Okaz/Saudi Gazette MADINAH — The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) is investigating erasing of historic writings on Uhud mountain near the graveyards of the martyrs of the famous battle in the history of Islam. Director of the commission's branch in Madinah, Saleh Abbas, said they observed the erasing of the historic writings by unknown persons and submitted a comprehensive report to the tourism body's prsident Prince Sultan Bin Salman. He said they documented the damage through photographs and added that there was a tendency to cut the rocks on which the writings were made to preserve them for future generations. "It is difficult for the commission to appoint security guards on every mountain so it will be a lot easier to keep the writings by cutting the rocks on which they were made," he said. Abdullah Kabir, researcher in the history of Madinah, said during his repeated visits to the mountains in the holy city, he had noted that a number of historic writings on the mountains were tampered with by irresponsible people. He said the writings which were deleted covered the mountain and its passes including Al-Mihras well. The historian recalled that Caliph Ali Bin Abi Talib took water from this well to clean the wounds of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that he sustained during the battle but the Prophet did not like the water which was having bad odor. He said the historic writings dated back to the first Gregorian century long before Arabic language was dotted. "The writings reflected the prevailing culture at the time and had to be thoroughly studied to make head or tail," he added. Kaber believes that the extension of the urban buildings to areas in Madinah near Al-Mihras well subjected the historic writings to tampering by people who were ignorant of the importance of history and heritage. He asked for fencing the entire area for protection or cutting the rocks which contained the writings to preserve them.
