Historic Egyptian Hajj Road: A legacy of faith and passage

Arab News

2 days ago

CAIRO: The Egyptian Hajj Road stands as a pivotal historical route, recognized by historians and travelers as one of the seven most important Hajj and trade arteries connecting the Islamic world to the Arabian Peninsula, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Used by pilgrims since the dawn of Islam, this route transcends mere religious significance, embodying a rich cultural, civilizational, and archaeological legacy. Its importance has earned it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.
As noted in Saudi Arabia's submission to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention of 2015, the route linking Egypt to Makkah and Madinah "benefited 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 road starts from the town of Haqel on the Gulf of Aqaba and ends in Makkah.
"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," the document said.
It also noted that rulers and wealthy patrons built caravanserais, supplied water and provided protection along these roads to Makkah and Madinah to ease the pilgrims' journey. "Individual Muslims, in the name of charity, helped others to make the journey," it added.
Historians have divided the ancient Egyptian Hajj Road into four distinct chronological periods:
• the first, stretching from the introduction of Islam in Egypt until the mid-5th century AH (about 1150 AD in the Gregorian calendar), featured both overland and coastal routes to the Arabian Peninsula;
• the second, from 443 AH (1042 AD) to 666 AH (1268 AD), saw the overland route in North Sinai cease, with pilgrims opting for sea travel from Egypt to Jeddah;
• during the third period, from 667 AH 1269 AD) to 1301 AH (1884 AD), pilgrims reverted to using the coastal overland route;
• finally, the fourth period, from 1301 AH to contemporary times, marked the discontinuation of the overland route, replaced first by sea travel from Suez, and subsequently by air travel to Jeddah.
The route's importance for pilgrims from Africa and the Maghreb is particularly notable. Caravans from Moroccan cities like Marrakech, Fez, and Salé, sometimes including pilgrims from Senegal, would gather and embark either by land along the Mediterranean or by sea.
These caravans would then converge with Algerian, Tunisian, and Libyan pilgrims, passing through cities like Mahdia, Sfax, Sousse, Tripoli, Barqa, and Tobruk. They would then cross Egyptian lands, often along the coast, to reach Alexandria and Rashid.
From there, pilgrims would take Nile boats to Cairo, joining the Egyptian Hajj caravan at "Birkat al-Hajj" (modern-day al-Baraka). The combined caravans would then continue by land to Qulzum (Suez).
From Qulzum, pilgrims either continued the land route through Sinai and along the Red Sea to Jeddah, or sailed across the Red Sea to Jeddah, then proceeded by land to Madinah and Makkah.