'depression'),[1][clarification needed] which refers to Wadi Sirhan, is an ancient city of ruins and the historical capital of the Al Jawf Province, today in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

The city stood north of the Nafud desert and at one end of Wadi Sirhan, at a major intersection of ancient trade routes part what is known as the incense route, with one branch linking the various sources of valuable goods in India and southern Arabia with Babylon, and another linking the Persian Gulf through Wadi Sirhan with southern Syria.

[4] Some scholars identify this site as territory of Dumah, one of the twelve sons of Ishmael mentioned in the Book of Genesis.

[citation needed] The Antiquity journal published in June 2020 the discovery of a 35-meter long triangular megalithic stone platform surrounded by burials and dating back to the 6th millennium BCE, presumably dedicated to ritual practices.

The names of five powerful Arab queens that ruled this city are known, among them Zabibe, Šamši, Tabūʿa, and Teʾelḫunu.

"Sacrifices of animals were common and Porphyry's De Abstenentia (3rd century AD) reports that in Dūmah, a boy was sacrificed annually and was buried underneath an altar.

[citation needed] The ancient oasis town was among a number of cities that the Pre-Islamic Arabs would travel to as part of the sequence of market fairs held annually.

In contrast to the other market cities, Duma was characterized by its disputed political sovereignty between Arab clients of the Byzantines and Sasanians that made claims to it.

[11] In 2017, a Paleo-Arabic Christian graffito discovered near al-Jawf and dating to AD 548/9, known as the Dumat al-Jandal inscription, was published.

[15] He also ordered the Expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid (Dumatul Jandal), which took place in October 630[16] to attack the Christian prince of Duma,[17] as well as the Expedition of Khalid ibn al-Walid (2nd Dumatul Jandal) in April 631[18][19] to demolish an idol called Wadd,[19][20] worshipped by the Banu Kalb tribe.

[21] In 630, Khalid ibn al-Walid captured Dumat al-Jandal and it became part of the newly formed Islamic empire.

[clarification needed] The prayer hall is formed by three rows of stone pillars, running parallel to the qibla wall.

The pillars are all by wooden lintels,[clarification needed] which in turn support layers of stone that are roofed by mud-plastered acacia and palm trunks.

Also visible is an exposed stone staircase constructed along the qibla wall from the street side that reaches the roof.