Archaeologists have uncovered more than 1,700 artefacts at Miqat Al Juhfah, one of the historic stations on the ancient Hajj route to Mecca, Saudi Arabia's Heritage Commission has announced. The discoveries shed new light on the daily life of pilgrims who passed through the site during the early Islamic centuries.
The finds emerged during the first season of survey and documentation work at Al Juhfah, carried out by the Heritage Commission in collaboration with the United Kingdom's University of Exeter. The work forms part of a wider effort to map and preserve landmarks along the historic routes that linked the holy cities.
A Window Into Pilgrim Life
The recovered artefacts included pottery, glass and stone fragments, alongside shells, beads, metal objects and other crafted items. Together they reflect the everyday activities of travellers who rested and resupplied at the station before continuing toward Mecca.
Researchers also uncovered six pottery kilns and a water channel believed to have served pilgrims and travellers passing through. The presence of kilns suggests local production rather than a site that merely received goods from elsewhere, hinting at a working settlement that supported the constant flow of pilgrims.
In addition, the team unearthed 13 tombstones, some dating to the Umayyad and Abbasid periods. These markers offer rare physical evidence of the people who lived, worked and died along the route during the first centuries of Islam.
Crossroads of the Islamic World
Among the most striking findings were artefacts originating from regions including the Levant, Egypt and Abyssinia, present-day Ethiopia. The range of origins indicates that pilgrims from across the Islamic world converged on Al Juhfah, reinforcing its role as a meeting point on the historic Egyptian Hajj route.
Al Juhfah sits 187 kilometres northwest of Mecca and has served as a designated pilgrimage station, or miqat, since the early Islamic period. A miqat is a boundary point at which pilgrims enter the state of ihram before proceeding to perform Hajj or Umrah, giving the site enduring religious significance.
Historical sources link Al Juhfah to the migration of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and record that the site flourished in the second century after Hijrah, equipped with water facilities and shops catering to pilgrims. The new archaeological evidence aligns closely with these accounts.
Preserving the Pilgrimage Heritage
The survey and excavation at Al Juhfah is part of the Heritage Commission's broader programme to identify and document archaeological and historical sites along the Hijrah Route between Mecca and Medina. The initiative aims to accelerate scientific research while deepening understanding of the Kingdom's cultural heritage.
The work at Al Juhfah follows other recent discoveries along the ancient pilgrimage corridors, including early Islamic inscriptions and Abbasid-era artefacts found elsewhere on historic Hajj routes. Each find adds detail to the picture of how generations of Muslims travelled to fulfil their obligation.
Science Meets Sacred History
The collaboration with the University of Exeter reflects a growing trend of international partnership in Saudi archaeology, as the Kingdom opens long-neglected sites to systematic study. Modern survey techniques, including detailed documentation and careful stratigraphic excavation, are allowing researchers to reconstruct how pilgrimage settlements functioned centuries ago.
Findings such as the kilns and water channel at Al Juhfah carry particular value because they reveal infrastructure, not just objects. They show a site organised to sustain large numbers of travellers, with the means to produce goods locally and to store and distribute water in an arid landscape.
The tombstones, meanwhile, connect the archaeology to named individuals and dateable periods, anchoring the material record to the documented history of the Umayyad and Abbasid eras. For historians, such finds help verify and enrich the written sources that describe the pilgrimage routes of early Islam.
For pilgrims and visitors: Al Juhfah remains a recognised miqat for pilgrims arriving from the direction of Egypt, the Levant and North Africa, and from much of the western world today. Understanding its long history can enrich the spiritual experience of entering ihram. Travellers interested in Islamic heritage may find that learning about these ancient stations deepens their appreciation of the unbroken tradition of pilgrimage stretching back fourteen centuries.