(Ad Diriyah city) The old city of Dirriyyah

(Ad Diriyah city) The old city of Dirriyyah

Riyadh Riyadh

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Diriyah, one of Saudi Arabia's cities, is located in the province of Al-Yamama, south of the Najd plateau. It is one of the ancient historical and archaeological cities and is officially subordinate to the Riyadh region. It is also the headquarters of the Diriyah province, which is considered Saudi Arabia's first province.

It is also not far from the capital Riyadh, but close to it as it is only 20 kilometers away, and the province of Huraymila is located to its North, the province of Dhurma is to the south, and the city of Riyadh borders it to the East 

Despite being one of the oldest archaeological cities, it is also regarded as the most advanced and developed province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It covers an area of 2020 square kilometers and has a population of 73,663 people, with approximately 65% of that population being Saudi citizens and 35% being foreigners from outside Saudi Arabia.

Also, the city of Diriyah is one of the most important national symbols in the state of Saudi Arabia, it was the capital of the state of Saudi Arabia before the city of Riyadh. In addition, it greatly helped in the transformation of the history of the Arabian Peninsula, and this was after Mohammed bin Saud stood up in support of the call for religious renewal, which was called by Mohammed bin Abdul Wahab, and this was in 1744 ad, after which the city of Diriyah became the seat of government, the base of the state and knowledge, and it remained for a long time like that until a new seat of government was chosen, namely Riyadh, and this was in 1824 by the choice of Turki bin Abdullah 

Diriyah survived a long time as one of the most prominent cities in the Arabian Peninsula during the 17th and 18th centuries, and it retained its popularity and strength even after being subjected to Ottoman Empire invasion, destruction, and alteration of geographical features.

Also, in 2010, the United Nations Organization for science, culture, and Education announced that Al-Turaif neighborhood in the city of Diriyah is one of the world heritage sites, in addition, in 2021, the Arab Organization for Culture, Science and education selected the city of Diriyah as the capital of Arab culture for 2030 to become the second city of Saudi Arabia to be selected after Riyadh in 2000

The reason for choosing the name of the city of Diriyah 

The name of the city of Diriyah has been chosen since ancient times due to its famous shields and "Dorouo" or "Shields" was the name of a tribe that lived and settled  Wadi Hanifa area and ruled the Hajar and Jaza areas, and one of its rulers was named Ibn Daraa, whose cousin was Mana' Ibn Rabia Al-Muraidi, who had invited him from the city of Najd to the ranches of Wadi Hanifa, and since the date of his arrival, the founding of the city of Diriyah has been dated to be since 1446 ad

History of the city of Diriyah

The history of the city of Diriyah dates back to when Banu Hanifa tribe moved from Najd and Hijaz to settle in the city of Diriyah, and they were preceded by Obeid bin Thaalaba Al-Hanafi. Al-Diriyah was the first of the sites inhabited by Banu Hanifa, as Obeid knew a shepherd from Zubaid that saw the goods of the city of Diriyah from palaces and palms, so he returned to Obeid to tell him about all the goods and because of that Obeid rode his horse to the city and when he arrived he put his spear in the ground and decided to live in it, so he pushed the horse and went to conquer and take 30 houses and 30 gardens and that is why it was called hajar (due the arabic verb "Hajar" which means conquer). 

This was about the fifth century AD, and it was one of the most famous incidents that the Hajar area had witnessed in pre-Islamic times, as it was subjected to burning by Ibn Thaalaba of the Qais tribe in retaliation for Arqam Ibn Obeid Ibn Thaalaba Al-Hanafi, who had burned their homes first.


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