Roads of Arabia

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0 300 km
E u p h r a t e s
Najaf
Baghdad
Kufa
T
i g r i s
Basra
DARB ZUBAYDA:
THE PILGRIMAGE ROAD
FROM KUFA TO MECCA
Hélène David, 2010
R E D
H
S E
I J
A
A
Z
MEDINA
Jedda
N
A
Ma‘din
al- Bani Sulaym
Suwariqiya
F
MECCA Ta’if
al-Qahr
Jabal
U
D
Samira
Ma‘dan
al-Nuqra
Fayd
al-Rabadha
Dhat ‘Irq
Zubala
w a d i
al-Tha‘labiya
a l
J a b
- D a w a s
i r
q
a l T u w a i
Riyadh
R U B ‘
H A
S A
A L - K H A L
A
G
I
R A
U
Zamama
B I
L
F
A
N
Sa‘d bin Abdulaziz Al-Rashid
Introduction
With the advent of Islam in the holy city of Mecca and the institution of Medina as the first
political and religious capital of the Muslims, the highways and byways became of vital
importance in all the regions of the Arabian Peninsula. The network of trade roads connecting
the peninsula to other Arab cities in Egypt, Iraq, Bilad al-Sham, Yemen and the
Gulf, which had already been very developed in Antiquity, enjoyed a new bout of prosperity
after a period of decline.
The expansion of the Muslim community outside the Arabian Peninsula contributed to
the development of new roads and routes between the Islamic cities, and towards the two
holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Many cities and regions in the peninsula – such as Jedda,
Athar, San‘a, Zabid, Ta‘izz, Bahrain and al-Yamama – experienced remarkable urban and
economic growth.
Right from the start of Islam, pilgrimage was an essential factor in the development of the
roads, also used by trading caravans. Maintenance of the roads was one of the major concerns
of the caliphs who, over the centuries, strove to build them, supervise them and supply them
with facilities.
The first caliphs, referred to as the “Rightly Guided”, were the first to develop these networks
inside and outside the Arabian Peninsula. The most important of these roads, the sides
of which rang with the cries of merchants and beasts of burden, was undoubtedly the one that
the prophet Muhammad travelled between Mecca and Medina.
Two years after the Prophet’s companion, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (634–44), acceded to
power, the Muslim army headed towards Iraq and launched an attack on al-Hira under the
command of Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas. The route followed by the army later came to be known as
“Darb Zubayda”. On the road leading to al-Qadisiyya, the army halted at stops and watercourses
along the way, such as al-Tha‘labiyya, Zarud, al-Sharaf, al-‘Adhib and al-Qadisiyya. These
resting places, which the conquering Muslim army had passed earlier, later became important
staging posts for pilgrims coming from Iraq.
(pages 420-421)
Pilgrims travelling from Jedda to Mecca,
photograph by Muhammad ‘Ali Effendi Sa’udi, 1907–08
(page 422)
The fort and spring at Tabuk, March 1907,
photograph by A. Jaussen
(page 423)
Map of the pilgrimage roads
(opposite)
Map of pilgrimage roads from Iraq
425