Al Dar'i Quarter is located in the neighborhood of Omar Bin Al Khatab Mosque and Marid fortress, which represent the old quarter of Dumat Al Jandal. Al Dar'i Quarter is considered to be one of remaining antiquities of Dumat Al Jandal's ancient city. The quarter dates back to the middle Islamic age and is based on layers of archaeological works dating back to the mid-first millennium BC. The neighborhood is characterized by the stone buildings and stone lanes between the gardens and water from nearby springs. The old quarter is built on the ruins of the earlier revivals which can be seen in multiple layers, as well as the emergence of the old road of the district under the existing buildings. The site is in Dumat Al Jandal that Assyrian sources indicate as (Odomato) or (Adoumo) and that it was located within the property of Arab tribe of Qedar. References to Dumat Al Jandal began in the third century AD in the reign of the famous Arabian Queen (Zenobia) it seems that the Queen had invaded Dumat Al-Jandal, but the city had a fortified castle that the Queen had not been able to storm. Then she return back unrewarded where she expressed in two words “The Marid insurgency and Al Ablaq Glory". Marid was a giant palace in Dumat Al Jandal and Al Ablaq is a famous palace in Tem'a. the city emerged once again in the historical record in the fifth century AD when it was taken over by the Arabian King Amro Al Qaiss. These episodes were followed by the emergence of Al Ekaidar Kingdom. It is the home of many historic & prehistoric archaeological sites such Za'bal Castle & Well, the Umar bin Al-Khattab Mosque, located in Dowmat Al-Jandal and Mard Castle (just south of Sakaka). There are also the ancient Rajajil standing stones in Sakaka, dating back nearly 6,000 years. The oasis of Dumat Al-Jandal is located in the very heart of the province of Al Jawf, 50 km south of Sakaka, the capital town and the seat of the Al-Jawf Emirate. It is the largest and best-known oasis at the northern limit of the great al-Nafud desert. Its geographical position means that in the past it lay on both the east-west and north-south routes and became a natural port of call for traders. The town has survived through the ages thanks to the local ability to exploit water, which is supplied by a complex hydraulic system of wells, channels, and underground tunnels named Qanât. Over the centuries, it is believed that Dumat al-Jandal served as an important station in the complex system of trade routes crossing the Arabian Peninsula, both from the north to south and from east to west. The oasis is located half way between the main urban settlements that developed along the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia and Syria-Palestine), the Arabian Gulf (Faîlaka, Bahrain, Thaj, etc) and Western Arabia –Madain Salih, Tayma, etc). From the 8th century BCE, Assyrian texts refer to caravans arriving in Assyria from the “far off peoples of Tayma and Saba”. In order to reach Mesopotamia they could have passed through ancient Adummat, which is today’s Dumat al-Jandal. During the 1st century BCE Dumat al-Jandal was incorporated in the Nabatean Empire and developed a rich culture till the 2nd century CE when it merged with Roman civilization following the inclusion of the oasis within the province of Arabia Petraea. From the 1st century CE onwards, Dumat al-Jandal is mentioned in Roman sources in relation to its strategic geographical position and as a commercial station in the north of the peninsula. In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder speaks of “Domatha” as an important oasis. Ptolemy, in the 2nd century CE also mentions “Dumaetha” in his Geography, describing it as a large city in Arabia. In later Roman times the oasis was included in a trade circuit leading to Byzantium. The last attestations of commercial activity in the oasis date to the first centuries of the Islamic era. In the 7th century Dumat al-Jandal saw four expeditions led by Prophet Mohamed and his companions and was fully subjugated by Islam in the days of first caliph Abu Bakr Assediq. The site’s status as a major trade city only began to diminish in the 9th century CE when the caravan trade switched essentially to Makka and Medina and followed the pilgrimage routes or lead to Damascus and Baghdad by the Zubayda route.
