Amarah Fort, Najran. December 2016
Najran has two old palace/fort complexes, Amarah and Saadane. Saadane was closed to visitors when AQ and I were in Najran, so we had to settle for walking around the outside of Amarah Fort. Most unfortunately the place was under renovation, so we could not go inside, but the place looked fabulous with its exterior of mud-brick detailed with brilliant white-wash. That Yemen was just a few kilometers down the road was clear from the architectural style.
The biggest surprise about this palace was that in ancient Najran, its premier fort in the middle of old downtown (near the Dagger Souk) [see: Souq al Janabi] was such a "newbie". The fort was only completed in 1942. Given that the Treaty of Ta'if (1934) establishing most of the Kingdom's borders was inked not that long before, the Saudis no doubt wanted to build something imposing to remind Yemen that the Najran Oasis was indeed THEIRS.
I realize it is ridiculous to feel disappointment that something is not "old enough", but it was my feeling exactly. In this ancient oasis where we visited biblical era archeological sites [see: al Okhdud] and very old houses [see: A Journey to Najran], the fantastic looking fort was less than 60 years old? It hadn't even been renovated from something older. The only truly old thing on site was a very old well, purported to be from pre-Islamic times.
After reading the signboard about the fort I immediately lost interest in the place. It really was part of Saudi history, but I was in Najran for something more. I guess the risk of an errant mortar from Yemen wasn't enough to hold my interest (unless, perhaps, it was an ancient mortar).
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