstones were found near the cemetery last December, for example.

The discovery is not really surprising, given that the cemetery, like its well-known equivalent in Madinah, Jannat Al-Baqi, used to have an array of domes and structures built over the graves. All of these were demolished by the Saudi authorities in 1925, following their conquest of Makkah and the Hijaz region.

The demolition of the tombs and structures is a controversial issue within the Muslim world. Many accuse the Saudis and their puritanical interpretation of Sunni Islam – so-called “Wahhabism” – of destroying Islamic heritage. Scholars have, however, defended the destruction on the basis that such structures are un-Islamic and forbidden by the Prophet.

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The Ministry of Tourism’s acquisition of the artefacts is intended to boost Saudi Arabia’s tourism industry, which the Kingdom has been focusing on as it tries to recover from an economic slump during the coronavirus crisis. It plans to launch a $4 billion Tourism Development Fund and has announced plans for the “Saudi Summer” scheme to attract tourists to the Gulf state. The aim is to diversify the Saudi economy and achieve the goals of its Vision 2030.