The Rajajel Columns, Saudi Arabia

The Rajajel Columns (الرجاجيل) are located south of the town of Sakākā, often spelled Sakakah (سَكَاكَا). The name Rajajel [1] denotes the fact that, from a distance, the columns look as if people are standing there. The columns are made of sandstone and are scattered across six hectares of land in 54 groups of two to ten columns. They are thought to have been erected there about 6,000 years ago. They have been compared to Stonehenge, but I consider this just as nonsensical as drawing a connection between seal inscriptions from the Indus Valley [2] and the Kohau Rongorongo [3]. Recent research has revealed evidence of hearths and other human activity, suggesting that the site must have been even more extensive in the past, but later agriculture has altered these areas.

The columns are up to three meters high and 60 centimeters thick. Some have fallen over and are lying on the ground. A cultic significance is assumed, but no further details are available. On the other hand, finds indicate simple agriculture and animal husbandry, such as sheep, goats, and cattle, for the period. One hypothesis suggests a temple complex or religious center, where the groups of columns might each have been associated with a specific tribe. This is the most plausible explanation for me, as it would have provided space for camps between the individual tribes. An astronomical connection is often assumed for such stone formations, but then why these widely separated groups? Excavations carried out 50 years ago unearthed various stone tools and pottery.

The stonework and the incised images were added later, not by the original builders of the columns. I used the camera's impressive mode in some of the photos to make the contours more visible. In the monochrome photograph, the columns appear to point in different directions, but this is an artifact. Imagine the columns as a low wall in their original state.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columns_of_Rajajil and
https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%84 and
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/rajajil-columns-employing-multimethod-geophysical-survey-to-investigate-monument-construction-and-use/EC1527E047A897BDC4B68ADCA57AAF62
[2] Harappan script / Indus Valley script
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_script
[3] The Easter Island script, or Kohau Rongorongo, is translated as "singer's reed".

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