Roads of Arabia

34 Arabie US p522-545_BAT.qxd 23/06/10 21:30 Page 538
ROADS OF ARABIA
The practice of decorating the Ka‘ba door with gold or silver plating
began very early, starting in the Umayyad period, according to contemporary
accounts. 5 Other renovations of the plating or teak wood door
panels are mentioned under the Abbasid Caliphs al-Mahdi (775–85),
al-Amin (809–13) and al-Mu‘tadid (892–902). 6 The late 9th century
andalusian writer Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi 7 and the Persian poet Nasir-i Khusraw
in the late 10th century both gave rather precise descriptions of a
Ka‘ba door similar enough to the one shown here. According to Nasiri
Khusraw, “This door is made of teak wood, with two leaves. The main
surface of the door and the baseboard are covered with inscriptions, circles
and arabesques of gilded silver.... Two large silver rings, sent from
Ghazna, affixed to the leaves... are placed at a height that cannot be
reached with one’s hand. Two other rings, also silver but smaller in size,
are set lower where they can be grasped. A large silver bolt passes
through these rings to hold the door closed”. 8
Ibn Jubayr described the installation of a new door made of plane
wood and covered with gilded silver under the Abbasid Caliph al-
Muqtafi in 550 H./1155. 9 Throughout the first centuries of Islam,
numerous sources report on the damage suffered by the Ka‘ba door
and its decorations, due to floods or the friction of pilgrims’ hands
wearing away the gilding, for example, as well as public disorder and
the cupidity of the local authorities. Later developments shifted
power into the hands of the Rasulids of Yemen, who in the late 13th
century contributed a new ebony door covered in silver. It was
replaced in the early 1330s 10 by the Mamluk Sultan al-Nasir
Muhammad, who was keen to establish his ascendancy as Servant of
the Two Holy Sanctuaries in the eyes of his Yemeni vassals. A new
renovation was reported under the Mamluk sultan Mu‘ayyad
Shaykh in 1414. 11 Under the Ottomans, Murad III (1574–95)
sent the metal needed to regild the door. At the beginning of the
17th century a large–scale restoration of the Ka‘ba took place under
the reign of Ahmad I, but the sources are unclear as to whether it
included any modification of the door. Shortly afterwards, under the
reign of his successor Murad IV (1623–40), a major flood in 1039
H./1630 weakened the structure of the Ka‘ba, which was already
quite fragile. The water level reached the keyhole of the lock on the
door. After consultation with the religious authorities, who had previously
been reluctant to take any action, a reconstruction project was
approved and initiated. Under the supervision of Mehmet Pasha, governor
of Egypt, and the Mamluk leader Ridwan Bey, the structure
(after being covered with draping) was demolished and rebuilt stone
by stone. 12 The sources mention the reinstallation of a silver door
framed by two small columns, but not the production of a new door.
In addition, the inscription of the door panels shown here, in an
extremely graceful, elaborate calligraphic style punctuated with
refined vegetal decorations, is dated to 1635–36, which would have
been after the reconstruction work was completed.
In any case, this door was not replaced until the 20th century. A
photo taken in 1937 by Harry St John Philby (see p. 536) shows it
still in place, held shut by a lock with a long bolt. Ten years later, in
a photo by Muhammad Helmy, 13 it had been replaced by another
door with a different decoration. That door guards the entrance to
the Ka‘ba to this day, proclaiming the advent of a new dynasty of
Servants of the Two Holy Sanctuaries. C. J.
1. I express my gratitude to Professor Ludvik Kalus (EPHE) for his help in the reading and translation
of two difficult passages.
2. Göyünç 1979, p. 178.
3. Tazjan 1996, nos 1 to 11.
4. El-Hawary and Wiet, p. 28.
5. Ibid., p. 35.
6. Ibid. 1985, pp. 66, 68, 77. They also mention sending locks.
7. El-Hawary and Wiet 1985, p. 78.
8. Nasir-i-Khusraw, quoted in El-Hawary and Wiet 1983, p. 91.
9. El-Hawary and Wiet 1985, p. 99–100.
10. Ibid., p. 148.
11. Ibid., p. 201.
12. This reconstruction was described by Evliya Celebi, who visited Mecca in 1671–72, and by Sühayli
Efendi in his Tarikh-i Mekke-i mükerrime (Risale); references quoted by Faroqhi 1994,
pp. 113–16. See also Eyyüp Sabri 2004, t. 1, p. 449 and ff.
13. Paris 2005, pp. 92–93.
306. Lock bearing the name of the Ottoman sultan Ahmad I
1603–17 (reign)
Silver with engraved decoration
24 x 12 x 4 cm
Hujra, sanctuary of Medina
National Museum, Riyadh, 3013
Bibliography: unpublished.
Side A:
O key that opens doors / O God (He who opens) / Open! / It is He who opens /
Sultan Ahmad Khan son of Sultan Muhammad Khan / May his sovereignty endure
and his dynasty be eternal / May God help him and victory be near / O Muhammad
the most lofty of Muslims / Allah, Muhammad / Abu Bakr, ‘Umar
Side B:
In the name of God, the Clement, the Merciful / “Surely, we have given thee a
manifest victory, that God may forgive thee.” (Quran, 48, 1–2) / Open to us the
greatest of doors / There is no God but Allah / Muhammad is his prophet /
‘Uthman ‘Ali / Hasan Husayn
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