Miʼkal or Maʼkal (Arabic: بلدة معكال, romanized: baldah Maʿkāl, lit.

[3] The town came into existence when Hajr al-Yamamah[4] disintegrated up into several settlements and estates in the 16th century (10 AH), the most notable of them being Migrin (or Muqrin) and Ma'kal.

[5] Its name reportedly comes from two pre-Islamic Arabian deities, Kāl and Maʿkāl (Arabic: كال ومعكال) that were worshipped in Najd.

[5] It was reportedly named after two pre-Islamic Arabian deities, Kāl and Maʿkāl (Arabic: كال ومعكال)[6] that were worshipped in Najd.

According to historian Abd al-Malik ibn Husayn al-Isami al-Makki, Maʼkal was also the site of a military conflict when it was besieged in 1578 (986 AH) by 50 soldiers of the Sharif of Mecca Abu Numayy II[7][8] in which he killed several of its political leaders and imprisoned others for almost a year until they agreed to pay concessions.