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Before Islam, the plain to the north-east of Taif hosted Okaz, the largest fair of the Arabs. The Prophet ﷺ came here to call the tribes to Islam (see no. 03). The market survived the first decades of Islam. According to Saudipedia, it was only abandoned in 129 AH (747), after the Haruriyya Kharijites plundered the site. Yet the plain did not empty. It remained an important stage on the road of the pilgrims coming from Yemen to Mecca, and Saudipedia states that it served as a stop for trade and pilgrimage until the 6th century AH (12th century).
Qasr Mushrifa belongs to this setting. The surveys of the Heritage Commission place it north of the souq and assign it to the “early Islamic period”. The dating is given without further detail, between the Umayyads and the Abbasids. No early text consulted names the palace. No foundation inscription is reported and no excavation report has been published. So it is not known whether it was a residence, a stop on the pilgrimage road or a farming estate.
The ground around the palace is much older than the palace itself. Flint flakes have been collected on the surface, some with signs of knapping. The nearby rocks of the al-ʿUrfaʾ hills carry many carvings: archers in battle, ibex hunting with dogs, cattle with horns pointing forward, tribal marks. A survey carried out in 1438 AH / 2017 recorded at al-ʿUrfaʾ short inscriptions in a script called “late Thamudic”, as well as Kufic inscriptions. Closer to Okaz, on the plateau of as-Saraya, commemorative texts in undotted Kufic are dated from the 1st to the 3rd centuries AH. Near the well of al-Baydaʾ, on the Yemeni pilgrimage road, lie the foundations of another building from early Islam. Qasr Mushrifa is part of this landscape of passage, where the traces of herders, travellers and the first Muslims follow one another.
In modern times, nothing notable has happened at the palace. In 2014, an academic from Taif quoted by al-Madina said that the governor of Taif had the palaces of Mushrifa (al-ʿUrfaʾ) and Ibn Sulayman (Jabra) restored. The date and scale of this work are not specified. Today, the site is attached to the remains of the Okaz area. It is best visited together with Souq Okaz and the fort of al-ʿUrfaʾ (see no. 04).
What is certain and what is not
- Certain: the Heritage Commission (via Saudipedia) lists Qasr Mushrifa among the remains of Okaz and dates it to the early Islamic period.
- Certain: the Okaz area was a stage on the Yemeni pilgrimage road, with other remains from early Islam (Kufic inscriptions, foundations near the well of al-Baydaʾ).
- Uncertain: the precise dating (Umayyad or Abbasid) is backed by no published excavation and no inscription.
- Unknown: the builder, the purpose of the building and its occupants.
- Uncertain: the restoration by the governorate (al-Madina, 2014) is mentioned without date or detail. The present condition and access should be checked on site.
Sources
1. Saudipedia, « قصر مشرفة الأثري » (based on the Heritage Commission, 21/09/2022): https://saudipedia.com/%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AB%D8%B1%D9%8A
2. Saudipedia, « آثار العرفاء » (survey of 1438 AH / 2017, carvings, inscriptions, dating of the palace and the fort): https://saudipedia.com/آثار-العرفاء
3. Saudipedia, « سوق عكاظ » (Yemeni pilgrimage road until the 6th century AH, plundering of 129 AH, nearby remains): https://saudipedia.com/%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%B9%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B8
4. Al-Madina, « قصور الطائف.. سكن الملوك وشواهد العمارة والتاريخ », 29/11/2014 (restoration of the palaces of Mushrifa and Jabra by the governor): https://www.al-madina.com/ampArticle/345888