Incense Route
A number of megalithic sites have been found in the surrounding area. The original settlement there consisted of a cluster of wells in the wadi protected by an ancient fort ("husn"). Caravans on the Incense Route would water there and the place also served as a base for Bedouin tribes such as Sa'ar or Sei'ar. Abdulla bin Schuwail al Dawsai, who was active against the Sa'ar in the late 1940s, is known to have been present in the town. One of the first western women to reach this area was Barbara Toy who wrote of her visit there in the 1960s.