'Southern Nejd: Journey to Kharj, Aflaj, Sulaiyyil, and Wadi Dawasir in 1918.' [‎10r] (24/100)

of the various oases, suggests the sojourn of an alien race. More
over the debris that remains is not of the mud buildings known
to the modern Arab but of stone and mortar, disposed in countless
circles of various sizes, each outlined by large blocks of stone
round its circumference, the interior space being filled in with
rubble and mortar and generally traversed by a diameter of
stone blocks similar to those of the circumference. The circles
rise to a point at the centre about four or five feet above ground-
level giving the appearance of a vast number of cairns set in
rows along the slopes of the ridge. Their average diameter
seemed to be about six to ten yards, while the biggest I saw
was no less than forty-five yards across and about six feet high
in the centre with huge blocks of rock round the circumference
and a traverse of similar blocks running north and south across
it broken by a central gap facing east and west; in the in
terstices between the traverse and the circumference lesser
circles were scattered about. Of the two groups of ruins that of
Firzan is the more perfect and distinctive owing to the greater
use in its construction of large blocks of stone, whereas, the
circles of the other are largely of rubble and smaller stones.
Finally the effect of foreign influence is enhanced by the solid
workmanship of the subterranean aqueducts and the intricate
irrigation system of which they form part; the type is found
elsewhere in Arabia in the Aflaj distiict, at Qatif and doubtless
at other places, and there can be little doubt that the Kariz of
Qatif dates back to times when Persian influence was predominant
on the coast. Is it possible that Kharj itself, and, if Kharj,
the Aflaj also, owed ancient prosperity to Persian settlements,
long since wiped out by successive waves of Arab invaders
from the south ? It seems to me not altogether improbable
that the very name of the race which prospered in this fertile
valley in the days of yore still survives in a form corrupted by
forgetful centuries, Firzan—Fursan—the Persians.
So much for ancient Kharj—a promising field for some
enterprising archaeologist of the future. Mediaeval Kharj or
Yamama*, as it was then called in deference to its great capital,
seems to have occupied very much the same portion of the
valley,—namely the northern quarter—as the original settle
ment and it is reasonable perhaps to assume that the Arab
* This name was alternatively applied to the whole Tuwaiq district at one time, with
capitals at various times at Majma (in Sudair) Ayaina, Daraiyya Ghatghat, Riyadh and
Manfuha.