Egyptian Hajj Road

Description

One of the important pilgrimage routes in Islamic history, linking Egypt to Makkah and Medina, through which benefited the masses of Muslim of pilgrims coming from Egypt, Sudan, Central Africa, Morocco, Andalusia and Sicily, as they meet in Egypt, then travel through Sinai to Aqaba then march across two trails: the first, is internal trail moving to Medina passing Shaghab, Beda, valley of the villages, and the second is coastal trail passes through a number of stations most important of which are: Ainouna, Al- Muwailih, Dhuba, Al-Owained, Al-Wajh, Al-Hora, Nabat, Yanbu and Al-Jar. From Al-Jar the trail heads to Makkah through Al-Juhfa then Khulais then Usfan.Or heads through Badr until it reaches Makkah or Medina. Like all the other Islamic pilgrimage roads it received great interest and attention of Muslim rulers in different Islamic eras and periods, as they established many structures on the path of this road like pools, canals and wells, they also paved obstacles and built barricades, bridges, castles, forts and mosques, and on the road near the camps are numerous Islamic inscriptions and commemorative writings, engraved by pilgrims as they passed through the toad. We need to recognize the efforts by the late scholar Hamad Al-Jasser, who published written manuscripts by voyagers who travelled this path, documenting its condition and history. The greatest of Al-Jasser works was a research in Adurrar Al-Faraied manuscript by Abdelqader Al-Jazeeri, as well as publishing papers by many Moroccan travels. This path is important not only for Egyptian pilgrims, but for it was is the path of the pilgrims from Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, and Central Africa; it was also the path for pilgrims from Andalusia (Spain). The course of this road changed through time, according to political circumstances and technological development. This road is divided into to four distinct stages:

-    Stage one: extends from the Islamic conquest of Egypt, until mid 5th century AH/9th century CE, this route was divided into two paths in Arabia: an internal road and coastal road (mentioned by ibn Hawqal).

-  Stage two: the stage of Aitheb path, during this period, the northern Hijaz land road was halted. Egyptian pilgrims used Nile ships to sail to Qus and then travel to Aitheb by caravans then crossed the sea to Jeddah.

-  Stage three: during which pilgrims returned to use the coastal road.

-  Stage four: the land road discontinued and pilgrims travelled by sea from Suez, and then, by air to Jeddah.

Hajj Roads from Egypt

Ibn Hawqal described this road from Egypt to Medina, the coastal road is twenty stages long, and the Egyptian Hajj Mission will meet with the Syrian Hajj mission in Aiyla. Moroccans accompany Egyptians and probably remain together unless they reach consent, the people from Palestine will pass Median (Tabuk) in two roads: one through Al-Bid’ and Shaghab, till they reach Madinah. The second path remains parallels to the coast until it reaches Al-Juhfa were the people from Iraq, Damascus, shall meet. Judge Wakea counted the stages of the Egyptian road, from Al-Fusttat, Al-Jub, Al-Hafer, Al-Buwaib, Manzel um Saad, Ajroud, Al-Qalzam, Kursi, Al-Hafer, Nakhal, Aiyla, then the road separates to a coastal and inland roads. The inland road from Aiyla to Sharaf Al-Baal, Madien, Falis, Al-Aghar, Al-Kilabiyah, Al- Bedea, Shaghab, As-Sarhtain, Al-Suqiya, and there both the Shami and Egyptian paths meet. The coastal path: from Ayla, Ainona, Al-Mussala, Al-Nabak, Dhuba, Al-Murrah, Uwainid, Al-Wajh, Mankhus, Al-Hora (Umluj), Qussaiba, Al-Buhra, Yanbu, Al-Jar, to Medina.

Egyptian Hajj paths throughout history

When the central Umayyad government was weakened, the inland road was discontinued fearing Arab raids, while the coastal road remained. The coastal path peaked in organization, lavishness, and the total number of pilgrims in the late Mamluk era (the 9th and 10th centuries A.H/14th and 15th Century CE). Ibn Fadlallah identified the stages of the Egyptian pilgrimage path in the (7th century A.H/12th century CE), as pilgrims go out from Cairo and camp in Al-Birkah in stage one, they stay there for three to four days, they then travels to Suez in five stages, then to Nakhal in five stages, and then go to Aiyla in five stages and in it is the Grand Aqaba, they then descend to the custody of the Red Sea, and march an even confinement unbroken from north to south, and camp for four or five days, and there is a great market with many shops. Then they go to Haqel in one stage, then to the shores of Midian in four stages, and there are the caves of Sho’aib (Jethro), where it is said that Prophet Moses (PBUH) watered for Jethro’s daughters, and then to Uyoun Al-Qassab in two phases, then to Al-Mwaileh in three stages, and then to Al-Azlam (Al-Aznam) in four stages where water is the worst, then to Al-Wajh in five stages where water is of the freshest, then to Akra in two stages where water is the hardest in this path, then to Al-Hora, which is on the coast of the Red Sea in four stages where water is saline hardly drunk, and then to Nabt in two stages and its water is torture, and then to Yanbu in five stages and can be established in three days, then to Al-Dahna in one stages, and then to the Bader in three stages, and then to Rabigh in five stages, which is followed by Al-Juhfa the meeqat, then to Khulais in three stages, then pass to Baten in three stages, and in the way is Asfan wells, and then go from Baten to Makkah in one stage”.

When did the Egyptian inland path discontinued?

With the opening of the Suez Canal and the evolution of ships; these factors are considered of the most important reasons that pilgrims parted land travel and their preference made to travel by sea, large number of ships crossed the Suez Canal, as sailors took advantage of the ship sizes to earn money by transporting pilgrims. The Englishman Richard Burton was in Al-Mwaileh in 1878, as an eye witness to the deterioration of the annual convoys; he wrote: “when we went back to Al-Mwaileh the pilgrimage convoy failed to catch up as it returned to Egypt, the Hajj convoy has deteriorated from its throttle after a quarter of a century, for it was guided by a Pasha or two, nowadays it is led by a man with a rank of “Bey”, the number of “believers” reduced from  serval thousands to no more than 800  people. This year (1878) only 80 pilgrims passed through Al-Mwaileh, and that the Sacred load (Al-Mahmal) was transported by soldiers (Baboor).All this despite that the number of pilgrims standing in Arafat has increased recently compared to the past, the majority became to prefer sailing to land travel, while the rich prefer rental cabins on the ships as the poor chose Nile Rafts (Sanbuk). If this situation continues, nothing will remain of the Hajj convoy except the Sacred load and its guardians”. Mohammad Pasha Sadiq ratified the Burton’s intuition of the decreasing number of pilgrims, they no longer come by the inland road except for Al-Mahmal and 200 soldiers, and later Al-Mahmal was brought by sea.

How much is the time required for the trip from Cairo to Makkah?

Al-Qalqashendi wrote: “usually pilgrims accomplish two stages in one day and night, but with hardship, and slow motion. They pass through it all in one month, including the days in which they stay in Aqaba and Al-Yanbu which are about six days. As for those who travel through Najab they face light burden, and with persistence they can cross it in about eleven stages”. He describes the stages in his time, as he made pilgrimage on the same road: “the first determinant is from Cairo to the pool known as the Birkat Al-Hajj;then from it to Al-Bwaib,Al-Tulaihat,Al-Minfarah, Marakea Mousa,Ajroud (in it are water wells and spacious areas), Al-Munsarif, Wadi Al-Qibab (the valley of tents, with a lot of sand), then to the first wanderings of the Israelites (a spaciousfeatureless valley), Al-Unq,Nakhl (with potable water), Jasad Al-Hai,Biedra well, Tamd Al-Hassa, DharAqaba,WajhAqaba (Erqoub Al-Baghla on the side of the Red Sea, where the water is drinkable from wells),Hafan on the side by the Red Sea (where its water is drinkable from wells), Ush Al-Ghurab, Akher Al-Shrfa, Maghair Shoaib (named after prophet Shoayb (Jethro), in it are water and pools), Affan valley,That Al-Rukhaim,Uyoon Al- Qassab (where water springs and naturally grown cane bushes), Al-Mwailha (with water in wells), Al- Madraj,Salma neighboring the Red Sea (with salty water), Al-Otellat,Al-Aznam (some say: Al-Azlam, it has wells with bad water releasing the belly of whom drinks from it, often not used except for camels) which is half way, top of Wadi Antar, Al-Wajh (with few water wells, found in the valley found only in wells), Al-Mahtab, Akra (Kurkuma), cape of Al-Ras Al-Sagheer, then to Kalkha, end of Alqaa Al-Sagheer, Al-Horawith bad water, Al-Uqaiq(which is a difficult Strait), Nabat cave (where water is fresh), Annour valley, the top of the seven tics, Dar Al-Baqar, Al-Nabea(in it pilgrims dwell for three days or so, and they leave their luggage till they return back, and carry from it what helps them reach Egypt on ships), Al- Mahateb, the top of Bader valley, the top and center of Qaa Al-Bazwa, Rabigh (which is close to Al-Juhfa which is Ihram meeqat for the people of Egypt), Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) ordered to shift the boundaries of Medinato: “… and move its sanctuary, to Al-Juhfa, if a bird passes it will be filled with food…”,Qudid, Aqabat Al-Suaiq, Khulais (with a water pool), Asafan, Madraj Ali with many obstacles, then to Baten Mur, (also called Marou, with water and gardens), then Makkah Al-Mukkaramah may it be honored by GOD, then to Mina, and its water is good extracted from wells, then to the Holy Msha’ar and Muzdalifa, then to Arafat which is the stand, and to it ends our pilgrimage”. Then the return in the stations mentioned in advanced to the Valley of Bader in contrast to the foregoing.

Sultan Qatbai Pilgrimage

Al-Jasser Published in the Arab Journal, citing the stages from Haqal to Madinah as an example for the important stations in the road: "… from the obstacle of Eylah, then our master the Sharif may God grant him victory rode on the second Saturday morning of the month, and camped in Haql interchange. Then he rode from it before midnight, then passed Al-Shurfa (Sharaf Bani Attiyah) on Sunday morning, and then rode from it and camped near Ufal Valley, and then rode before midnight till Monday morning, and then rode from there before noon and arrived in Shoaib Cave of (Al-Bid’) at the end of the day and dwelled till before midnight. Then rode from it till he reached the tomb of Al-Tawashi on Tuesday morning, he had Diner in Uyoon Al-Qassab. Then he rode from it on Wednesday and reached Sharma, then camped in Al-Mwailih then rode on Thursday night and mourned in Qastal, then camped near Hadra Dama, and then rode on Friday night the eighth and mourned and camped on the way to Al- Azlam, then Rode on Saturday night the ninth and mourned in Al-Azlam and camped in Samawa, and then rode till he arrived at Al-Dakhakheen and mourned there, and then camped in Estable Antar on Sunday the tenth, and then rode on Monday night eleventh to arrive at the Valley of Arak and mourned, and then camped in Al-Wajh”. Then he listed the rest of the stations to Makkah.

Abdulqader Al-Jazeeri Al-Hanbali

This multi-talented marksman perhaps is the best who wrote about the pilgrimage roads and convoys. His father was the pilgrimage Diwan inscriber (in the sense he was responsible for budget and organization of the pilgrimage purchases, expenses, Arab revenues and others) he inherited his father’s post in the late Mamluk and the beginnings of the Ottoman era and continued in this position more than 20 years. He was a multi-talented person: a historian, poet, biographer, archaeologist, and is the author of many books, an interesting title he published was "elite in the solution of coffee", in which he responded to those  who were against the use of coffee that appeared at the time. Al-Jazeeri was accurate in his writings, and demonstrated the use of an apparatus to measure the time distance, this apparatus   resembled a clock in determining the time of residence and travel, he says: "what I wrote by the year (955 A.H/1584 CE) with a “Minkabeen” (type of clock) establishing: The travel is four quarters, of which hours are 424 hours and two thirds of an hour and its houses are 54 houses no more, for by virtue of its degrees 6770 degree. The first quarter: 16 camps in the desert from Cairo to Aqabat Eylah, with little water and trees, its hours are 112 hours and one-third of an hour by virtue of the degrees 1685 degree. The second quarter is 11 stage and said that it was the shortest of the quarters which had more water than the earlier and its trees are abundant its hours are 95 and one- third of an hour by virtue of the degrees 1430degree. Dhahr Al-Humar 100 degrees, Affan Valley 260 degrees, Al-Mazlum 90 degrees, Shoaib Cave 130 degrees, Al-Tawashi tomb 70 degrees, Uyoon Al-Qasab 160 degrees, Al-Sharma 75 degrees, Al-Mwaileh 140 degrees, Dar Al-Sultan 125 degrees, Sidi Marzouq 110 degrees, Al-Azlam 170 degrees”. He mentioned that Darkah belongs to Al-Rashaidat from Bani Attiyah to Kubaidah South of Shoaib Cave then Darak belongs to Bani Uqbah to Hadra Damah the Darak then belongs to Bily.The third quarter: 14 stages and is one of the thurstfull quarters if there is no water in Al-Wajh and the longest and most frightening, its hours 115 hours by 7251 degrees: Talba 160 degrees, Al-Sharnaba 100 degrees, Al-Wajh 140 degrees. The fourth quarter: from Yanbu to Makkah 13 stages”. He said about it: it's nice and populated its hours are 102 by virtue of degrees 1530 degree”.

Preparing the Sacred Load “Al-Mahmal”

Camels’ preparation, as they number in a single mission between 1.400 to 1.600 camels, has decreased to 800 camels in some years, and these camels were of the official mission organized according to mission’s budget; this does not include the camels owned by pilgrims. Al-Jazeeri as the inscriber of the pilgrimage command was responsible for salaries (Jamkiyah) staff attached to the mission, and here is a sample of the paid jobs to show the magnitude of the Egyptian mission: “Al-Dauadar” responsible for the Emir’s messages, the Judge, dedicated Clerks to record the mission, Horse Keeper(s), Stock  Sustainer(s), Camel Driver(s), Kitchen  Chef(s), Head of the Water Bearers, Grain Measurer, Carpenter, Sheep Header(s), Heralds (media), Executioner (Enforcement jurisdiction), Missionaries, Load keepers, Janitors, Guards,Head Lighters “Al-Mishaljiyah”, Head sniper, Door Boy, Timer (declares time),Surgeon “Al-Jaraihi”, Prayer Callers, Fire Works Experts “Al- Manahiliyah”, Cooks, mule Carriers, General Physician, poets and Drum Carriers. Add to this that a record of all the tribes that mission passes in their path in order to pay them agreed duty for policing of the mission and to avoid their evils.

Justification of Outstanding Universal Value

The yearly Islamic pilgrimage to the Holy city of Makkah is one of the five pillars of Islam and one of the most important and most ancient religious pilgrimages in the world. Until today, millions of Muslim pilgrims visit Makkah every year to accomplish this religious duty. Pilgrimage (Hajj) is a spiritual and psychological journey, where feelings are mixed between joy and sadness, longing and nostalgia, far away from home, family and friends, winning and suffering, hope in Allah’s mercy and mixed Human feelings. For centuries, the Muslim pilgrims crossed the Arabian Desert in long caravans that followed traditional paths and routes to reach the Holy City of Makkah. Pilgrimage routes were not only religious axes but also commercial axes favouring movement across the ancient world and the cultural and commercial exchanges with continuity over a long period of time. The Hajj land routes leading to Makkah from the neighbouring countries materialize on the land of Arabia this century-old, deeply rooted cultural and religious tradition, and constitute one of the most important material vestiges of the Islamic civilization in Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian Hajjroadperfectly embodies the cultural significance coming from exchanges and multi- dimensional dialogue across countries as it permitted to bring together Muslim pilgrims from different ethnic groups and regions, favouring the cultural, religious and scientific exchanges among the inhabitants of the region. The Egyptian Hajjroadillustrates the interaction of movement, along the route, in space and time from the early Islamic Caliphate to the end of the Ottoman Rule in the early 20th century CE.

Criterion (ii): This road exhibit an important interaction of human values, over a span of time extending from the early Islamic to the Late Abbasid and ottoman periods, extending from major cities in Africa and Andalucía through the northern parts of Arabia linking states and kingdoms through Northern Africa and the Mediterranean to the Holly lands in Makkah and Madinah, witnessing developments in architecture ranging from  simple  tent  camps  to  fortified Palaces  and water  administration technology  to  large masses of travellers either pilgrim or trade caravans, including monumental works of arts in the form of memorial inscriptions and milestones, with outstanding landscape works in easing and facilitating travel along the road.

Criterion (iv): The Forts, wells and canals along the trail represents outstanding example of architectural and water administration technological ensemble which illustrates significant stages in human ingenuity;

Criterion (vi): The route is directly associated with the Pilgrimage ritual (Hajj) or engaged by Muslims from all around the world either rich or poor, with the idea of facilitating and easing travel through the vast desert wilderness of Arabia, this ritual forms the fifth pillar of Islam, many memorial inscriptions are found along the trail, and literary was described by early Muslim Geographers and later by Western travellers making Darb Zubayda of an outstanding universal significance.

Statements of authenticity and/or integrity

Integrity: The stations and forts, combined with their routes and commercial markets, provide a very complete picture  of  the  Arab  desert  culture  strung  along  a  trade  route.  Remains  of  all  the  elements  that comprised the stations (dwellings, forts, caravanserais, and markets) are still found along the trail. The limited recent development of these sites has given them considerable protection from urban encroachment and none of their attributes are now under threat.

Authenticity: The Egyptian Hajj road remained active for many centuries. The remains of the stations, forts, caravanserais and the desert landscape surrounding them reflect and exemplify the relevance of the Hajj Route and the prosperity it brought to the area.

Comparison with other similar properties

From Islam's earliest years, the desire to perform the Hajj set large numbers of people travelling to Makkah and to Madinah, the heart of Islam. As a result, certain existing trade roads took on new importance and new routes developed that crisscrossed the Muslim world. To ease the pilgrims' journey, rulers and wealthy patrons built caravanserais, supplied water and provided protection along these roads to Makkah and Madinah. Individual Muslims, in the name of charity, helped others to make the journey. So beyond the meaning of each pilgrim's Hajj spiritually, the Hajj took on great importance as a social phenomenon, contributing enormously to forging a melded Islamic culture and a worldwide Islamic community whose shared characteristics bridged differences of nationality, ethnicity and custom. Villages  and mosque sprung from the Atlantic shores of North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula. The stream of pilgrims passed even the most distant parts of the Islamic world, and everywhere everyone knew someone who had been on the Hajj. Each passing pilgrim was a tangible reminder of the scope of the faith and the reach of the culture. Hajj was the heartbeat of the Earth's first genuinely transcontinental culture. The Islamic World, for nearly a millennium, was a composite Afro-Eurasian free-trade zone through which not only pilgrims but also traders, merchants and bureaucrats travelled with relative freedom and ease. By creating and nurturing this commons, the Hajj expanded the possibilities of science, commerce, politics and religion. Commerce was supported by the system of caravan and sea routes. The closer one got to Makkah, the more the Hajj roads were the main arteries of this system, swelling with pilgrims from all points of the compass. No traveller came to the Holy Cities empty-handed, for some carried goods to pay their way, others bore local news that they carried among the provinces, and more learned ones brought the latest concepts and ideas, essential nutrients for the intellectual life of the Islamic World. The Hajj likewise affected many who were not on the road. The desire to assist the pilgrim's orientation, observation and movements spurred Muslim advances in mathematics, optics, astronomy, navigation, transportation, geography, education, medicine, finance, culture and even politics. The constant flow of pilgrims turned the trails into channels of cultural and intellectual ferment.

Other pilgrimage and religious routes of other world religions inscribed on the World Heritage List

Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France:

Santiago de Compostela was proclaimed the first European Cultural itinerary by the Council of Europe in 1987. This route from the French-Spanish border was – and still is – taken by pilgrims to Santiago de Composte Some 1,800 buildings along the route, both religious and secular, are of great historic interest. The route played a fundamental role in encouraging cultural exchanges between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe during the Middle Ages. It remains a testimony to the power of the Christian faith among people of all social classes and from all over Europe. Santiago de Compostela was the supreme goal for countless thousands of pious pilgrims who converged there from all over Europe throughout the Middle Ages. To reach Spain pilgrims had to pass through France, and the group of important historical monuments included in this inscription marks out the four routes by which they did so.

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

Set in the dense forests of the Kii Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean, three sacred sites – Yoshino and Omine, Kumano Sanzan, Koyasan – linked by pilgrimage routes to the ancient capital cities of Nara and Kyoto, reflect the fusion of Shinto, rooted in the ancient tradition of nature worship in Japan, and Buddhism, which was introduced from China and the Korean Peninsula. The sites (495.3 ha) and their surrounding  forest  landscape  reflect  a  persistent  and  extraordinarily  well-documented  tradition  of sacred mountains over 1,200 years. The area, with its abundance of streams, rivers and waterfalls, is still part of the living culture of Japan and is much visited for ritual purposes and hiking, with up to 15 million visitors annually. Each of the three sites contains shrines, some of which were founded as early as the 9th century.

Route of the Franciscan Evangelisation

The  Route  have  26  churches,  some  chaplainries  and  oratories  built  during  the  time  of  Spanish dominance (1524-1821) under the direction of the order of Preachers of San Francisco, for the religious teaching and the local natives' castellanización, descending of the Mayan. This circumstance explains the stylistic unit of the buildings, as well as the presence in the same of great quantity of works of art, used with didactic purposes and religious that still charge life in the region like fundamental elements inside the local ideological unit.

Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev

The four Nabataean towns of Haluza, Mamshit, Avdat and Shivta, along with associated fortresses and agricultural landscapes in the Negev Desert, are spread along routes linking them to the Mediterranean end of the incense and spice route. Together they reflect the hugely profitable trade in frankincense and myrrh from south Arabia to the Mediterranean, which flourished from the 3rd century BC until the 2nd century AD. With the vestiges of their sophisticated irrigation systems, urban constructions, forts and caravanserai, they bear witness to the way in which the harsh desert was settled for trade and agriculture.

The Cuenca Mirador

Some of the cities that form this route, present very old dates about that 1000 A.C goes back a year. The cities are composed by several architectural groups that communicate by roadways that were used like roads that also were connected in to complex net among the cities of Nakbé, The Mirador and Wakná. Another special characteristic of the buildings is the use of stuccoed mascarones and associate stelaes, as well as the use of big fortifications. Rich tombs of important characters exist with paintings murals and hieroglyphic inscriptions.

Silk Route (Also as Silk Road)

Silk Road on the territory of Kazakhstan is divided into several main sections (parts). Represented and marked by monuments of history and culture these sections (roads) are original and have distinct features distinguishing them one from each other. Most probably, it was the natural environment and adaptation of human to existence in definite climatic conditions that has shaped the originality of a definite section. It can be affirmed with full confidence that the Silk Road is a phenomenon of unification of diversity of regions with the help of universal system of exchange of human values which was created, developed and maintained by people of different ethnical, linguistic, religious belonging during more than two thousands of years of existence of the Silk Road.