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Mecca مكة‎ The Holy Capital (العاصمة المقدسة) Mother of all Settlements (أم القرى)
City
Makkah al-Mukarramah (مكة المكرمة)
Masjid al-Haram (Great Mosque of Mecca) Mecca skyline The Kaaba Jabal al-Nour Neighborhood of Mina
Mecca
Coordinates: 21°25′21″N 39°49′24″E / 21.42250°N 39.82333°E
Country	Saudi Arabia
Province	Mecca Province
Governorate	Holy Capital Governorate
Government
• Mayor	Saleh Al-Turki
• Provincial Governor	Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud
Area
• Total	1,200 km2 (500 sq mi)
• Land	760 km2 (290 sq mi)
Elevation	277 m (909 ft)
Population  (2015)
• Total	1,578,722
• Estimate  (2020)	2,042,000
• Rank	3rd in Saudi Arabia
Demonym	Makki (مكي)
Time zone	UTC+3 (AST)
Area code	+966-12
Website	hmm.gov.sa

Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah,^[a] commonly shortened to Makkah^[b]) is the holiest city in Islam and the capital of Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia.^[2] It is 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its last recorded population was 1,578,722 in 2015.^[3] Its estimated metro population in 2020 is 2.042 million, making it the third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. Pilgrims more than triple this number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah.

Mecca is generally considered «the fountainhead and cradle of Islam».^[4][5] Mecca is revered in Islam as the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Hira cave atop the Jabal al-Nur («Mountain of Light»), just outside the city, is where Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad.^[6] Visiting Mecca for the Ḥajj is an obligation upon all able Muslims. The Great Mosque of Mecca, known as the Masjid al-Haram, is home to the Ka’bah, believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael. It is one of Islam’s holiest sites and the direction of prayer for all Muslims (qibla).^[7]

Muslim rulers from in and around the region long tried to take the city and keep it in their control, and thus, much like most of the Hejaz region, the city has seen several regime changes. The city was most recently conquered in the Saudi conquest of Hejaz by Ibn Saud and his allies in 1925. Since then, Mecca has seen a tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure, with newer, modern buildings such as the Abraj Al Bait, the world’s fourth-tallest building and third-largest by floor area, towering over the Great Mosque. The Saudi government has also carried out the destruction of several historical structures and archaeological sites,^[8] such as the Ajyad Fortress.^[9][10][11] Non-Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering the city.^[12][13]

Under the Saudi government, Mecca is governed by the Mecca Regional Municipality, a municipal council of 14 locally elected members headed by the mayor (called Amin in Arabic) appointed by the Saudi government. In 2015, the mayor of the city was Osama bin Fadhel Al-Barr;^[14][15] as of January 2022, mayor of is Saleh Al-Turki.^[16] The City of Mecca amanah, which constitutes Mecca and the surrounding region, is the capital of the Mecca Province, which includes the neighbouring cities of Jeddah and Ta’if, even though Jeddah is considerably larger in population compared to Mecca. The Provincial Governor of the province from 16 May 2007 was Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud.^[17]

Etymology[edit]

Mecca has been referred to by many names. As with many Arabic words, its etymology is obscure.^[18] Widely believed to be a synonym for Makkah, it is said to be more specifically the early name for the valley located therein, while Muslim scholars generally use it to refer to the sacred area of the city that immediately surrounds and includes the Ka’bah.^[19][20]

Bakkah[edit]

The Quran refers to the city as Bakkah in Surah Al Imran (3), verse 96: «Indeed the first House [of worship], established for mankind was that at Bakkah». This is presumed to have been the name of the city at the time of Abraham (Ibrahim in Islamic tradition) and it is also transliterated as Baca, Baka, Bakah, Bakka, Becca and Bekka, among others.^[21][22][23]

Makkah, Makkah al-Mukarramah and Mecca[edit]

Makkah is the official transliteration used by the Saudi government and is closer to the Arabic pronunciation.^[24][25] The government adopted Makkah as the official spelling in the 1980s, but it is not universally known or used worldwide.^[24] The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah (Arabic: مكة المكرمة, lit. ‘Makkah the Honored’).^[24] Makkah is used to refer to the city in the Quran in Surah Al-Fath (48), verse 24.^[18][26]

The word Mecca in English has come to be used to refer to any place that draws large numbers of people, and because of this some English-speaking Muslims have come to regard the use of this spelling for the city as offensive.^[24] Nonetheless, Mecca is the familiar form of the English transliteration for the Arabic name of the city.

The historic consensus in academic scholarship has long been that «Macoraba», the place mentioned in Arabia Felix by Claudius Ptolemy, is Mecca.^[27] More recent study has questioned this association.^[28] Many etymologies have been proposed: the traditional one is that it is derived from the Old South Arabian root M-K-R-B which means «temple».^[28]

Other names[edit]

Another name used for Mecca in the Quran is at 6:92 where it is called Umm al-Qurā^[29] (أُمّ ٱلْقُرَى‎, meaning «Mother of all Settlements»).^[26] The city has been called several other names in both the Quran and ahadith. Another name used historically for Mecca is Tihāmah.^[30] According to Arab and Islamic tradition, another name for Mecca, Fārān, is synonymous with the Desert of Paran mentioned in the Old Testament at Genesis 21:21.^[31] Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah coastal plain and the site where Ishmael settled was Mecca.^[31] Yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th-century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was «an arabized Hebrew word, one of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah.»^[32]

History[edit]

Prehistory[edit]

In 2010, Mecca and the surrounding area became an important site for paleontology with respect to primate evolution, with the discovery of a Saadanius fossil. Saadanius is considered to be a primate closely related to the common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes. The fossil habitat, near what is now the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia, was a damp forest area between 28 million and 29 million years ago.^[33] Paleontologists involved in the research hope to find further fossils in the area.^[34]

Early history (up to 6th century CE)[edit]

The early history of Mecca is still largely disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam.^[35] The first unambiguous reference to Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 CE, in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, though here the author places the region in Mesopotamia rather than the Hejaz.^[36]

The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus writes about Arabia in the 1st century BCE in his work Bibliotheca historica, describing a holy shrine: «And a temple has been set up there, which is very holy and exceedingly revered by all Arabians».^[37] Claims have been made this could be a reference to the Ka’bah in Mecca. However, the geographic location Diodorus describes is located in northwest Arabia, around the area of Leuke Kome, within the former Nabataean Kingdom and the Roman province of Arabia Petraea.^[38][39]

Ptolemy lists the names of 50 cities in Arabia, one going by the name of Macoraba. There has been speculation since 1646 that this could be a reference to Mecca. Historically, there has been a general consensus in scholarship that Macoraba mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE is indeed Mecca, but more recently, this has been questioned.^[40][41] Bowersock favors the identity of the former, with his theory being that «Macoraba» is the word «Makkah» followed by the aggrandizing Aramaic adjective rabb (great). The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus also enumerated many cities of Western Arabia, most of which can be identified. According to Bowersock, he did mention Mecca as «Geapolis» or «Hierapolis», the latter one meaning «holy city» potentially referring to the sanctuary of the Kaaba.^[42] Patricia Crone, from the Revisionist school of Islamic studies on the other hand, writes that «the plain truth is that the name Macoraba has nothing to do with that of Mecca […] if Ptolemy mentions Mecca at all, he calls it Moka, a town in Arabia Petraea».^[43]
Recent research suggests that «Mecca was small» and the population of Mecca at the time of Muhammad was around 550.^[44]

Procopius’ 6th century statement that the Ma’ad tribe possessed the coast of western Arabia between the Ghassanids and the Himyarites of the south supports the Arabic sources tradition that associates Quraysh as a branch of the Ma’add and Muhammad as a direct descendant of Ma’ad ibn Adnan.^[45][46]

Historian Patricia Crone has cast doubt on the claim that Mecca was a major historical trading outpost.^[47][48] However, other scholars such as Glen W. Bowersock disagree and assert that Mecca was a major trading outpost.^[49][50] Crone later on disregarded some of her theories.^[51] She argues that Meccan trade relied on skins, hides, manufactured leather goods, clarified butter, Hijazi woollens, and camels. She suggests that most of these goods were destined for the Roman army, which is known to have required colossal quantities of leather and hides for its equipment.

Mecca is mentioned in the following early Quranic manuscripts:

• Codex Is. 1615 I, folio 47v, radiocarbon dated to 591–643 CE.
• Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01–29.1, folio 29a, radiocarbon dated between 633 and 665 CE.
• Codex Arabe 331, folio 40 v, radiocarbon dated between 652 and 765 CE.

The earliest Muslim inscriptions are from the Mecca-Ta’if area.^[52]

Islamic narrative

In the Islamic view, the beginnings of Mecca are attributed to the Biblical figures, Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael. The civilization of Mecca is believed to have started after Ibrāhīm (Abraham) left his son Ismāʿīl (Ishmael) and wife Hājar (Hagar) in the valley at Allah’s command.^{[citation needed]} Some people from the Yemeni tribe of Jurhum settled with them, and Isma’il reportedly married two women, one after divorcing the first, on Ibrahim’s advice. At least one man of the Jurhum helped Ismāʿīl and his father to construct or according to Islamic narratives, reconstruct, the Ka’bah (‘Cube’),^[53][19][54] which would have social, religious, political and historical implications for the site and region.^[55][56]

Muslims see the mention of a pilgrimage at the Valley of Baca in the Old Testament chapter Psalm 84:3–6 as a reference to Mecca, similar to the Quran at Surah 3:96 In the Sharḥ al-Asāṭīr, a commentary on the Samaritan midrashic chronology of the Patriarchs, of unknown date but probably composed in the 10th century CE, it is claimed that Mecca was built by the sons of Nebaioth, the eldest son of Ismāʿīl or Ishmael.^[57][58][59]

Thamudic inscriptions

Some Thamudic inscriptions which were discovered in the south Jordan contained names of some individuals such as ʿAbd Mekkat (عَبْد مَكَّة‎, «Servant of Mecca»).^[60]

There were also some other inscriptions which contained personal names such as Makki (مَكِّي, «Makkahn»), but Jawwad Ali from the University of Baghdad suggested that there’s also a probability of a tribe named «Makkah».^[61]

Under the Quraish[edit]

Sometime in the 5th century, the Ka’bah was a place of worship for the deities of Arabia’s pagan tribes. Mecca’s most important pagan deity was Hubal, which had been placed there by the ruling Quraish tribe.^[62][63] and remained until the Conquest of Mecca by Muhammad.^{[citation needed]} In the 5th century, the Quraish took control of Mecca, and became skilled merchants and traders. In the 6th century, they joined the lucrative spice trade, since battles elsewhere were diverting trade routes from dangerous sea routes to more secure overland routes. The Byzantine Empire had previously controlled the Red Sea, but piracy had been increasing.^{[citation needed]} Another previous route that ran through the Persian Gulf via the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was also being threatened by exploitations from the Sassanid Empire, and was being disrupted by the Lakhmids, the Ghassanids, and the Roman–Persian Wars. Mecca’s prominence as a trading center also surpassed the cities of Petra and Palmyra.^[64][65] The Sassanids however did not always pose a threat to Mecca, as in 575 CE they protected it from a Yemeni invasion, led by its Christian leader Abraha. The tribes of southern Arabia asked the Persian king Khosrau I for aid, in response to which he came south to Arabia with foot-soldiers and a fleet of ships near Mecca.^[66]

By the middle of the 6th century, there were three major settlements in northern Arabia, all along the south-western coast that borders the Red Sea, in a habitable region between the sea and the Hejaz mountains to the east. Although the area around Mecca was completely barren, it was the wealthiest of the three settlements with abundant water from the renowned Zamzam Well and a position at the crossroads of major caravan routes.^[67]

The harsh conditions and terrain of the Arabian peninsula meant a near-constant state of conflict between the local tribes, but once a year they would declare a truce and converge upon Mecca in an annual pilgrimage. Up to the 7th century, this journey was intended for religious reasons by the pagan Arabs to pay homage to their shrine, and to drink Zamzam. However, it was also the time each year that disputes would be arbitrated, debts would be resolved, and trading would occur at Meccan fairs. These annual events gave the tribes a sense of common identity and made Mecca an important focus for the peninsula.^[68]

The Year of the Elephant (570 CE)

The «Year of the Elephant» is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570–572 CE, when, according to Islamic sources such as Ibn Ishaq, Abraha descended upon Mecca, riding an elephant, with a large army after building a cathedral at San’aa, named al-Qullays in honor of the Negus of Axum. It gained widespread fame, even gaining attention from the Byzantine Empire.^[69] Abraha attempted to divert the pilgrimage of the Arabs from the Ka’bah to al-Qullays, effectively converting them to Christianity. According to Islamic tradition, this was the year of Muhammad’s birth.^[69] Abraha allegedly sent a messenger named Muhammad ibn Khuza’i to Mecca and Tihamah with a message that al-Qullays was both much better than other houses of worship and purer, having not been defiled by the housing of idols.^[69] When Muhammad ibn Khuza’i got as far as the land of Kinana, the people of the lowland, knowing what he had come for, sent a man of Hudhayl called ʿUrwa bin Hayyad al-Milasi, who shot him with an arrow, killing him. His brother Qays who was with him, fled to Abraha and told him the news, which increased his rage and fury and he swore to raid the Kinana tribe and destroy the Ka’bah. Ibn Ishaq further states that one of the men of the Quraysh tribe was angered by this, and going to Sana’a, entering the church at night and defiling it; widely assumed to have done so by defecating in it.^[70][71]

Abraha marched upon the Ka’bah with a large army, which included one or more war elephants, intending to demolish it. When news of the advance of his army came, the Arab tribes of Quraysh, Kinanah, Khuza’a and Hudhayl united in the defense of the Ka’bah and the city. A man from the Himyarite Kingdom was sent by Abraha to advise them that Abraha only wished to demolish the Ka’bah and if they resisted, they would be crushed. Abdul Muttalib told the Meccans to seek refuge in the hills while he and some members of the Quraysh remained within the precincts of the Kaaba. Abraha sent a dispatch inviting Abdul-Muttalib to meet with Abraha and discuss matters. When Abdul-Muttalib left the meeting he was heard saying: «The Owner of this House is its Defender, and I am sure he will save it from the attack of the adversaries and will not dishonor the servants of His House.»^[72][73]

Abraha eventually attacked Mecca. However, the lead elephant, known as Mahmud,^[74] is said to have stopped at the boundary around Mecca and refused to enter. It has been theorized that an epidemic such as by smallpox could have caused such a failed invasion of Mecca.^[75] The reference to the story in Quran is rather short. According to the 105th Surah of the Quran, Al-Fil, the next day, a dark cloud of small birds sent by Allah appeared. The birds carried small rocks in their beaks, and bombarded the Ethiopian forces, and smashed them to a state like that of eaten straw.^[76]

Economy

Camel caravans, said to have first been used by Muhammad’s great-grandfather, were a major part of Mecca’s bustling economy. Alliances were struck between the merchants in Mecca and the local nomadic tribes, who would bring goods – leather, livestock, and metals mined in the local mountains – to Mecca to be loaded on the caravans and carried to cities in Shaam and Iraq.^[77] Historical accounts also provide some indication that goods from other continents may also have flowed through Mecca. Goods from Africa and the Far East passed through en route to Syria including spices, leather, medicine, cloth, and slaves; in return Mecca received money, weapons, cereals and wine, which in turn were distributed throughout Arabia.^{[citation needed]} The Meccans signed treaties with both the Byzantines and the Bedouins, and negotiated safe passages for caravans, giving them water and pasture rights. Mecca became the center of a loose confederation of client tribes, which included those of the Banu Tamim. Other regional powers such as the Abyssinians, Ghassanids, and Lakhmids were in decline leaving Meccan trade to be the primary binding force in Arabia in the late 6th century.^[68]

Muhammad and the conquest of Mecca[edit]

Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 CE, and thus Islam has been inextricably linked with it ever since. He was born into the faction of Banu Hashim in the ruling tribe of Quraysh. It was in the nearby mountain cave of Hira on Jabal al-Nour that Muhammad began receiving divine revelations from God through the archangel Jibreel in 610 CE, according to Islamic tradition. Advocating his form of Abrahamic monotheism against Meccan paganism, and after enduring persecution from the pagan tribes for 13 years, Muhammad emigrated to Medina (hijrah) in 622 CE with his companions, the Muhajirun, to Yathrib (later renamed Medina). The conflict between the Quraysh and the Muslims is accepted to have begun at this point. Overall, Meccan efforts to annihilate Islam failed and proved to be costly and unsuccessful.^{[citation needed]} During the Battle of the Trench in 627 CE, the combined armies of Arabia were unable to defeat Muhammad’s forces (as the trench surrounding Muhammad’s forces protected them from harm and a storm was sent to breach the Quraysh tribe).^[78]
In 628 CE, Muhammad and his followers wanted to enter Mecca for pilgrimage, but were blocked by the Quraysh. Subsequently, Muslims and Meccans entered into the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, whereby the Quraysh and their allies promised to cease fighting Muslims and their allies and promised that Muslims would be allowed into the city to perform the pilgrimage the following year. It was meant to be a ceasefire for 10 years; however, just two years later, the Banu Bakr, allies of the Quraish, violated the truce by slaughtering a group of the Banu Khuza’ah, allies of the Muslims. Muhammad and his companions, now 10,000 strong, marched into Mecca and conquered the city. The pagan imagery was destroyed by Muhammad’s followers and the location Islamized and rededicated to the worship of Allah alone. Mecca was declared the holiest site in Islam ordaining it as the center of Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj), one of the Islamic faith’s Five Pillars.

Muhammad then returned to Medina, after assigning ‘Akib ibn Usaid as governor of the city. His other activities in Arabia led to the unification of the Arabian Peninsula under the banner of Islam.^[64][78] Muhammad passed away in 632 CE. Within the next few hundred years, the area under the banner of Islam stretched from North Africa into Asia and parts of Europe. As the Islamic realm grew, Mecca continued to attract pilgrims from all across the Muslim world and beyond, as Muslims came to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Mecca also attracted a year-round population of scholars, pious Muslims who wished to live close to the Kaaba, and local inhabitants who served the pilgrims. Due to the difficulty and expense of the Hajj, pilgrims arrived by boat at Jeddah, and came overland, or joined the annual caravans from Syria or Iraq.^{[citation needed]}

Medieval and pre-modern times[edit]

Mecca was never the capital of any of the Islamic states. Muslim rulers did contribute to its upkeep, such as during the reigns of ‘Umar (r. 634–644 CE) and ‘Uthman ibn Affan (r. 644–656 CE) when concerns of flooding caused the caliphs to bring in Christian engineers to build barrages in the low-lying quarters and construct dykes and embankments to protect the area around the Kaaba.^[64]

Muhammad’s return to Medina shifted the focus away from Mecca and later even further away when ‘Ali, the fourth caliph, took power and chose Kufa as his capital. The Umayyad Caliphate moved the capital to Damascus in Syria and the Abbasid Caliphate to Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq, which remained the center of the Islamic Empire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re-entered Islamic political history during the Second Fitna, when it was held by Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr and the Zubayrids.^{[citation needed]} The city was twice besieged by the Umayyads in 683 CE and 692 CE, and for some time thereafter, the city figured little in politics, remaining a city of devotion and scholarship governed by various other factions. In 930 CE, Mecca was attacked and sacked by Qarmatians, a millenarian Shi’a Isma’ili Muslim sect led by Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī and centered in eastern Arabia.^[79] The Black Death pandemic hit Mecca in 1349 CE.^[80]

Ibn Battuta’s description of Mecca[edit]

One of the most famous travelers to Mecca in the 14th century was a Moroccan scholar and traveler, Ibn Battuta. In his rihla (account), he provides a vast description of the city. Around the year 1327 CE or 729 AH, Ibn Battuta arrived at the holy city. Immediately, he says, it felt like a holy sanctuary, and thus he started the rites of the pilgrimage. He remained in Mecca for three years and left in 1330 CE. During his second year in the holy city, he says his caravan arrived «with a great quantity of alms for the support of those who were staying in Mecca and Medina». While in Mecca, prayers were made for (not to) the King of Iraq and also for Salaheddin al-Ayyubi, Sultan of Egypt and Syria at the Ka’bah. Battuta says the Ka’bah was large, but was destroyed and rebuilt smaller than the original and that it contained images of angels and prophets including Jesus (Isa in Islamic tradition), his mother Mary (Maryam in Islamic tradition), and many others. Battuta describes the Ka’bah as an important part of Mecca due to the fact that many people make the pilgrimage to it. Battuta describes the people of the city as being humble and kind, and also willing to give a part of everything they had to someone who had nothing. The inhabitants of Mecca and the village itself, he says, were very clean. There was also a sense of elegance to the village.^[81]

Under the Ottomans

In 1517, the then Sharif of Mecca, Barakat bin Muhammad, acknowledged the supremacy of the Ottoman Caliph but retained a great degree of local autonomy.^[82] In 1803 the city was captured by the First Saudi State,^[83] which held Mecca until 1813, destroying some of the historic tombs and domes in and around the city. The Ottomans assigned the task of bringing Mecca back under Ottoman control to their powerful Khedive (viceroy) and Wali of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. Muhammad Ali Pasha successfully returned Mecca to Ottoman control in 1813. In 1818, the Saud were defeated again but survived and founded the Second Saudi State that lasted until 1891 and led on to the present country of Saudi Arabia. In 1853, Sir Richard Francis Burton undertook the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina disguised as a Muslim. Although Burton was certainly not the first non-Muslim European to make the Hajj (Ludovico di Varthema did this in 1503),^[84] his pilgrimage remains one of the most famous and documented of modern times. Mecca was regularly hit by cholera outbreaks. Between 1830 and 1930, cholera broke out among pilgrims at Mecca 27 times.^[85]

Modern history[edit]

Hashemite Revolt and subsequent control by the Sharifate of Mecca

In World War I, the Ottoman Empire was at war with the Allies. It had successfully repulsed an attack on Istanbul in the Gallipoli campaign and on Baghdad in the Siege of Kut. The British intelligence agent T.E. Lawrence conspired with the Ottoman governor, Hussain bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca to revolt against the Ottoman Empire and it was the first city captured by his forces in the 1916 Battle of Mecca. Sharif’s revolt proved a turning point of the war on the eastern front. Hussein declared a new state, the Kingdom of Hejaz, declaring himself the Sharif of the state and Mecca his capital. News reports in November 1916 via contact in Cairo with returning Hajj pilgrims, stated that with the Ottoman Turkish authorities gone, the Hajj of 1916 was free of the previous massive extortion and monetary demands made by the Turks who were agents of the Ottoman government.^[86]

Saudi Arabian conquest and modern history

Following the 1924 Battle of Mecca, the Sharif of Mecca was overthrown by the Saud family, and Mecca was incorporated into Saudi Arabia.^[87] Under Saudi rule, much of the historic city has been demolished as a result of the Saudi government fearing these sites might become sites of association in worship besides Allah (shirk). The city has been expanded to include several towns previously considered to be separate from the holy city and now is just a few kilometers outside the main sites of the Hajj, Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat. Mecca is not served by any airport, due to concerns about the city’s safety. It is instead served by the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah (approx. 70 km away) internationally and the Ta’if Regional Airport (approx. 120 km away) for domestic flights.^{[citation needed]}

The city today is at the junction of the two most important highways in all of the Saudi Arabian highway system, Highway 40, which connects the city to Jeddah in the west and the capital, Riyadh and Dammam in the east and Highway 15, which connects it to Medina, Tabuk and onward to Jordan in the north and Abha and Jizan in the south. The Ottomans had planned to extend their railway network to the holy city, but were forced to abandon this plan due to their entry into the First World War. This plan was later carried out by the Saudi government, which connected the two holy cities of Medina and Mecca with the modern Haramain high-speed railway system which runs at 300 km/h (190 mph) and connects the two cities via Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport and King Abdullah Economic City near Rabigh within two hours.^{[citation needed]}

The haram area of Mecca, in which the entry of non-Muslims is forbidden, is much larger than that of Medina.

1979 Grand Mosque seizure

On 20 November 1979, two hundred armed dissidents led by Juhayman al-Otaibi, seized the Grand Mosque, claiming the Saudi royal family no longer represented pure Islam and that the Masjid al-Haram and the Ka’bah, must be held by those of true faith. The rebels seized tens of thousands of pilgrims as hostages and barricaded themselves in the mosque. The siege lasted two weeks, and resulted in several hundred deaths and significant damage to the shrine, especially the Safa-Marwah gallery. A multinational force was finally able to retake the mosque from the dissidents.^[88] Since then, the Grand Mosque has been expanded several times, with many other expansions being undertaken in the present day.

Destruction of Islamic heritage sites

Under Saudi rule, it has been estimated that since 1985, about 95% of Mecca’s historic buildings, most over a thousand years old, have been demolished.^[9][89] It has been reported that there are now fewer than 20 structures remaining in Mecca that date back to the time of Muhammad. Some important buildings that have been destroyed include the house of Khadijah, the wife of Muhammad, the house of Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s birthplace and the Ottoman-era Ajyad Fortress.^[90] The reason for much of the destruction of historic buildings has been for the construction of hotels, apartments, parking lots, and other infrastructure facilities for Hajj pilgrims.^[89][91]

Incidents during pilgrimage

Mecca has been the site of several incidents and failures of crowd control because of the large numbers of people who come to make the Hajj.^[92][93][94] For example, on 2 July 1990, a pilgrimage to Mecca ended in tragedy when the ventilation system failed in a crowded pedestrian tunnel and 1,426 people were either suffocated or trampled to death in a stampede.^[95] On 24 September 2015, 700 pilgrims were killed in a stampede at Mina during the stoning-the-Devil ritual at Jamarat.^[96]

Significance in Islam[edit]

Mecca holds an important place in Islam and is the holiest city in all branches of the religion. The city derives its importance from the role it plays in the Hajj and ‘Umrah.

Masjid al-Haram[edit]

The Masjid al-Haram is the site of two of the most important rites of both the Hajj and of the Umrah, the circumambulation around the Ka’bah (tawaf) and the walking between the two mounts of Safa and Marwa (sa’ee). The masjid is also the site of the Zamzam Well. According to Islamic tradition, a prayer in the masjid is equal to 100,000 prayers in any other masjid around the world.^[97]

Kaaba[edit]

There is a difference of opinion between Islamic scholars upon who first built the Ka’bah, some believe it was built by the angels while others believe it was built by Adam. Regardless, it was built several times before reaching its current state. The Ka’bah is also the common direction of prayer (qibla) for all Muslims. The surface surrounding the Ka’bah on which Muslims circumambulate it is known as the Mataf.

Hajr-e-Aswad (The Black Stone)[edit]

The Black Stone is a stone, considered by scientists to be a meteorite or of similar origin and believed by Muslims to be of divine origin. It is set in the eastern corner of the Ka’bah and it is Sunnah to touch and kiss the stone. The area around the stone is generally always crowded and guarded by policemen to ensure the pilgrims’ safety. In Islamic tradition, the stone was sent down from Jannah (Paradise) and used to build the Ka’bah. It used to be a white stone (and was whiter than milk). Because of the worldly sins of man, it slowly changed color to black over the years after it was brought down to Earth.

Maqam Ibrahim[edit]

This is the stone that Ibrahim (Abraham) stood on to build the higher parts of the Ka’bah. It contains two footprints that are comparatively larger than average modern-day human feet. The stone is raised and housed in a golden hexagonal chamber beside the Ka’bah on the Mataf plate.

Safa and Marwa[edit]

Muslims believe that in the divine revelation to Muhammad, the Quran, Allah describes the mountains of Safa and Marwah as symbols of His divinity. Walking between the two mountains seven times, 4 times from Safa to Marwah and 3 times from Marwah interchangeably, is considered a mandatory pillar (rukn) of ‘Umrah.

Hajj and ‘Umrah[edit]

The Hajj pilgrimage, also called the greater pilgrimage, attracts millions of Muslims from all over the world and almost triples Mecca’s population for one week in the twelfth and final Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah. In 2019, the Hajj attracted 2,489,406 pilgrims to the holy city.^[98] The ‘Umrah, or the lesser pilgrimage, can be done at anytime during the year. Every adult, healthy Muslim who has the financial and physical capacity to travel to Mecca must perform the Hajj at least once in a lifetime. Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage, is not obligatory, but is recommended in the Quran.^[99] In addition to the Masjid al-Haram, pilgrims also must visit the nearby towns of Mina/Muna, Muzdalifah and Mount Arafat for various rituals that are part of the Hajj.

Jabal an-Nur[edit]

This is a mountain believed by Muslims to have been the place where Muhammad spent his time away from the bustling city of Mecca in seclusion.^[100][101] The mountain is located on the eastern entrance of the city and is the highest point in the city at 642 meters (2,106 feet).

Hira’a Cave[edit]

Situated atop Jabal an-Nur, this is the place where Muslims believe Muhammad received the first revelation from Allah through the archangel Gabriel (Jibril in Islamic tradition) at the age of 40.^[100][101]

Geography[edit]

Mecca is located in the Hejaz region, a 200 km (124 mi) wide strip of mountains separating the Nafud desert from the Red Sea. The city is situated in a valley with the same name around 70 km (44 mi) east of the port city of Jeddah. Mecca is one of the lowest cities in elevation in the Hejaz region, located at an elevation of 277 m (909 ft) above sea level at 21º23′ north latitude and 39º51′ east longitude. Mecca is divided into 34 districts.

The city centers on the al-Haram area, which contains the Masjid al-Haram. The area around the mosque is the old city and contains the most famous district of Mecca, Ajyad. The main street that runs to al-Haram is the Ibrahim al-Khalil Street, named after Ibrahim. Traditional, historical homes built of local rock, two to three stories long are still present within the city’s central area, within view of modern hotels and shopping complexes. The total area of modern Mecca is over 1,200 km² (460 sq mi).^[102]

Elevation[edit]

Mecca is at an elevation of 277 m (909 ft) above sea level, and approximately 70 km (44 mi) inland from the Red Sea.^[67] It is one of the lowest in the Hejaz region. Although some mountain peaks in Mecca reach 1,000m in height.

Topography[edit]

The city center lies in a corridor between mountains, which is often called the «Hollow of Mecca». The area contains the valley of al-Taneem, the valley of Bakkah and the valley of Abqar.^[64][103] This mountainous location has defined the contemporary expansion of the city.

Sources of water[edit]

Due to Mecca’s climatic conditions water scarcity has been an issue throughout its history. In pre-modern Mecca, the city used a few chief sources of water. Among them were local wells, such as the Zamzam Well, that produced generally brackish water. Finding a sustainable water source to supply Mecca’s permanent population and the large number of annual pilgrims was an undertaking that began in the Abbasid era under the auspices of Zubayda, the wife of the caliph Harun ar-Rashid.^[c] She donated funds for the deepening of Zamzam Well and funded a massive construction project likely costing 1.75 Million gold dinars. The project encompassed the construction of an underground aqueduct from the Arabic: عين حنين, romanized: ʿAyn Ḥunayn, lit. ‘Spring of Hunayn’ and smaller water sources in the area to Mecca in addition to the construction of a waterworks on Mount Arafat called Arabic: عين زبيدة, romanized: ʿAyn Zubayda, lit. ‘Spring of Zubayda’ using a separate conduit to connect it to Mecca and the Masjid al-Haram. Over time however the system deteriorated and failed to fulfil its function. Thus in 1245 CE, 1361 CE, 1400 CE, 1474 CE, and 1510 CE different rulers invested into extensive repairs of the system. In 1525 CE due to the system’s troubles persisting however the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent began a construction project to rebuild the aqueduct in its entirety, the project took until 1571 CE to be completed. Its water quality was greatly lacking during the 19th century until a restoration and cleaning project by Osman Pasha began.^[104]

Another source which sporadically provided water was rainfall which was stored by the people in small reservoirs or cisterns. According to al-Kurdī, there had been 89 floods by 1965. In the last century, the most severe flood was that of 1942. Since then, dams have been built to ameliorate this problem.^[103]

In the modern day water treatment plants and desalination facilities have been constructed and are being constructed to provide suitable amounts of water fit for human consumption to the city.^[105][106]

Climate[edit]

Mecca features a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh), in three different plant hardiness zones: 10, 11 and 12.^[107] Like most Saudi Arabian cities, Mecca retains warm to hot temperatures even in winter, which can range from 19 °C (66 °F) at night to 30 °C (86 °F) in the afternoon. Summer temperatures are extremely hot and consistently break the 40 °C (104 °F) mark in the afternoon, dropping to 30 °C (86 °F) in the evening, but humidity remains relatively low, at 30–40%. Rain usually falls in Mecca in small amounts scattered between November and January, with heavy thunderstorms also common during the winter.

Economy[edit]

The Meccan economy has been heavily dependent on pilgrimages coming for Umrah and Hajj.^[110] Income generated through pilgrims not only powers the Meccan economy but has historically had far-reaching effects on the economy of the entire Arabian Peninsula. The income was generated in a number of ways. One method was taxing the pilgrims. Taxes were especially increased during the Great Depression, and many of these taxes existed to as late as 1972. Another way the Hajj generates income is through services to pilgrims. For example, the Saudi flag carrier, Saudia, generates 12% of its income from the pilgrimage. Fares paid by pilgrims to reach Mecca by land also generate income; as do the hotels and lodging companies that house them.^[103] The city takes in more than $100 million, while the Saudi government spends about $50 million on services for the Hajj. There are some industries and factories in the city, but Mecca no longer plays a major role in Saudi Arabia’s economy, which is mainly based on oil exports.^[111] The few industries operating in Mecca include textiles, furniture, and utensils. The majority of the economy is service-oriented.

Nevertheless, many industries have been set up in Mecca. Various types of enterprises that have existed since 1970 in the city include corrugated iron manufacturing, copper extraction, carpentry, upholstery, bakeries, farming and banking.^[103] The city has grown substantially in the 20th and 21st centuries, as the convenience and affordability of jet travel has increased the number of pilgrims participating in the Hajj. Thousands of Saudis are employed year-round to oversee the Hajj and staff the hotels and shops that cater to pilgrims; these workers in turn have increased the demand for housing and services. The city is now ringed by freeways, and contains shopping malls and skyscrapers.^[112]

Human resources[edit]

Formal education started to be developed in the late Ottoman period continuing slowly into Hashemite times. The first major attempt to improve the situation was made by a Jeddah merchant, Muhammad ʿAlī Zaynal Riḍā, who founded the Madrasat al-Falāḥ in Mecca in 1911–12 that cost £400,000.^[103] The school system in Mecca has many public and private schools for both males and females. As of 2005, there were 532 public and private schools for males and another 681 public and private schools for female students.^[113] The medium of instruction in both public and private schools is Arabic with emphasis on English as a second language, but some private schools founded by foreign entities such as International schools use the English language as the medium of instruction. Some of these are coeducational while other schools are not. For higher education, the city has only one university, Umm Al-Qura University, which was established in 1949 as a college and became a public university in 1981.

Healthcare is provided by the Saudi government free of charge to all pilgrims. There are ten main hospitals in Mecca:^[114]

• Ajyad Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى أَجْيَاد‎)
• King Faisal Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْمَلِك فَيْصَل بِحَي ٱلشّشه‎)
• King Abdulaziz Hospital (Arabic: مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْمَلِك عَبْد ٱلْعَزِيْز بِحَي ٱلـزَّاهِر‎)
• Al Noor Specialist Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلنُّوْر ٱلتَّخَصُّصِي‎)
• Hira’a Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى حِرَاء‎)
• Maternity and Children’s Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْوِلَادَة وَٱلْأَطْفَال‎)
• King Abdullah Medical City (مَدِيْنَة ٱلْمَلِك عَبْد ٱلله ٱلطِّبِيَّة‎)
• Khulais General Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى خُلَيْص ٱلْعَام‎)
• Al Kamel General Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْكَامِل ٱلْعَام‎)
• Ibn Sina Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ابْن سِيْنَا بِحَدَاء / بَحْرَه‎)

There are also many walk-in clinics available for both residents and pilgrims. Several temporary clinics are set up during the Hajj to tend to wounded pilgrims.

Culture[edit]

Mecca’s culture has been affected by the large number of pilgrims that arrive annually, and thus boasts a rich cultural heritage. As a result of the vast numbers of pilgrims coming to the city each year, Mecca has become by far the most diverse city in the Muslim world.^{[citation needed]}

Al Baik, a local fast-food chain, is very popular among pilgrims and locals alike. Until 2018, it was available only in Mecca, Medina and Jeddah, and traveling to Jeddah just to get a taste of the fried chicken was common.

Sports[edit]

In pre-modern Mecca, the most common sports were impromptu wrestling and foot races.^[103] Football is now the most popular sport in Mecca and the kingdom, and the city hosts some of the oldest sport clubs in Saudi Arabia such as Al Wahda FC (established in 1945). King Abdulaziz Stadium is the largest stadium in Mecca with a capacity of 38,000.^[115]

Demographics[edit]

Mecca is very densely populated. Most long-term residents live in the Old City, the area around the Great Mosque and many work to support pilgrims, known locally as the Hajj industry. ‘Iyad Madani, the Saudi Arabian Minister for Hajj, was quoted saying, «We never stop preparing for the Hajj.»^[116]

Year-round, pilgrims stream into the city to perform the rites of ‘Umrah, and during the last weeks of eleventh Islamic month, Dhu al-Qi’dah, on average 2–4 million Muslims arrive in the city to take part in the rites known as Hajj.^[117] Pilgrims are from varying ethnicities and backgrounds, mainly South and Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa. Many of these pilgrims have remained and become residents of the city. The Burmese are an older, more established community who number roughly 250,000.^[118] Adding to this, the discovery of oil in the past 50 years has brought hundreds of thousands of working immigrants.

Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca under Saudi law,^[12] and using fraudulent documents to do so may result in arrest and prosecution.^[119] The prohibition extends to Ahmadis, as they are considered non-Muslims.^[120] Nevertheless, many non-Muslims and Ahmadis have visited the city as these restrictions are loosely enforced. The first such recorded example of a non-Muslim entering the city is that of Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna in 1503.^[121] Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is said to have visited Mecca^[122] in December 1518.^[123] One of the most famous was Richard Francis Burton,^[124] who traveled as a Qadiriyya Sufi from Afghanistan in 1853.

Mecca Province is the only province where expatriates outnumber Saudis.^[125]

Architectural landmarks[edit]

Adorning the southern facade of the Masjid al-Haram, the Abraj al-Bait Complex, which towers over the Great Mosque, is a seven-building complex with the central clock tower having a length of 601 m (1,972 feet), making it the world’s fourth-tallest building. All seven buildings in the complex also form the third-largest building by floor area.

The Mecca Gate, known popularly as the Quran Gate, on the western entrance of the city, or from Jeddah. Located on Highway 40, it marks the boundary of the Haram area where non-Muslims are prohibited from entering. The gate was designed in 1979 by an Egyptian architect, Samir Elabd, for the architectural firm IDEA Center. The structure is that of a book, representing the Quran, sitting on a rehal, or bookrest.^[126]

Communications[edit]

Press and newspapers[edit]

The first press was brought to Mecca in 1885 by Osman Nuri Pasha, an Ottoman Wāli. During the Hashemite period, it was used to print the city’s official gazette, Al Qibla. The Saudi regime expanded this press into a larger operation, introducing the new Saudi official gazette of Mecca, Umm al-Qurā.^[103] Mecca also has its own paper owned by the city, Al Nadwa. However, other Saudi newspapers are also provided in Mecca such as the Saudi Gazette, Al Madinah, Okaz and Al Bilad, in addition to other international newspapers.

TV[edit]

Telecommunications in the city were emphasized early under the Saudi reign. King Abdulaziz pressed them forward as he saw them as a means of convenience and better governance. While under Hussein bin Ali, there were about 20 public telephones in the entire city; in 1936, the number jumped to 450, totaling about half the telephones in the country. During that time, telephone lines were extended to Jeddah and Ta’if, but not to the capital, Riyadh. By 1985, Mecca, like other Saudi cities, possessed modern telephone, telex, radio and television communications.^[103] Many television stations serving the city area include Saudi TV1, Saudi TV2, Saudi TV Sports, Al-Ekhbariya, Arab Radio and Television Network and various cable, satellite and other specialty television providers.

Radio[edit]

Limited radio communication was established within the Kingdom under the Hashemites. In 1929, wireless stations were set up in various towns in the region, creating a network that would become fully functional by 1932. Soon after World War II, the existing network was greatly expanded and improved. Since then, radio communication has been used extensively in directing the pilgrimage and addressing the pilgrims. This practice started in 1950, with the initiation of broadcasts on the Day of ‘Arafah (9 Dhu al-Hijjah), and increased until 1957, at which time Radio Makkah became the most powerful station in the Middle East at 50 kW. Later, power was increased 9-fold to 450 kW. Music was not immediately broadcast, but gradually folk music was introduced.^[103]

Transportation[edit]

Air[edit]

The only airport near the city is the Mecca East airport, which is not active. Mecca is primarily served by King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah for international and regional connections and Ta’if Regional Airport for regional connections. To cater the large number of Hajj pilgrims, Jeddah Airport has Hajj Terminal, specifically for use in the Hajj season, which can accommodate 47 planes simultaneously and can receive 3,800 pilgrims per hour during the Hajj season.^[127]

Roads[edit]

Mecca, similar to Medina, lies at the junction of two of the most important highways in Saudi Arabia, Highway 40, connecting it to the important port city of Jeddah in the west and the capital of Riyadh and the other major port city, Dammam, in the east. The other, Highway 15, connects Mecca to the other holy Islamic city of Medina approximately 400 km (250 mi) in the north and onward to Tabuk and Jordan. While in the south, it connects Mecca to Abha and Jizan.^[128][129] Mecca is served by four ring roads, and these are very crowded compared to the three ring roads of Medina.

Mecca also has many tunnels.^[130]

Rapid transit[edit]

Al Masha’er Al Muqaddassah Metro

The Al Masha’er Al Muqaddassah Metro is a metro line in Mecca opened on 13 November 2010.^[131] The 18.1-kilometer (11.2-mile) elevated metro transports pilgrims to the holy sites of ‘Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina in the city to reduce congestion on the road and is only operational during the Hajj season.^[132] It consists of nine stations, three in each of the aforementioned towns.

Mecca Metro

The Mecca Metro, officially known as Makkah Mass Rail Transit, is a planned four-line metro system for the city.^[133] This will be in addition to^[133] the Al Masha’er Al Muqaddassah Metro which carries pilgrims.

Rail[edit]

Intercity[edit]

In 2018, a high speed intercity rail line, part of the Haramain High Speed Rail Project, named the Haramain high-speed railway line entered operation, connecting the holy cities of Mecca and Medina together via Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport and King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh.^[134][135] The railway consists of 35 electric trains and is capable of transporting 60 million passengers annually. Each train can achieve speeds of up to 300 kmh (190 mph), traveling a total distance of 450 km (280 mi), reducing the travel time between the two cities to less than two hours.^[136][135]

See also[edit]

• Bayt al-Mawlid, the house where Muhammad is believed to have been born
• Mecca Province
• Masjid al-Haram
• Sharifate of Mecca

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• What life was like in the lands of the prophet: Islamic world, AD 570–1405. Time-Life Books. 1999. ISBN 978-0-7835-5465-5.
• Lapidus, Ira M. (1988). A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-22552-6.

Further reading[edit]

• Bianca, Stefano (2000), «Case Study 1: The Holy Cities of Islam – The Impact of Mass Transportation and Rapid Urban Change», Urban Form in the Arab World, Zurich: ETH Zurich, ISBN 978-3-7281-1972-8, 0500282056
• Bosworth, C. Edmund, ed. (2007). «Mecca». Historic Cities of the Islamic World. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill.
• Dumper, Michael R. T.; Stanley, Bruce E., eds. (2008), «Makkah», Cities of the Middle East and North Africa, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO
• Rosenthal, Franz; Ibn Khaldun (1967). The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-09797-8.
• Watt, W. Montgomery. «Makka – The pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods.» Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 6 June 2008
• Winder, R.B. «Makka – The Modern City.» Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 2008
• «Quraysh». Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (online). 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2007.

Online[edit]

• Mecca Saudi Arabia, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by John Bagot Glubb, Assʿad Sulaiman Abdo, Swati Chopra, Darshana Das, Michael Levy, Gloria Lotha, Michael Ray, Surabhi Sinha, Noah Tesch, Amy Tikkanen, Grace Young and Adam Zeidan

External links[edit]

• Holy Makkah Municipality
• Saudi Information Resource – Holy Makkah
• Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Makkahh, by Richard Burton

Mecca مكة‎ The Holy Capital (العاصمة المقدسة) Mother of all Settlements (أم القرى)
City
Makkah al-Mukarramah (مكة المكرمة)
Masjid al-Haram (Great Mosque of Mecca) Mecca skyline The Kaaba Jabal al-Nour Neighborhood of Mina
Mecca
Coordinates: 21°25′21″N 39°49′24″E / 21.42250°N 39.82333°E
Country	Saudi Arabia
Province	Mecca Province
Governorate	Holy Capital Governorate
Government
• Mayor	Saleh Al-Turki
• Provincial Governor	Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud
Area
• Total	1,200 km2 (500 sq mi)
• Land	760 km2 (290 sq mi)
Elevation	277 m (909 ft)
Population  (2015)
• Total	1,578,722
• Estimate  (2020)	2,042,000
• Rank	3rd in Saudi Arabia
Demonym	Makki (مكي)
Time zone	UTC+3 (AST)
Area code	+966-12
Website	hmm.gov.sa

Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah,^[a] commonly shortened to Makkah^[b]) is the holiest city in Islam and the capital of Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia.^[2] It is 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its last recorded population was 1,578,722 in 2015.^[3] Its estimated metro population in 2020 is 2.042 million, making it the third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. Pilgrims more than triple this number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah.

Mecca is generally considered «the fountainhead and cradle of Islam».^[4][5] Mecca is revered in Islam as the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Hira cave atop the Jabal al-Nur («Mountain of Light»), just outside the city, is where Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad.^[6] Visiting Mecca for the Ḥajj is an obligation upon all able Muslims. The Great Mosque of Mecca, known as the Masjid al-Haram, is home to the Ka’bah, believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael. It is one of Islam’s holiest sites and the direction of prayer for all Muslims (qibla).^[7]

Muslim rulers from in and around the region long tried to take the city and keep it in their control, and thus, much like most of the Hejaz region, the city has seen several regime changes. The city was most recently conquered in the Saudi conquest of Hejaz by Ibn Saud and his allies in 1925. Since then, Mecca has seen a tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure, with newer, modern buildings such as the Abraj Al Bait, the world’s fourth-tallest building and third-largest by floor area, towering over the Great Mosque. The Saudi government has also carried out the destruction of several historical structures and archaeological sites,^[8] such as the Ajyad Fortress.^[9][10][11] Non-Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering the city.^[12][13]

Under the Saudi government, Mecca is governed by the Mecca Regional Municipality, a municipal council of 14 locally elected members headed by the mayor (called Amin in Arabic) appointed by the Saudi government. In 2015, the mayor of the city was Osama bin Fadhel Al-Barr;^[14][15] as of January 2022, mayor of is Saleh Al-Turki.^[16] The City of Mecca amanah, which constitutes Mecca and the surrounding region, is the capital of the Mecca Province, which includes the neighbouring cities of Jeddah and Ta’if, even though Jeddah is considerably larger in population compared to Mecca. The Provincial Governor of the province from 16 May 2007 was Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud.^[17]

Etymology[edit]

Mecca has been referred to by many names. As with many Arabic words, its etymology is obscure.^[18] Widely believed to be a synonym for Makkah, it is said to be more specifically the early name for the valley located therein, while Muslim scholars generally use it to refer to the sacred area of the city that immediately surrounds and includes the Ka’bah.^[19][20]

Bakkah[edit]

The Quran refers to the city as Bakkah in Surah Al Imran (3), verse 96: «Indeed the first House [of worship], established for mankind was that at Bakkah». This is presumed to have been the name of the city at the time of Abraham (Ibrahim in Islamic tradition) and it is also transliterated as Baca, Baka, Bakah, Bakka, Becca and Bekka, among others.^[21][22][23]

Makkah, Makkah al-Mukarramah and Mecca[edit]

Makkah is the official transliteration used by the Saudi government and is closer to the Arabic pronunciation.^[24][25] The government adopted Makkah as the official spelling in the 1980s, but it is not universally known or used worldwide.^[24] The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah (Arabic: مكة المكرمة, lit. ‘Makkah the Honored’).^[24] Makkah is used to refer to the city in the Quran in Surah Al-Fath (48), verse 24.^[18][26]

The word Mecca in English has come to be used to refer to any place that draws large numbers of people, and because of this some English-speaking Muslims have come to regard the use of this spelling for the city as offensive.^[24] Nonetheless, Mecca is the familiar form of the English transliteration for the Arabic name of the city.

The historic consensus in academic scholarship has long been that «Macoraba», the place mentioned in Arabia Felix by Claudius Ptolemy, is Mecca.^[27] More recent study has questioned this association.^[28] Many etymologies have been proposed: the traditional one is that it is derived from the Old South Arabian root M-K-R-B which means «temple».^[28]

Other names[edit]

Another name used for Mecca in the Quran is at 6:92 where it is called Umm al-Qurā^[29] (أُمّ ٱلْقُرَى‎, meaning «Mother of all Settlements»).^[26] The city has been called several other names in both the Quran and ahadith. Another name used historically for Mecca is Tihāmah.^[30] According to Arab and Islamic tradition, another name for Mecca, Fārān, is synonymous with the Desert of Paran mentioned in the Old Testament at Genesis 21:21.^[31] Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah coastal plain and the site where Ishmael settled was Mecca.^[31] Yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th-century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was «an arabized Hebrew word, one of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah.»^[32]

History[edit]

Prehistory[edit]

In 2010, Mecca and the surrounding area became an important site for paleontology with respect to primate evolution, with the discovery of a Saadanius fossil. Saadanius is considered to be a primate closely related to the common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes. The fossil habitat, near what is now the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia, was a damp forest area between 28 million and 29 million years ago.^[33] Paleontologists involved in the research hope to find further fossils in the area.^[34]

Early history (up to 6th century CE)[edit]

The early history of Mecca is still largely disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam.^[35] The first unambiguous reference to Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 CE, in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, though here the author places the region in Mesopotamia rather than the Hejaz.^[36]

The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus writes about Arabia in the 1st century BCE in his work Bibliotheca historica, describing a holy shrine: «And a temple has been set up there, which is very holy and exceedingly revered by all Arabians».^[37] Claims have been made this could be a reference to the Ka’bah in Mecca. However, the geographic location Diodorus describes is located in northwest Arabia, around the area of Leuke Kome, within the former Nabataean Kingdom and the Roman province of Arabia Petraea.^[38][39]

Ptolemy lists the names of 50 cities in Arabia, one going by the name of Macoraba. There has been speculation since 1646 that this could be a reference to Mecca. Historically, there has been a general consensus in scholarship that Macoraba mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE is indeed Mecca, but more recently, this has been questioned.^[40][41] Bowersock favors the identity of the former, with his theory being that «Macoraba» is the word «Makkah» followed by the aggrandizing Aramaic adjective rabb (great). The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus also enumerated many cities of Western Arabia, most of which can be identified. According to Bowersock, he did mention Mecca as «Geapolis» or «Hierapolis», the latter one meaning «holy city» potentially referring to the sanctuary of the Kaaba.^[42] Patricia Crone, from the Revisionist school of Islamic studies on the other hand, writes that «the plain truth is that the name Macoraba has nothing to do with that of Mecca […] if Ptolemy mentions Mecca at all, he calls it Moka, a town in Arabia Petraea».^[43]
Recent research suggests that «Mecca was small» and the population of Mecca at the time of Muhammad was around 550.^[44]

Procopius’ 6th century statement that the Ma’ad tribe possessed the coast of western Arabia between the Ghassanids and the Himyarites of the south supports the Arabic sources tradition that associates Quraysh as a branch of the Ma’add and Muhammad as a direct descendant of Ma’ad ibn Adnan.^[45][46]

Historian Patricia Crone has cast doubt on the claim that Mecca was a major historical trading outpost.^[47][48] However, other scholars such as Glen W. Bowersock disagree and assert that Mecca was a major trading outpost.^[49][50] Crone later on disregarded some of her theories.^[51] She argues that Meccan trade relied on skins, hides, manufactured leather goods, clarified butter, Hijazi woollens, and camels. She suggests that most of these goods were destined for the Roman army, which is known to have required colossal quantities of leather and hides for its equipment.

Mecca is mentioned in the following early Quranic manuscripts:

• Codex Is. 1615 I, folio 47v, radiocarbon dated to 591–643 CE.
• Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01–29.1, folio 29a, radiocarbon dated between 633 and 665 CE.
• Codex Arabe 331, folio 40 v, radiocarbon dated between 652 and 765 CE.

The earliest Muslim inscriptions are from the Mecca-Ta’if area.^[52]

Islamic narrative

In the Islamic view, the beginnings of Mecca are attributed to the Biblical figures, Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael. The civilization of Mecca is believed to have started after Ibrāhīm (Abraham) left his son Ismāʿīl (Ishmael) and wife Hājar (Hagar) in the valley at Allah’s command.^{[citation needed]} Some people from the Yemeni tribe of Jurhum settled with them, and Isma’il reportedly married two women, one after divorcing the first, on Ibrahim’s advice. At least one man of the Jurhum helped Ismāʿīl and his father to construct or according to Islamic narratives, reconstruct, the Ka’bah (‘Cube’),^[53][19][54] which would have social, religious, political and historical implications for the site and region.^[55][56]

Muslims see the mention of a pilgrimage at the Valley of Baca in the Old Testament chapter Psalm 84:3–6 as a reference to Mecca, similar to the Quran at Surah 3:96 In the Sharḥ al-Asāṭīr, a commentary on the Samaritan midrashic chronology of the Patriarchs, of unknown date but probably composed in the 10th century CE, it is claimed that Mecca was built by the sons of Nebaioth, the eldest son of Ismāʿīl or Ishmael.^[57][58][59]

Thamudic inscriptions

Some Thamudic inscriptions which were discovered in the south Jordan contained names of some individuals such as ʿAbd Mekkat (عَبْد مَكَّة‎, «Servant of Mecca»).^[60]

There were also some other inscriptions which contained personal names such as Makki (مَكِّي, «Makkahn»), but Jawwad Ali from the University of Baghdad suggested that there’s also a probability of a tribe named «Makkah».^[61]

Under the Quraish[edit]

Sometime in the 5th century, the Ka’bah was a place of worship for the deities of Arabia’s pagan tribes. Mecca’s most important pagan deity was Hubal, which had been placed there by the ruling Quraish tribe.^[62][63] and remained until the Conquest of Mecca by Muhammad.^{[citation needed]} In the 5th century, the Quraish took control of Mecca, and became skilled merchants and traders. In the 6th century, they joined the lucrative spice trade, since battles elsewhere were diverting trade routes from dangerous sea routes to more secure overland routes. The Byzantine Empire had previously controlled the Red Sea, but piracy had been increasing.^{[citation needed]} Another previous route that ran through the Persian Gulf via the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was also being threatened by exploitations from the Sassanid Empire, and was being disrupted by the Lakhmids, the Ghassanids, and the Roman–Persian Wars. Mecca’s prominence as a trading center also surpassed the cities of Petra and Palmyra.^[64][65] The Sassanids however did not always pose a threat to Mecca, as in 575 CE they protected it from a Yemeni invasion, led by its Christian leader Abraha. The tribes of southern Arabia asked the Persian king Khosrau I for aid, in response to which he came south to Arabia with foot-soldiers and a fleet of ships near Mecca.^[66]

By the middle of the 6th century, there were three major settlements in northern Arabia, all along the south-western coast that borders the Red Sea, in a habitable region between the sea and the Hejaz mountains to the east. Although the area around Mecca was completely barren, it was the wealthiest of the three settlements with abundant water from the renowned Zamzam Well and a position at the crossroads of major caravan routes.^[67]

The harsh conditions and terrain of the Arabian peninsula meant a near-constant state of conflict between the local tribes, but once a year they would declare a truce and converge upon Mecca in an annual pilgrimage. Up to the 7th century, this journey was intended for religious reasons by the pagan Arabs to pay homage to their shrine, and to drink Zamzam. However, it was also the time each year that disputes would be arbitrated, debts would be resolved, and trading would occur at Meccan fairs. These annual events gave the tribes a sense of common identity and made Mecca an important focus for the peninsula.^[68]

The Year of the Elephant (570 CE)

The «Year of the Elephant» is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570–572 CE, when, according to Islamic sources such as Ibn Ishaq, Abraha descended upon Mecca, riding an elephant, with a large army after building a cathedral at San’aa, named al-Qullays in honor of the Negus of Axum. It gained widespread fame, even gaining attention from the Byzantine Empire.^[69] Abraha attempted to divert the pilgrimage of the Arabs from the Ka’bah to al-Qullays, effectively converting them to Christianity. According to Islamic tradition, this was the year of Muhammad’s birth.^[69] Abraha allegedly sent a messenger named Muhammad ibn Khuza’i to Mecca and Tihamah with a message that al-Qullays was both much better than other houses of worship and purer, having not been defiled by the housing of idols.^[69] When Muhammad ibn Khuza’i got as far as the land of Kinana, the people of the lowland, knowing what he had come for, sent a man of Hudhayl called ʿUrwa bin Hayyad al-Milasi, who shot him with an arrow, killing him. His brother Qays who was with him, fled to Abraha and told him the news, which increased his rage and fury and he swore to raid the Kinana tribe and destroy the Ka’bah. Ibn Ishaq further states that one of the men of the Quraysh tribe was angered by this, and going to Sana’a, entering the church at night and defiling it; widely assumed to have done so by defecating in it.^[70][71]

Abraha marched upon the Ka’bah with a large army, which included one or more war elephants, intending to demolish it. When news of the advance of his army came, the Arab tribes of Quraysh, Kinanah, Khuza’a and Hudhayl united in the defense of the Ka’bah and the city. A man from the Himyarite Kingdom was sent by Abraha to advise them that Abraha only wished to demolish the Ka’bah and if they resisted, they would be crushed. Abdul Muttalib told the Meccans to seek refuge in the hills while he and some members of the Quraysh remained within the precincts of the Kaaba. Abraha sent a dispatch inviting Abdul-Muttalib to meet with Abraha and discuss matters. When Abdul-Muttalib left the meeting he was heard saying: «The Owner of this House is its Defender, and I am sure he will save it from the attack of the adversaries and will not dishonor the servants of His House.»^[72][73]

Abraha eventually attacked Mecca. However, the lead elephant, known as Mahmud,^[74] is said to have stopped at the boundary around Mecca and refused to enter. It has been theorized that an epidemic such as by smallpox could have caused such a failed invasion of Mecca.^[75] The reference to the story in Quran is rather short. According to the 105th Surah of the Quran, Al-Fil, the next day, a dark cloud of small birds sent by Allah appeared. The birds carried small rocks in their beaks, and bombarded the Ethiopian forces, and smashed them to a state like that of eaten straw.^[76]

Economy

Camel caravans, said to have first been used by Muhammad’s great-grandfather, were a major part of Mecca’s bustling economy. Alliances were struck between the merchants in Mecca and the local nomadic tribes, who would bring goods – leather, livestock, and metals mined in the local mountains – to Mecca to be loaded on the caravans and carried to cities in Shaam and Iraq.^[77] Historical accounts also provide some indication that goods from other continents may also have flowed through Mecca. Goods from Africa and the Far East passed through en route to Syria including spices, leather, medicine, cloth, and slaves; in return Mecca received money, weapons, cereals and wine, which in turn were distributed throughout Arabia.^{[citation needed]} The Meccans signed treaties with both the Byzantines and the Bedouins, and negotiated safe passages for caravans, giving them water and pasture rights. Mecca became the center of a loose confederation of client tribes, which included those of the Banu Tamim. Other regional powers such as the Abyssinians, Ghassanids, and Lakhmids were in decline leaving Meccan trade to be the primary binding force in Arabia in the late 6th century.^[68]

Muhammad and the conquest of Mecca[edit]

Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 CE, and thus Islam has been inextricably linked with it ever since. He was born into the faction of Banu Hashim in the ruling tribe of Quraysh. It was in the nearby mountain cave of Hira on Jabal al-Nour that Muhammad began receiving divine revelations from God through the archangel Jibreel in 610 CE, according to Islamic tradition. Advocating his form of Abrahamic monotheism against Meccan paganism, and after enduring persecution from the pagan tribes for 13 years, Muhammad emigrated to Medina (hijrah) in 622 CE with his companions, the Muhajirun, to Yathrib (later renamed Medina). The conflict between the Quraysh and the Muslims is accepted to have begun at this point. Overall, Meccan efforts to annihilate Islam failed and proved to be costly and unsuccessful.^{[citation needed]} During the Battle of the Trench in 627 CE, the combined armies of Arabia were unable to defeat Muhammad’s forces (as the trench surrounding Muhammad’s forces protected them from harm and a storm was sent to breach the Quraysh tribe).^[78]
In 628 CE, Muhammad and his followers wanted to enter Mecca for pilgrimage, but were blocked by the Quraysh. Subsequently, Muslims and Meccans entered into the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, whereby the Quraysh and their allies promised to cease fighting Muslims and their allies and promised that Muslims would be allowed into the city to perform the pilgrimage the following year. It was meant to be a ceasefire for 10 years; however, just two years later, the Banu Bakr, allies of the Quraish, violated the truce by slaughtering a group of the Banu Khuza’ah, allies of the Muslims. Muhammad and his companions, now 10,000 strong, marched into Mecca and conquered the city. The pagan imagery was destroyed by Muhammad’s followers and the location Islamized and rededicated to the worship of Allah alone. Mecca was declared the holiest site in Islam ordaining it as the center of Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj), one of the Islamic faith’s Five Pillars.

Muhammad then returned to Medina, after assigning ‘Akib ibn Usaid as governor of the city. His other activities in Arabia led to the unification of the Arabian Peninsula under the banner of Islam.^[64][78] Muhammad passed away in 632 CE. Within the next few hundred years, the area under the banner of Islam stretched from North Africa into Asia and parts of Europe. As the Islamic realm grew, Mecca continued to attract pilgrims from all across the Muslim world and beyond, as Muslims came to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Mecca also attracted a year-round population of scholars, pious Muslims who wished to live close to the Kaaba, and local inhabitants who served the pilgrims. Due to the difficulty and expense of the Hajj, pilgrims arrived by boat at Jeddah, and came overland, or joined the annual caravans from Syria or Iraq.^{[citation needed]}

Medieval and pre-modern times[edit]

Mecca was never the capital of any of the Islamic states. Muslim rulers did contribute to its upkeep, such as during the reigns of ‘Umar (r. 634–644 CE) and ‘Uthman ibn Affan (r. 644–656 CE) when concerns of flooding caused the caliphs to bring in Christian engineers to build barrages in the low-lying quarters and construct dykes and embankments to protect the area around the Kaaba.^[64]

Muhammad’s return to Medina shifted the focus away from Mecca and later even further away when ‘Ali, the fourth caliph, took power and chose Kufa as his capital. The Umayyad Caliphate moved the capital to Damascus in Syria and the Abbasid Caliphate to Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq, which remained the center of the Islamic Empire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re-entered Islamic political history during the Second Fitna, when it was held by Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr and the Zubayrids.^{[citation needed]} The city was twice besieged by the Umayyads in 683 CE and 692 CE, and for some time thereafter, the city figured little in politics, remaining a city of devotion and scholarship governed by various other factions. In 930 CE, Mecca was attacked and sacked by Qarmatians, a millenarian Shi’a Isma’ili Muslim sect led by Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī and centered in eastern Arabia.^[79] The Black Death pandemic hit Mecca in 1349 CE.^[80]

Ibn Battuta’s description of Mecca[edit]

One of the most famous travelers to Mecca in the 14th century was a Moroccan scholar and traveler, Ibn Battuta. In his rihla (account), he provides a vast description of the city. Around the year 1327 CE or 729 AH, Ibn Battuta arrived at the holy city. Immediately, he says, it felt like a holy sanctuary, and thus he started the rites of the pilgrimage. He remained in Mecca for three years and left in 1330 CE. During his second year in the holy city, he says his caravan arrived «with a great quantity of alms for the support of those who were staying in Mecca and Medina». While in Mecca, prayers were made for (not to) the King of Iraq and also for Salaheddin al-Ayyubi, Sultan of Egypt and Syria at the Ka’bah. Battuta says the Ka’bah was large, but was destroyed and rebuilt smaller than the original and that it contained images of angels and prophets including Jesus (Isa in Islamic tradition), his mother Mary (Maryam in Islamic tradition), and many others. Battuta describes the Ka’bah as an important part of Mecca due to the fact that many people make the pilgrimage to it. Battuta describes the people of the city as being humble and kind, and also willing to give a part of everything they had to someone who had nothing. The inhabitants of Mecca and the village itself, he says, were very clean. There was also a sense of elegance to the village.^[81]

Under the Ottomans

In 1517, the then Sharif of Mecca, Barakat bin Muhammad, acknowledged the supremacy of the Ottoman Caliph but retained a great degree of local autonomy.^[82] In 1803 the city was captured by the First Saudi State,^[83] which held Mecca until 1813, destroying some of the historic tombs and domes in and around the city. The Ottomans assigned the task of bringing Mecca back under Ottoman control to their powerful Khedive (viceroy) and Wali of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. Muhammad Ali Pasha successfully returned Mecca to Ottoman control in 1813. In 1818, the Saud were defeated again but survived and founded the Second Saudi State that lasted until 1891 and led on to the present country of Saudi Arabia. In 1853, Sir Richard Francis Burton undertook the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina disguised as a Muslim. Although Burton was certainly not the first non-Muslim European to make the Hajj (Ludovico di Varthema did this in 1503),^[84] his pilgrimage remains one of the most famous and documented of modern times. Mecca was regularly hit by cholera outbreaks. Between 1830 and 1930, cholera broke out among pilgrims at Mecca 27 times.^[85]

Modern history[edit]

Hashemite Revolt and subsequent control by the Sharifate of Mecca

In World War I, the Ottoman Empire was at war with the Allies. It had successfully repulsed an attack on Istanbul in the Gallipoli campaign and on Baghdad in the Siege of Kut. The British intelligence agent T.E. Lawrence conspired with the Ottoman governor, Hussain bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca to revolt against the Ottoman Empire and it was the first city captured by his forces in the 1916 Battle of Mecca. Sharif’s revolt proved a turning point of the war on the eastern front. Hussein declared a new state, the Kingdom of Hejaz, declaring himself the Sharif of the state and Mecca his capital. News reports in November 1916 via contact in Cairo with returning Hajj pilgrims, stated that with the Ottoman Turkish authorities gone, the Hajj of 1916 was free of the previous massive extortion and monetary demands made by the Turks who were agents of the Ottoman government.^[86]

Saudi Arabian conquest and modern history

Following the 1924 Battle of Mecca, the Sharif of Mecca was overthrown by the Saud family, and Mecca was incorporated into Saudi Arabia.^[87] Under Saudi rule, much of the historic city has been demolished as a result of the Saudi government fearing these sites might become sites of association in worship besides Allah (shirk). The city has been expanded to include several towns previously considered to be separate from the holy city and now is just a few kilometers outside the main sites of the Hajj, Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat. Mecca is not served by any airport, due to concerns about the city’s safety. It is instead served by the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah (approx. 70 km away) internationally and the Ta’if Regional Airport (approx. 120 km away) for domestic flights.^{[citation needed]}

The city today is at the junction of the two most important highways in all of the Saudi Arabian highway system, Highway 40, which connects the city to Jeddah in the west and the capital, Riyadh and Dammam in the east and Highway 15, which connects it to Medina, Tabuk and onward to Jordan in the north and Abha and Jizan in the south. The Ottomans had planned to extend their railway network to the holy city, but were forced to abandon this plan due to their entry into the First World War. This plan was later carried out by the Saudi government, which connected the two holy cities of Medina and Mecca with the modern Haramain high-speed railway system which runs at 300 km/h (190 mph) and connects the two cities via Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport and King Abdullah Economic City near Rabigh within two hours.^{[citation needed]}

The haram area of Mecca, in which the entry of non-Muslims is forbidden, is much larger than that of Medina.

1979 Grand Mosque seizure

On 20 November 1979, two hundred armed dissidents led by Juhayman al-Otaibi, seized the Grand Mosque, claiming the Saudi royal family no longer represented pure Islam and that the Masjid al-Haram and the Ka’bah, must be held by those of true faith. The rebels seized tens of thousands of pilgrims as hostages and barricaded themselves in the mosque. The siege lasted two weeks, and resulted in several hundred deaths and significant damage to the shrine, especially the Safa-Marwah gallery. A multinational force was finally able to retake the mosque from the dissidents.^[88] Since then, the Grand Mosque has been expanded several times, with many other expansions being undertaken in the present day.

Destruction of Islamic heritage sites

Under Saudi rule, it has been estimated that since 1985, about 95% of Mecca’s historic buildings, most over a thousand years old, have been demolished.^[9][89] It has been reported that there are now fewer than 20 structures remaining in Mecca that date back to the time of Muhammad. Some important buildings that have been destroyed include the house of Khadijah, the wife of Muhammad, the house of Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s birthplace and the Ottoman-era Ajyad Fortress.^[90] The reason for much of the destruction of historic buildings has been for the construction of hotels, apartments, parking lots, and other infrastructure facilities for Hajj pilgrims.^[89][91]

Incidents during pilgrimage

Mecca has been the site of several incidents and failures of crowd control because of the large numbers of people who come to make the Hajj.^[92][93][94] For example, on 2 July 1990, a pilgrimage to Mecca ended in tragedy when the ventilation system failed in a crowded pedestrian tunnel and 1,426 people were either suffocated or trampled to death in a stampede.^[95] On 24 September 2015, 700 pilgrims were killed in a stampede at Mina during the stoning-the-Devil ritual at Jamarat.^[96]

Significance in Islam[edit]

Mecca holds an important place in Islam and is the holiest city in all branches of the religion. The city derives its importance from the role it plays in the Hajj and ‘Umrah.

Masjid al-Haram[edit]

The Masjid al-Haram is the site of two of the most important rites of both the Hajj and of the Umrah, the circumambulation around the Ka’bah (tawaf) and the walking between the two mounts of Safa and Marwa (sa’ee). The masjid is also the site of the Zamzam Well. According to Islamic tradition, a prayer in the masjid is equal to 100,000 prayers in any other masjid around the world.^[97]

Kaaba[edit]

There is a difference of opinion between Islamic scholars upon who first built the Ka’bah, some believe it was built by the angels while others believe it was built by Adam. Regardless, it was built several times before reaching its current state. The Ka’bah is also the common direction of prayer (qibla) for all Muslims. The surface surrounding the Ka’bah on which Muslims circumambulate it is known as the Mataf.

Hajr-e-Aswad (The Black Stone)[edit]

The Black Stone is a stone, considered by scientists to be a meteorite or of similar origin and believed by Muslims to be of divine origin. It is set in the eastern corner of the Ka’bah and it is Sunnah to touch and kiss the stone. The area around the stone is generally always crowded and guarded by policemen to ensure the pilgrims’ safety. In Islamic tradition, the stone was sent down from Jannah (Paradise) and used to build the Ka’bah. It used to be a white stone (and was whiter than milk). Because of the worldly sins of man, it slowly changed color to black over the years after it was brought down to Earth.

Maqam Ibrahim[edit]

This is the stone that Ibrahim (Abraham) stood on to build the higher parts of the Ka’bah. It contains two footprints that are comparatively larger than average modern-day human feet. The stone is raised and housed in a golden hexagonal chamber beside the Ka’bah on the Mataf plate.

Safa and Marwa[edit]

Muslims believe that in the divine revelation to Muhammad, the Quran, Allah describes the mountains of Safa and Marwah as symbols of His divinity. Walking between the two mountains seven times, 4 times from Safa to Marwah and 3 times from Marwah interchangeably, is considered a mandatory pillar (rukn) of ‘Umrah.

Hajj and ‘Umrah[edit]

The Hajj pilgrimage, also called the greater pilgrimage, attracts millions of Muslims from all over the world and almost triples Mecca’s population for one week in the twelfth and final Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah. In 2019, the Hajj attracted 2,489,406 pilgrims to the holy city.^[98] The ‘Umrah, or the lesser pilgrimage, can be done at anytime during the year. Every adult, healthy Muslim who has the financial and physical capacity to travel to Mecca must perform the Hajj at least once in a lifetime. Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage, is not obligatory, but is recommended in the Quran.^[99] In addition to the Masjid al-Haram, pilgrims also must visit the nearby towns of Mina/Muna, Muzdalifah and Mount Arafat for various rituals that are part of the Hajj.

Jabal an-Nur[edit]

This is a mountain believed by Muslims to have been the place where Muhammad spent his time away from the bustling city of Mecca in seclusion.^[100][101] The mountain is located on the eastern entrance of the city and is the highest point in the city at 642 meters (2,106 feet).

Hira’a Cave[edit]

Situated atop Jabal an-Nur, this is the place where Muslims believe Muhammad received the first revelation from Allah through the archangel Gabriel (Jibril in Islamic tradition) at the age of 40.^[100][101]

Geography[edit]

Mecca is located in the Hejaz region, a 200 km (124 mi) wide strip of mountains separating the Nafud desert from the Red Sea. The city is situated in a valley with the same name around 70 km (44 mi) east of the port city of Jeddah. Mecca is one of the lowest cities in elevation in the Hejaz region, located at an elevation of 277 m (909 ft) above sea level at 21º23′ north latitude and 39º51′ east longitude. Mecca is divided into 34 districts.

The city centers on the al-Haram area, which contains the Masjid al-Haram. The area around the mosque is the old city and contains the most famous district of Mecca, Ajyad. The main street that runs to al-Haram is the Ibrahim al-Khalil Street, named after Ibrahim. Traditional, historical homes built of local rock, two to three stories long are still present within the city’s central area, within view of modern hotels and shopping complexes. The total area of modern Mecca is over 1,200 km² (460 sq mi).^[102]

Elevation[edit]

Mecca is at an elevation of 277 m (909 ft) above sea level, and approximately 70 km (44 mi) inland from the Red Sea.^[67] It is one of the lowest in the Hejaz region. Although some mountain peaks in Mecca reach 1,000m in height.

Topography[edit]

The city center lies in a corridor between mountains, which is often called the «Hollow of Mecca». The area contains the valley of al-Taneem, the valley of Bakkah and the valley of Abqar.^[64][103] This mountainous location has defined the contemporary expansion of the city.

Sources of water[edit]

Due to Mecca’s climatic conditions water scarcity has been an issue throughout its history. In pre-modern Mecca, the city used a few chief sources of water. Among them were local wells, such as the Zamzam Well, that produced generally brackish water. Finding a sustainable water source to supply Mecca’s permanent population and the large number of annual pilgrims was an undertaking that began in the Abbasid era under the auspices of Zubayda, the wife of the caliph Harun ar-Rashid.^[c] She donated funds for the deepening of Zamzam Well and funded a massive construction project likely costing 1.75 Million gold dinars. The project encompassed the construction of an underground aqueduct from the Arabic: عين حنين, romanized: ʿAyn Ḥunayn, lit. ‘Spring of Hunayn’ and smaller water sources in the area to Mecca in addition to the construction of a waterworks on Mount Arafat called Arabic: عين زبيدة, romanized: ʿAyn Zubayda, lit. ‘Spring of Zubayda’ using a separate conduit to connect it to Mecca and the Masjid al-Haram. Over time however the system deteriorated and failed to fulfil its function. Thus in 1245 CE, 1361 CE, 1400 CE, 1474 CE, and 1510 CE different rulers invested into extensive repairs of the system. In 1525 CE due to the system’s troubles persisting however the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent began a construction project to rebuild the aqueduct in its entirety, the project took until 1571 CE to be completed. Its water quality was greatly lacking during the 19th century until a restoration and cleaning project by Osman Pasha began.^[104]

Another source which sporadically provided water was rainfall which was stored by the people in small reservoirs or cisterns. According to al-Kurdī, there had been 89 floods by 1965. In the last century, the most severe flood was that of 1942. Since then, dams have been built to ameliorate this problem.^[103]

In the modern day water treatment plants and desalination facilities have been constructed and are being constructed to provide suitable amounts of water fit for human consumption to the city.^[105][106]

Climate[edit]

Mecca features a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh), in three different plant hardiness zones: 10, 11 and 12.^[107] Like most Saudi Arabian cities, Mecca retains warm to hot temperatures even in winter, which can range from 19 °C (66 °F) at night to 30 °C (86 °F) in the afternoon. Summer temperatures are extremely hot and consistently break the 40 °C (104 °F) mark in the afternoon, dropping to 30 °C (86 °F) in the evening, but humidity remains relatively low, at 30–40%. Rain usually falls in Mecca in small amounts scattered between November and January, with heavy thunderstorms also common during the winter.

Economy[edit]

The Meccan economy has been heavily dependent on pilgrimages coming for Umrah and Hajj.^[110] Income generated through pilgrims not only powers the Meccan economy but has historically had far-reaching effects on the economy of the entire Arabian Peninsula. The income was generated in a number of ways. One method was taxing the pilgrims. Taxes were especially increased during the Great Depression, and many of these taxes existed to as late as 1972. Another way the Hajj generates income is through services to pilgrims. For example, the Saudi flag carrier, Saudia, generates 12% of its income from the pilgrimage. Fares paid by pilgrims to reach Mecca by land also generate income; as do the hotels and lodging companies that house them.^[103] The city takes in more than $100 million, while the Saudi government spends about $50 million on services for the Hajj. There are some industries and factories in the city, but Mecca no longer plays a major role in Saudi Arabia’s economy, which is mainly based on oil exports.^[111] The few industries operating in Mecca include textiles, furniture, and utensils. The majority of the economy is service-oriented.

Nevertheless, many industries have been set up in Mecca. Various types of enterprises that have existed since 1970 in the city include corrugated iron manufacturing, copper extraction, carpentry, upholstery, bakeries, farming and banking.^[103] The city has grown substantially in the 20th and 21st centuries, as the convenience and affordability of jet travel has increased the number of pilgrims participating in the Hajj. Thousands of Saudis are employed year-round to oversee the Hajj and staff the hotels and shops that cater to pilgrims; these workers in turn have increased the demand for housing and services. The city is now ringed by freeways, and contains shopping malls and skyscrapers.^[112]

Human resources[edit]

Formal education started to be developed in the late Ottoman period continuing slowly into Hashemite times. The first major attempt to improve the situation was made by a Jeddah merchant, Muhammad ʿAlī Zaynal Riḍā, who founded the Madrasat al-Falāḥ in Mecca in 1911–12 that cost £400,000.^[103] The school system in Mecca has many public and private schools for both males and females. As of 2005, there were 532 public and private schools for males and another 681 public and private schools for female students.^[113] The medium of instruction in both public and private schools is Arabic with emphasis on English as a second language, but some private schools founded by foreign entities such as International schools use the English language as the medium of instruction. Some of these are coeducational while other schools are not. For higher education, the city has only one university, Umm Al-Qura University, which was established in 1949 as a college and became a public university in 1981.

Healthcare is provided by the Saudi government free of charge to all pilgrims. There are ten main hospitals in Mecca:^[114]

• Ajyad Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى أَجْيَاد‎)
• King Faisal Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْمَلِك فَيْصَل بِحَي ٱلشّشه‎)
• King Abdulaziz Hospital (Arabic: مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْمَلِك عَبْد ٱلْعَزِيْز بِحَي ٱلـزَّاهِر‎)
• Al Noor Specialist Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلنُّوْر ٱلتَّخَصُّصِي‎)
• Hira’a Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى حِرَاء‎)
• Maternity and Children’s Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْوِلَادَة وَٱلْأَطْفَال‎)
• King Abdullah Medical City (مَدِيْنَة ٱلْمَلِك عَبْد ٱلله ٱلطِّبِيَّة‎)
• Khulais General Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى خُلَيْص ٱلْعَام‎)
• Al Kamel General Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْكَامِل ٱلْعَام‎)
• Ibn Sina Hospital (مُسْتَشْفَى ابْن سِيْنَا بِحَدَاء / بَحْرَه‎)

There are also many walk-in clinics available for both residents and pilgrims. Several temporary clinics are set up during the Hajj to tend to wounded pilgrims.

Culture[edit]

Mecca’s culture has been affected by the large number of pilgrims that arrive annually, and thus boasts a rich cultural heritage. As a result of the vast numbers of pilgrims coming to the city each year, Mecca has become by far the most diverse city in the Muslim world.^{[citation needed]}

Al Baik, a local fast-food chain, is very popular among pilgrims and locals alike. Until 2018, it was available only in Mecca, Medina and Jeddah, and traveling to Jeddah just to get a taste of the fried chicken was common.

Sports[edit]

In pre-modern Mecca, the most common sports were impromptu wrestling and foot races.^[103] Football is now the most popular sport in Mecca and the kingdom, and the city hosts some of the oldest sport clubs in Saudi Arabia such as Al Wahda FC (established in 1945). King Abdulaziz Stadium is the largest stadium in Mecca with a capacity of 38,000.^[115]

Demographics[edit]

Mecca is very densely populated. Most long-term residents live in the Old City, the area around the Great Mosque and many work to support pilgrims, known locally as the Hajj industry. ‘Iyad Madani, the Saudi Arabian Minister for Hajj, was quoted saying, «We never stop preparing for the Hajj.»^[116]

Year-round, pilgrims stream into the city to perform the rites of ‘Umrah, and during the last weeks of eleventh Islamic month, Dhu al-Qi’dah, on average 2–4 million Muslims arrive in the city to take part in the rites known as Hajj.^[117] Pilgrims are from varying ethnicities and backgrounds, mainly South and Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa. Many of these pilgrims have remained and become residents of the city. The Burmese are an older, more established community who number roughly 250,000.^[118] Adding to this, the discovery of oil in the past 50 years has brought hundreds of thousands of working immigrants.

Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca under Saudi law,^[12] and using fraudulent documents to do so may result in arrest and prosecution.^[119] The prohibition extends to Ahmadis, as they are considered non-Muslims.^[120] Nevertheless, many non-Muslims and Ahmadis have visited the city as these restrictions are loosely enforced. The first such recorded example of a non-Muslim entering the city is that of Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna in 1503.^[121] Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is said to have visited Mecca^[122] in December 1518.^[123] One of the most famous was Richard Francis Burton,^[124] who traveled as a Qadiriyya Sufi from Afghanistan in 1853.

Mecca Province is the only province where expatriates outnumber Saudis.^[125]

Architectural landmarks[edit]

Adorning the southern facade of the Masjid al-Haram, the Abraj al-Bait Complex, which towers over the Great Mosque, is a seven-building complex with the central clock tower having a length of 601 m (1,972 feet), making it the world’s fourth-tallest building. All seven buildings in the complex also form the third-largest building by floor area.

The Mecca Gate, known popularly as the Quran Gate, on the western entrance of the city, or from Jeddah. Located on Highway 40, it marks the boundary of the Haram area where non-Muslims are prohibited from entering. The gate was designed in 1979 by an Egyptian architect, Samir Elabd, for the architectural firm IDEA Center. The structure is that of a book, representing the Quran, sitting on a rehal, or bookrest.^[126]

Communications[edit]

Press and newspapers[edit]

The first press was brought to Mecca in 1885 by Osman Nuri Pasha, an Ottoman Wāli. During the Hashemite period, it was used to print the city’s official gazette, Al Qibla. The Saudi regime expanded this press into a larger operation, introducing the new Saudi official gazette of Mecca, Umm al-Qurā.^[103] Mecca also has its own paper owned by the city, Al Nadwa. However, other Saudi newspapers are also provided in Mecca such as the Saudi Gazette, Al Madinah, Okaz and Al Bilad, in addition to other international newspapers.

TV[edit]

Telecommunications in the city were emphasized early under the Saudi reign. King Abdulaziz pressed them forward as he saw them as a means of convenience and better governance. While under Hussein bin Ali, there were about 20 public telephones in the entire city; in 1936, the number jumped to 450, totaling about half the telephones in the country. During that time, telephone lines were extended to Jeddah and Ta’if, but not to the capital, Riyadh. By 1985, Mecca, like other Saudi cities, possessed modern telephone, telex, radio and television communications.^[103] Many television stations serving the city area include Saudi TV1, Saudi TV2, Saudi TV Sports, Al-Ekhbariya, Arab Radio and Television Network and various cable, satellite and other specialty television providers.

Radio[edit]

Limited radio communication was established within the Kingdom under the Hashemites. In 1929, wireless stations were set up in various towns in the region, creating a network that would become fully functional by 1932. Soon after World War II, the existing network was greatly expanded and improved. Since then, radio communication has been used extensively in directing the pilgrimage and addressing the pilgrims. This practice started in 1950, with the initiation of broadcasts on the Day of ‘Arafah (9 Dhu al-Hijjah), and increased until 1957, at which time Radio Makkah became the most powerful station in the Middle East at 50 kW. Later, power was increased 9-fold to 450 kW. Music was not immediately broadcast, but gradually folk music was introduced.^[103]

Transportation[edit]

Air[edit]

The only airport near the city is the Mecca East airport, which is not active. Mecca is primarily served by King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah for international and regional connections and Ta’if Regional Airport for regional connections. To cater the large number of Hajj pilgrims, Jeddah Airport has Hajj Terminal, specifically for use in the Hajj season, which can accommodate 47 planes simultaneously and can receive 3,800 pilgrims per hour during the Hajj season.^[127]

Roads[edit]

Mecca, similar to Medina, lies at the junction of two of the most important highways in Saudi Arabia, Highway 40, connecting it to the important port city of Jeddah in the west and the capital of Riyadh and the other major port city, Dammam, in the east. The other, Highway 15, connects Mecca to the other holy Islamic city of Medina approximately 400 km (250 mi) in the north and onward to Tabuk and Jordan. While in the south, it connects Mecca to Abha and Jizan.^[128][129] Mecca is served by four ring roads, and these are very crowded compared to the three ring roads of Medina.

Mecca also has many tunnels.^[130]

Rapid transit[edit]

Al Masha’er Al Muqaddassah Metro

The Al Masha’er Al Muqaddassah Metro is a metro line in Mecca opened on 13 November 2010.^[131] The 18.1-kilometer (11.2-mile) elevated metro transports pilgrims to the holy sites of ‘Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina in the city to reduce congestion on the road and is only operational during the Hajj season.^[132] It consists of nine stations, three in each of the aforementioned towns.

Mecca Metro

The Mecca Metro, officially known as Makkah Mass Rail Transit, is a planned four-line metro system for the city.^[133] This will be in addition to^[133] the Al Masha’er Al Muqaddassah Metro which carries pilgrims.

Rail[edit]

Intercity[edit]

In 2018, a high speed intercity rail line, part of the Haramain High Speed Rail Project, named the Haramain high-speed railway line entered operation, connecting the holy cities of Mecca and Medina together via Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport and King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh.^[134][135] The railway consists of 35 electric trains and is capable of transporting 60 million passengers annually. Each train can achieve speeds of up to 300 kmh (190 mph), traveling a total distance of 450 km (280 mi), reducing the travel time between the two cities to less than two hours.^[136][135]

See also[edit]

• Bayt al-Mawlid, the house where Muhammad is believed to have been born
• Mecca Province
• Masjid al-Haram
• Sharifate of Mecca

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• What life was like in the lands of the prophet: Islamic world, AD 570–1405. Time-Life Books. 1999. ISBN 978-0-7835-5465-5.
• Lapidus, Ira M. (1988). A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-22552-6.

Further reading[edit]

• Bianca, Stefano (2000), «Case Study 1: The Holy Cities of Islam – The Impact of Mass Transportation and Rapid Urban Change», Urban Form in the Arab World, Zurich: ETH Zurich, ISBN 978-3-7281-1972-8, 0500282056
• Bosworth, C. Edmund, ed. (2007). «Mecca». Historic Cities of the Islamic World. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill.
• Dumper, Michael R. T.; Stanley, Bruce E., eds. (2008), «Makkah», Cities of the Middle East and North Africa, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO
• Rosenthal, Franz; Ibn Khaldun (1967). The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-09797-8.
• Watt, W. Montgomery. «Makka – The pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods.» Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 6 June 2008
• Winder, R.B. «Makka – The Modern City.» Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 2008
• «Quraysh». Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (online). 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2007.

Online[edit]

• Mecca Saudi Arabia, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by John Bagot Glubb, Assʿad Sulaiman Abdo, Swati Chopra, Darshana Das, Michael Levy, Gloria Lotha, Michael Ray, Surabhi Sinha, Noah Tesch, Amy Tikkanen, Grace Young and Adam Zeidan

External links[edit]

• Holy Makkah Municipality
• Saudi Information Resource – Holy Makkah
• Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Makkahh, by Richard Burton

For other uses, see Mecca (disambiguation).

Makkah مكّة المكرمة
City of Makkah Makkah Al Mukarrammah
Masjid al-Haram, the center of Mecca, and the source of its prominence
Nickname(s): Umm Al Qura (Mother of Villages)
Makkah Location of Makkah
Coordinates: 21°25′0″N 39°49′0″E / 21.416667°N 39.816667°ECoordinates: 21°25′0″N 39°49′0″E / 21.416667°N 39.816667°E
Country	Saudi Arabia
Province	Mecca Province
Construction of Kaaba	+2000 BC
Established	Ibrahim
Joined Saudi Arabia	1924
Government
— Mayor	Osama Al-Bar
— Provincial Governor	Khalid al Faisal
Area Mecca Municipality
— Urban	850 km2 (328.2 sq mi)
— Metro	1,200 km2 (463.3 sq mi)
Population (2007)
— City	1,700,000
— Density	4,200/km2 (2,625/sq mi)
— Urban	2,053,912
— Metro	2,500,000
	Mecca Municipality estimate
Time zone	AST (UTC+3)
— Summer (DST)	AST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	(5 digits)
Area code(s)	+966-2
Website	Mecca Municipality

This article contains Arabic text, written from right to left in a cursive style with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined Arabic letters written left-to-right instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Arabic script.

Mecca (pronounced /ˈmɛkə/), also spelled Makkah (English: /ˈmækə/; Arabic: مكة‎ Makka and in full: Arabic: مكّة المكرمة‎ transliterated Makkah al-Mukarramah [mækːæt ælmukarːamæ]) is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion, closely followed by Medina. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and while being closed to non-Muslims, is nonetheless ethnically diverse.^[1][2][3]

Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael’s descendants. In the 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad proclaimed Islam in the city which was by then an important trading center. After 966, Mecca was led by local sharifs until 1924 when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and it came under the rule of the Saudis.^[4] In its modern period, Mecca has seen tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure.

The modern day city is the capital of Saudi Arabia’s Mecca Province, in the historic Hejaz region. With a population of 1.7 million (2008), the city is located 73 km (45 mi) inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m (910 ft) above sea level.

Etymology and usage

Mecca is the original English transliteration of the Arabic and is still most commonly used in English dictionaries,^[5] by international organisations in their English language literature^[6] and in academic writing.^[7][8]

Government

Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor (called an Amir) appointed by the Saudi Government. The current mayor of the city is Osama Al-Barr.

Mecca is the capital of Makkah Province, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was Prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdul Aziz from 2000 until his death in 2007.^[9] On May 16, 2007, Prince Khalid al Faisal was appointed as the new governor.^[10]

History

Early history

According to Islamic tradition, the history of Mecca goes back to Abraham who built the Kaaba with the help of his eldest son Ishmael in around 2000 BCE when the inhabitants of what was then known as Bakkah had fallen away from the original monotheism of Abraham through the influence of the Amelkites.^[11] Over time, the Kaaba had become a repository for the idols and tribal deities of Arabia’s pagan tribes. Mecca’s most important pagan deity was Hubal, which had been placed there by the ruling Quraysh tribe^[12][13] and remained until the 7th century AD.

Ptolemy may have called the city «Macoraba», though this identification is controversial.^[14] In the 5th century, the Quraysh took control of Mecca, and became skilled merchants and traders. In the 6th century they joined the lucrative spice trade as well, since battles in other parts of the world were causing trade routes to divert from the dangerous sea routes to the more secure overland routes. The Byzantine Empire had previously controlled the Red Sea, but piracy had been on the increase. Another previous route, that from the Persian Gulf via the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was also being threatened by exploitation from the Sassanid Empire, as well as being disrupted by the Lakhmids, the Ghassanids, and the Roman–Persian Wars. Mecca’s prominence as a trading center surpassed the cities of Petra and Palmyra.^[15][16]

By the middle of the 6th century, there were three major settlements in northern Arabia, all along the south-western coast that borders the Red Sea, in a habitable region between the sea and the great desert to the east. This area, known as the Hejaz, featured three settlements grown around oases, where water was available. In the center of the Hijaz was Yathrib, later renamed Madinah, from «Madinatun Nabi,» or «City of the Prophet.» 250 mi (400 km) South of Yathrib was the mountain city Ta’if, north-west of which lay around Mecca. Although the area around Mecca was completely barren, it was the wealthiest of the three settlements with abundant water via the renowned Zamzam Well and a position at the crossroads of major caravan routes.^[17]

The harsh conditions and terrain of the Arabian peninsula meant a near-constant state of conflict between the local tribes, but once a year they would declare a truce and converge upon Mecca in an annual pilgrimage, which was originally initiated by Abraham as an act of worship of the One God but his descendents abandoned Abrahams faith over time and descended back to paganism. Up to the 7th century, this journey was intended for religious reasons by the pagan Arabs to pay homage to their shrine, and to drink from the Zamzam Well. However, it was also the time each year that disputes would be arbitrated, debts would be resolved, and trading would occur at Makkan fairs. These annual events gave the tribes a sense of common identity and made Mecca an important focus for the peninsula.^[18]

Camel caravans, said to have first been used by Muhammad’s great-grandfather, were a major part of Mecca’s bustling economy. Alliances were struck between the merchants in Mecca and the local nomadic tribes, who would bring goods — leather, livestock, and metals mined in the local mountains — to Mecca to be loaded on the caravans and carried to cities in Syria and Iraq.^[19] Historical accounts also provide some some indication that goods from other continents may also have flowed through Mecca. Supposedly goods from Africa and the Far East passed through on route to Syria including spices, leather, medicine, cloth, and slaves; in return Mecca received money, weapons, cereals and wine, which in turn were distributed throughout Arabia. The Makkans signed treaties with both the Byzantines and the Bedouins, and negotiated safe passages for caravans, giving them water and pasture rights. Mecca became the center of a loose confederation of client tribes, including the tribes of the Banu Tamim. Other regional powers such as the Abyssinian, Ghassan, and Lakhm were in decline leaving Makkan trade to be the primary binding force in Arabia in the late 6th century.^[18]

Muhammad

Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570, and thus Islam has been inextricably linked with the city ever since. Muhammad was born in a minor faction, the Hashemites, of the ruling Quraysh tribe. It was in Mecca, in the nearby mountain cave of Hira, that he is said to have begun receiving divine revelations from God through the Angel Gabriel in 610 AD, and began to preach monotheism against Meccan animism. After enduring intense persecution from the pagan tribes for 13 years, Muhammad emigrated (see Hijra) in 622 with his companions to Yathrib (later called Madinah). The conflict between the Quraysh and the Muslims, however, continued: the two fought in the Battle of Badr, where the Muslims defeated the heavily armed Quraysh army outside Madinah; while the Makkans narrowly overcame the Muslims at the Battle of Uhud. Overall, however, Makkan efforts to annihilate Islam proved to be very costly and ultimately unsuccessful. During the Battle of the Trench in 627, the combined armies of Arabia were unable to defeat Muhammad’s forces.^[20]

In 628, Muhammad and his followers peacefully marched to Mecca, attempting to enter the city for pilgrimage. Instead, however, they were blocked by the Quraysh, after which both Muslims and Makkans entered into the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, whereby the Quraysh promised to cease fighting Muslims and promised that Muslims would be allowed into the city to perform the pilgrimage the following year. Two years later, however, the Quraysh violated the truce by slaughtering a group of Muslims and their allies. Muhammad and his companions, now 10,000 strong, decided to march into Mecca. However, instead of continuing their fight, the city of Mecca surrendered to Muhammad and his followers, who, rather than seeking revenge for years of severe persecution, declared amnesty for the inhabitants. The ancient pagan deities and artwork, including those that had been placed in the Kaabah, were destroyed by Muhammad and his followers and rededicated to the worship of the One God, the God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Muhammad declared Mecca as the holiest site in Islam ordaining it as the center of Muslim pilgrimage, one of the faith’s Five Pillars. Muhammad declared that no non-Muslim would ever be allowed in the city again. Muhammad returned to Madinah, after assigning Akib ibn Usaid as governor of the city. Muhammad’s other activities in Arabia led to the unification of the peninsula, putting an end to the petty tribal wars that had disrupted life in the city for so long.^[15][20]

Muhammad died in 632, but with the sense of unity that he had passed on to his Ummah (Islamic nation), Islam began a rapid expansion, and within the next few hundred years stretched from North Africa well into Asia and parts of Europe. As the Islamic Empire grew, Mecca continued to attract pilgrims not just from Arabia, but now from all across the Muslim world and beyond, as Muslims came to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Mecca also attracted a year-round population of scholars, pious Muslims who wished to live close to the Kaaba, and local inhabitants who served the pilgrims. Due to the difficulty and expense of the Hajj, pilgrims arrived by boat at Jeddah, and came overland, or joined the annual caravans from Syria or Iraq.

Medieval and pre-modern times

Mecca was never capital of any of the Islamic states but Muslim rulers did contribute to its upkeep. During the reigns of Uthman Ibn Affan (c. 579-656) and Umar (c. 586-590-644 CE) concerns of flooding caused the caliphs to bring in Christian engineers to build barrages in the low-lying quarters and construct dykes and embankments to protect the area round the Kaaba.^[15]

Muhammad’s migration to Medina shifted the focus away from Mecca, this focus moved still more when the Umayyad Caliphate took power choosing Damascus in Syria as their capital. The Abbasid Caliphate moved the capital to Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq, which remained the center of the Islamic Empire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re-entered Islamic political history briefly when it was held by Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr, an early Muslim who opposed the Umayyad caliphs and again when the caliph Yazid I besieged Mecca in 683.^[21] For some time thereafter the city figured little in politics remaining a city of devotion and scholarship governed by the Hashemite Sharifs.

In 930, Mecca was attacked and sacked by Qarmatians, a millenarian Ismaili Muslim sect led by Abu Tahir Al-Jannabi and centered in eastern Arabia.^[22] The Black Death pandemic hit Mecca in 1349.^[23]

In 1517, the Sharif, Barakat bin Muhammed, acknowledged the supremacy of the Ottoman Caliph but retained a great degree of local autonomy.^[24]

In 1803 the city was captured by the First Saudi State, which held Mecca until 1813. This was a massive blow to the prestige of the (Turkish) Ottoman Empire, which had exercised sovereignty over the holy city since 1517. The Ottomans assigned the task of bringing Mecca back under Ottoman control to their powerful viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. Muhammad Ali Pasha successfully returned Mecca to Ottoman control in 1813.

In 1818, followers of the Salafi juristic school were again defeated, but some of the Al Saud clan survived and founded the Second Saudi State that lasted until 1891 and lead on to the present country of Saudi Arabia.

Mecca was regularly afflicted with cholera epidemics.^[25] 27 epidemics were recorded during pilgrimages from the 1831 to 1930. More than 20,000 pilgrims died of cholera during the 1907–08 hajj.^[26]

Saudi Arabia

In June 1916, During the Arab Revolt, the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali revolted against the Ottoman Empire from Mecca and it was the first city captured by his forces following Battle of Mecca (1916). Sharif Hussein declared a new state, Kingdom of Hejaz, and declared Mecca as the capital of the new kingdom. Following the Battle of Mecca (1924), the Sharif of Mecca was overthrown by the Saud family, and Mecca was incorporated into Saudi Arabia.^[4]

On November 20, 1979 two hundred armed Islamist dissidents led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaibi seized the Grand Mosque. They claimed that the Saudi royal family no longer represented pure Islam and that the sacred mosque and the Kaaba, must be held by those of true faith. The rebels seized tens of thousands of pilgrims as hostages and barricaded themselves in the mosque. The siege lasted two weeks, and resulted in several hundred deaths and significant damage to the shrine, especially the Safa-Marwa gallery. Pakistani forces carried out the final assault, they were assisted with weapons, logistics and planning by an elite team of French commandos from The French GIGN commando unit.^[27]

On July 31, 1987, during an anti-US demonstration by pilgrims, 402 people were killed (275 Iranian Shia pilgrims, 85 Saudis [including policemen], and 45 pilgrims from other countries) and 649 wounded (303 Iranian Shia pilgrims, 145 Saudis [including policemen] and 201 pilgrims from other countries) after the Saudi police opened fire against the unarmed demonstrators.

The Hajj festivities

The main reason Muslims go to Mecca is to pray in the Holy Mosque. Often, they perform the Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage, while visiting the Holy Mosque. Once a year, the Hajj, the greater pilgrimage, takes place in Mecca and nearby sites. During the Hajj, three million people of all races worship in unison.

Islam teaches that if a person performs the Umrah or the Hajj correctly and with sincere intentions (to please God), all his/her sins are forgiven.

Every adult, healthy, sane Muslim who has the financial and physical capacity to travel to Mecca and can make arrangements for the care of his/her dependents during the trip, must perform the Hajj once in a lifetime.

In 2009, the Hajj began on Wednesday, November 25.

Geography

Mecca is at an elevation of 277 m (910 ft) above sea level, and approximately 50 mi (80 km) inland from the Red Sea.^[17] The city is situated between mountains, which has defined the contemporary expansion of the city. The city centers on the Masjid al-Haram area, whose elevation is lower than most of the city. The area around the mosque comprises the old city. The main avenues are Al-Mudda’ah and Sūq al-Layl to the north of the mosque, and As-Sūg Assaghīr to the south. As the Saudis expanded the Grand Mosque in the center of the city, where there were once hundreds of houses are now replaced with wide avenues and city squares. Traditional homes are built of local rock and are generally two to three stories. The total area of Mecca metro today stands over 1,200 km² (460 sq mi).^[28]

Central Mecca lies in a corridor between mountains, which is often called the «hollow of Mecca.» Mecca’s location was also important for trade, and it was the stop for important trade routes.^[15]

In pre-modern Mecca, the city exploited a few chief sources of water. The first were local wells, such as the Zamzam Well, that produced generally brackish water. The second source was the spring of Ayn Zubayda. The sources of this spring are the mountains of J̲abal Saʿd (Jabal Sa’d) and Jabal Kabkāb, which lie a few kilometers east of Ḏj̲abal ʿArafa (Djabal ‘Arafa) or about 20 km (12 mi) east southeast of Mecca. Water was transported from it using underground channels. A very sporadic third source was rainfall which was stored by the people in small reservoirs or cisterns. The rainfall, as scant as it is, also presents the threat of flooding and has been a danger since earliest times. According to Al-Kurdī, there had been 89 historic floods by 1965, including several in the Saudi period. In the last century the most severe one occurred in 1942. Since then, dams have been constructed to ameliorate the problem.^[29]

Climate

Unlike other Saudi Arabian cities, Mecca retains its warm temperature in winter, which can range from 17 °C (63 °F) at midnight to 25 °C (77 °F) in the afternoon. Summer temperatures are considered very hot and break the 40 °C (104 °F) mark in the afternoon dropping to 30 °C (86 °F) in the evening. Rain usually falls in Mecca in small amounts between November and January.

Weather data for Mecca
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	37.0 (99)	38.3 (101)	42.0 (108)	44.7 (112)	49.4 (121)	49.4 (121)	49.8 (122)	49.6 (121)	49.4 (121)	46.8 (116)	40.8 (105)	37.8 (100)	49.8 (122)
Average high °C (°F)	30.2 (86)	31.4 (89)	34.6 (94)	38.5 (101)	41.9 (107)	43.7 (111)	42.8 (109)	42.7 (109)	42.7 (109)	39.9 (104)	35.0 (95)	31.8 (89)	43.7 (111)
Daily mean °C (°F)	23.9 (75)	24.5 (76)	27.2 (81)	30.8 (87)	34.3 (94)	35.7 (96)	35.8 (96)	35.6 (96)	35.0 (95)	32.1 (90)	28.3 (83)	25.5 (78)	30.7 (87)
Average low °C (°F)	18.6 (65)	18.9 (66)	21.0 (70)	24.3 (76)	27.5 (82)	28.3 (83)	29.0 (84)	29.3 (85)	28.8 (84)	25.8 (78)	22.9 (73)	20.2 (68)	18.9 (66)
Record low °C (°F)	11.0 (52)	10.0 (50)	13.0 (55)	15.6 (60)	20.3 (69)	22.0 (72)	23.4 (74)	23.4 (74)	22.0 (72)	18.0 (64)	16.4 (62)	12.4 (54)	10.0 (50)
Rainfall mm (inches)	20.6 (0.81)	1.4 (0.06)	6.2 (0.24)	11.6 (0.46)	0.6 (0.02)	0.0 (0)	1.5 (0.06)	5.6 (0.22)	5.3 (0.21)	14.2 (0.56)	21.7 (0.85)	21.4 (0.84)	110.1 (4.33)
% Humidity	58	54	48	43	36	33	34	39	45	50	58	59	46
Avg. precipitation days	4.1	0.9	2.0	1.9	0.7	0.0	0.2	1.6	2.3	1.9	3.9	3.6	1.9
Source: [30]

Landmarks

Mecca houses the Masjid al-Haram, the largest mosque in the world. The mosque surrounds the Kaaba, which Muslims turn towards while offering daily prayer. This mosque is also commonly known as the Haram or Grand Mosque.^[31]

Expansion of the city is ongoing and includes the construction of 577 m (1,890 ft) tall Abraj Al Bait Towers across the street from the Grand Mosque.^[32] The towers are set to be completed in 2010 when they will be one of the world’s tallest buildings.

The Zamzam Well is another notable landmark mentioned elsewhere in this article.

Past landmarks

The Qishla of Mecca was an Ottoman castle facing the Grand Mosque and defending the city from attack. However, the Saudi government removed the structure to give space for hotels and business buildings near to the Grand Mosque.^[33]

Economy

File:Abraj Al.jpg

The Meccan economy has been heavily dependent on the annual pilgrimage. As one academic put it, «[Meccans] have no means of earning a living but by serving the hajjis.» Economy generated from the Hajj, in fact, not only powers the Meccan economy but has historically had far reaching effects on the economy of the entire Hijaz and Najd regions. The income was generated in a number of ways. One method was taxing the pilgrims. Taxes especially increased during the Great Depression, and many of these taxes existed as late as 1972. Another way the Hajj generates income is through services to pilgrims. For example, the Saudi national airline, Saudi Arabian Airlines, generates 12% of its income from the pilgrimage. Fares paid by pilgrims to reach Mecca by land also generate income; as do the hotels and lodging companies that house them.^[29]

The city takes in more than $100 million, while the Saudi government spends about $50 million on services for the Hajj. There are some industries and factories in the city, but Mecca no longer plays a major role in Saudi Arabia’s economy, which is mainly based on oil exports.^[34] The few industries operating in Mecca include textiles, furniture, and utensils. The majority of the economy is service oriented. Water is scarce and food must be imported via Shu’eyba water plant and Jeddah.^{[clarification needed]}

Nevertheless, many industries have been set up in Mecca. Various types of enterprises that have existed since 1970: corrugated iron manufacturing, copper smithies, carpentry shops, upholstering establishments, vegetable oil extraction plants, sweets manufacturies, flour mills, bakeries, poultry farms, frozen food importing, photography processing, secretarial establishments, ice factories, bottling plants for soft drinks, barber shops, book shops, travel agencies and banks.^[29]

The city has grown substantially in the 20th and 21st centuries, as the convenience and affordability of jet travel has increased the number of pilgrims participating in the Hajj. Thousands of Saudis are employed year-round to oversee the Hajj and staff the hotels and shops that cater to pilgrims; these workers in turn have increased the demand for housing and services. The city is now ringed by freeways, and contains shopping malls and skyscrapers.^[35]

Health care

Health care is provided by the Saudi government free of charge to all pilgrims. There are five major hospitals in Mecca:

• Ajyad Hospital (Arabic: مستشفى أجياد)
• King Abdul Aziz Hospital ( Arabic: مستشفى الملك عبدالعزيز)
• Al Noor Hospital ( Arabic: مستشفى النور )
• Sheesha Hospital ( Arabic: مستشفى الششة )
• Hira Hospital. ( Arabic: مستشفى حراء )

There are also many walk-in clinics available for both residents and pilgrims.

Culture

Mecca’s culture has been affected by the large number of pilgrims that arrive annually, and thus boasts a rich cultural heritage.

The first press was brought to Mecca in 1885 by Osman Nuri Paşa, an Ottoman Wali. During the Hashemite period, it was used to print the city’s official gazette, al-Qibla. The Saudi regime expanded this press into a larger operation, introducing the new Saudi official gazette Umm al-Qurā. Henceforth presses and printing techniques were introduced in the city from around the Middle East, mostly via Jeddah.^[29]

Jeddah is served by one major Arabic-language newspaper, Shams. However, other Saudi and international newspapers are also provided in Mecca such as the Saudi Gazette, Medina, Okaz and Al-Bilad. The first three are Mecca’s (and other Saudi cities’) primary newspapers focusing mainly on issues that affect the city, with over a million readers.

Many television stations serving the city area include Saudi TV1, Saudi TV2, Saudi TV Sports, Al-Ekhbariya, Arab Radio and Television Network and hundreds of cable, satellite and other speciality television providers.

In pre-modern Mecca the most common sports were impromptu wrestling and foot races.^[29] Football is the most popular sport in Mecca, the city hosting some of the oldest sport clubs in Saudi Arabia such as, Al-Wahda FC (established in 1945). King Abdulaziz Stadium is the largest stadium in Mecca with capacity of 33,500.

Entry to Mecca for Non-Muslims

Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca under Saudi law.^[1][36]

The Saudi government supports their position using Sura 9:28 from the Qur’an:

“O you who believe! The Mushrikeen (idolaters) are (spiritually) unclean, so they shall not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year; and if you fear poverty then Allah will enrich you out of His grace if He please; surely Allah is Knowing Wise.”^{[Qur’an 9:28]}

The existence of cities closed to non-Muslims and the mystery of the Hajjis have often aroused intense curiosity in people from around the world. Some have falsely claimed to be Muslims in order to visit the city of Mecca and the Grand Mosque to experience the Hajj for themselves. The first to leave a record was Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna in 1503.^[37] The most famous account of a foreigner’s journey to Mecca is A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, written by Sir Richard Francis Burton.^[38] Burton traveled as a Qadiriyyah Sufi from Afghanistan; his name, as he signed it in Arabic below his frontispiece portrait for The Jew The Gypsy and El Islam, was al-Hajj ‘Abdullah. Individuals who use fake certificates of Muslim identity to enter may be arrested and prosecuted by Saudi authorities.^[39]

Cuisine

The mixture of different ethnicities and nationalities amongst Meccan residents has significantly impacted Mecca’s traditional cuisine and North American chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza and KFC are popular.

As in other Saudi cities Kabsa (a spiced dish of rice and meat) is the most traditional lunch but the Yemeni mandi (a dish of rice and tandoori cooked meat) is also popular.

Grilled meat dishes such as shawarma (flat-bread meat sandwich), kofta (meatballs) and kebab are widely sold in Mecca. During ramadan fava beans in olive oil and samosas are the most popular dishes and are eaten at dusk. These dishes are almost always found in Lebanese, Syrian, and Turkish restaurants.

Traditionally during the month of Ramadan, men (known as Saggas) provided mineral water and fruit juice for Muslims breaking their fast at dusk. Today, Saggas make money providing sweets such as baklava and basbosa along with fruit juice drinks.

Language

Main article: Hejazi Arabic

Demographics

Population density in Mecca is very high. Most long-term residents of Mecca live in the Old City, and many work in the industry known locally as the Hajj Industry. As Iyad Madani, Saudi Arabia’s minister for Hajj was quoted as saying, «We never stop preparing for the Hajj.»^[40] Year-round, pilgrims stream into the city to perform the rites of Umrah, and during the last weeks of Dhu al-Hijjah, on average 4 million Muslims arrive in the city to take part in the rites known as Hajj.^[41]

Pilgrims are from varying ethnicities and backgrounds, mainly from Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Many of these pilgrims have remained and become residents of the city. As a result, Mecca is much more ethnically diverse than most Saudi cities and its culture is more eclectic in nature. Adding to the Hajj-related diversity, the oil-boom of the past 50 years has brought hundreds of thousands of working immigrants.

Education

See also: List of universities and colleges in Saudi Arabia

Formal education started to be developed in late Ottoman period continuing slowly into and Hashimite times. The first major attempt to improve the situation was made by a Jeddah merchant, Muhammad ʿAlī Zaynal Riḍā, who founded the Madrasat al-Falāḥ in Mecca in 1911-12 that cost £400,000.^[29]

The school system in Mecca has many public and private schools for both males and females. As of 2005, there were 532 public and private schools for males and another 681 public and private schools for female students.^[42] The medium of instruction in both public and private schools is Arabic with emphasis on English as a second language, but some private schools founded by foreign entities such as International schools use the English language for medium of instruction. They also allow the mixing between males and females while other schools do not.

For higher education, the city has only one university, Umm Al-Qura University, which was established in 1949 as a college and became a public university in 1979.

Communications

Telecommunications in the city were emphasized early under the Saudi reign. King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (Ibn Saud) pressed them forward as he saw them as a means of convenience and better governance. While in King Husayn’s^{[clarification needed]} time there were about 20 telephones in the entire city; in 1936 the number jumped to 450, totalling about half the telephones in the country. During that time telephone lines were extended to Jeddah and Ta’if, but not to the capital Riyadh. By 1985, Mecca, like other Saudi cities, possessed the most modern telephone, telex, radio and TV communications.^[29]

Limited radio communication was established within the Hejaz region under the Hashimites. In 1929, wireless stations were set up in various towns of the region, creating a network that would become fully functional by 1932. Soon after World War II, the existing network was greatly expanded and improved. Since then, radio communication has been used extensively in directing the pilgrimage and addressing the pilgrims. This practice started in 1950, with the initiation of broadcasts the Day of Arafat, and increased until 1957, at which time Radio Makka became the most powerful station in the Middle East at 50 kW. Later, power was increased to 450 kW. Music was not immediately broadcast, but gradually introduced.^[29]

Transportation

Transportation facilities related to the Hajj or Umrah are the main services available. Mecca has only the small Mecca East Airport with no airline service, so most pilgrims access the city through the Hajj terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport or the Jeddah Seaport, both of which are in Jeddah.

The city lacks any public transportation options for residents and visitors alike, both during and outside of the pilgrimage season. The main transportation options available for travel within and around the city are either personal vehicles or private taxis.

A 20 km (12 mi) metro system is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2011.^[43] A total of 5 metro lines are planned to carry pilgrims to the religious sites.^[43]

Notes

References

• the editors of Time-Life Books. (1999). What life was like in the lands of the prophet: Islamic world, AD 570 — 1405. Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-7835-5465-6.
• «Quraysh». Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (online). 2007. http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9062323/Quraysh. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
• Lapidus, Ira M. (1988). A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 22552 5.
• Hawting, G. R. (1980). «The Disappearance and Rediscovery of Zamzam and the ‘Well of the Ka’ba'». Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 43 (1): 44–54. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0041-977X(1980)43%3A1%3C44%3ATDAROZ%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3.

Arc. «Mecca.» Trifter.com. 18 Feb. 2009. <http://www.trifter.com/Asia-&-Pacific/Saudi-Arabia/Mecca.538297>.

Encyclopedia

• Watt, W. Montgomery. «Makka — The pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods.» Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 6 June 2008
• Winder, R.B. «Makka — The Modern City.» Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 6 June 2008

Further reading

• Rosenthal, Franz; Ibn Khaldun (1967). The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09797-6.
• Crone, Patricia (1987). Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Princeton University Press.
• Burton, Richard Francis (Text file). Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 1. 2. 1 (Memorial Edition ed.). Tylston and Edwards. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4657. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
• Burton, Richard Francis (Text file). Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 2. 2. 2 (Memorial Edition ed.). Tylston and Edwards. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4658. Retrieved 2008-10-22.

External links

• Mecca travel guide from Wikitravel
• Kabbah in 3D using Photosynth
• Umm Al Qura University in Mecca
• High Resolution Images of Mecca by Daawah.com
• Holy Mecca Municipality Official website (in Arabic)
• Saudi Information Resource — Holy Mecca
• Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Meccah, by Richard Burton

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For other uses, see Mecca (disambiguation).

Makkah مكّة المكرمة
City of Makkah Makkah Al Mukarrammah
Masjid al-Haram, the center of Mecca, and the source of its prominence
Nickname(s): Umm Al Qura (Mother of Villages)
Makkah Location of Makkah
Coordinates: 21°25′0″N 39°49′0″E / 21.416667°N 39.816667°ECoordinates: 21°25′0″N 39°49′0″E / 21.416667°N 39.816667°E
Country	Saudi Arabia
Province	Mecca Province
Construction of Kaaba	+2000 BC
Established	Ibrahim
Joined Saudi Arabia	1924
Government
— Mayor	Osama Al-Bar
— Provincial Governor	Khalid al Faisal
Area Mecca Municipality
— Urban	850 km2 (328.2 sq mi)
— Metro	1,200 km2 (463.3 sq mi)
Population (2007)
— City	1,700,000
— Density	4,200/km2 (2,625/sq mi)
— Urban	2,053,912
— Metro	2,500,000
	Mecca Municipality estimate
Time zone	AST (UTC+3)
— Summer (DST)	AST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	(5 digits)
Area code(s)	+966-2
Website	Mecca Municipality

This article contains Arabic text, written from right to left in a cursive style with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined Arabic letters written left-to-right instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Arabic script.

Mecca (pronounced /ˈmɛkə/), also spelled Makkah (English: /ˈmækə/; Arabic: مكة‎ Makka and in full: Arabic: مكّة المكرمة‎ transliterated Makkah al-Mukarramah [mækːæt ælmukarːamæ]) is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion, closely followed by Medina. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and while being closed to non-Muslims, is nonetheless ethnically diverse.^[1][2][3]

Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael’s descendants. In the 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad proclaimed Islam in the city which was by then an important trading center. After 966, Mecca was led by local sharifs until 1924 when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and it came under the rule of the Saudis.^[4] In its modern period, Mecca has seen tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure.

The modern day city is the capital of Saudi Arabia’s Mecca Province, in the historic Hejaz region. With a population of 1.7 million (2008), the city is located 73 km (45 mi) inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m (910 ft) above sea level.

Etymology and usage

Mecca is the original English transliteration of the Arabic and is still most commonly used in English dictionaries,^[5] by international organisations in their English language literature^[6] and in academic writing.^[7][8]

Government

Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor (called an Amir) appointed by the Saudi Government. The current mayor of the city is Osama Al-Barr.

Mecca is the capital of Makkah Province, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was Prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdul Aziz from 2000 until his death in 2007.^[9] On May 16, 2007, Prince Khalid al Faisal was appointed as the new governor.^[10]

History

Early history

According to Islamic tradition, the history of Mecca goes back to Abraham who built the Kaaba with the help of his eldest son Ishmael in around 2000 BCE when the inhabitants of what was then known as Bakkah had fallen away from the original monotheism of Abraham through the influence of the Amelkites.^[11] Over time, the Kaaba had become a repository for the idols and tribal deities of Arabia’s pagan tribes. Mecca’s most important pagan deity was Hubal, which had been placed there by the ruling Quraysh tribe^[12][13] and remained until the 7th century AD.

Ptolemy may have called the city «Macoraba», though this identification is controversial.^[14] In the 5th century, the Quraysh took control of Mecca, and became skilled merchants and traders. In the 6th century they joined the lucrative spice trade as well, since battles in other parts of the world were causing trade routes to divert from the dangerous sea routes to the more secure overland routes. The Byzantine Empire had previously controlled the Red Sea, but piracy had been on the increase. Another previous route, that from the Persian Gulf via the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was also being threatened by exploitation from the Sassanid Empire, as well as being disrupted by the Lakhmids, the Ghassanids, and the Roman–Persian Wars. Mecca’s prominence as a trading center surpassed the cities of Petra and Palmyra.^[15][16]

By the middle of the 6th century, there were three major settlements in northern Arabia, all along the south-western coast that borders the Red Sea, in a habitable region between the sea and the great desert to the east. This area, known as the Hejaz, featured three settlements grown around oases, where water was available. In the center of the Hijaz was Yathrib, later renamed Madinah, from «Madinatun Nabi,» or «City of the Prophet.» 250 mi (400 km) South of Yathrib was the mountain city Ta’if, north-west of which lay around Mecca. Although the area around Mecca was completely barren, it was the wealthiest of the three settlements with abundant water via the renowned Zamzam Well and a position at the crossroads of major caravan routes.^[17]

The harsh conditions and terrain of the Arabian peninsula meant a near-constant state of conflict between the local tribes, but once a year they would declare a truce and converge upon Mecca in an annual pilgrimage, which was originally initiated by Abraham as an act of worship of the One God but his descendents abandoned Abrahams faith over time and descended back to paganism. Up to the 7th century, this journey was intended for religious reasons by the pagan Arabs to pay homage to their shrine, and to drink from the Zamzam Well. However, it was also the time each year that disputes would be arbitrated, debts would be resolved, and trading would occur at Makkan fairs. These annual events gave the tribes a sense of common identity and made Mecca an important focus for the peninsula.^[18]

Camel caravans, said to have first been used by Muhammad’s great-grandfather, were a major part of Mecca’s bustling economy. Alliances were struck between the merchants in Mecca and the local nomadic tribes, who would bring goods — leather, livestock, and metals mined in the local mountains — to Mecca to be loaded on the caravans and carried to cities in Syria and Iraq.^[19] Historical accounts also provide some some indication that goods from other continents may also have flowed through Mecca. Supposedly goods from Africa and the Far East passed through on route to Syria including spices, leather, medicine, cloth, and slaves; in return Mecca received money, weapons, cereals and wine, which in turn were distributed throughout Arabia. The Makkans signed treaties with both the Byzantines and the Bedouins, and negotiated safe passages for caravans, giving them water and pasture rights. Mecca became the center of a loose confederation of client tribes, including the tribes of the Banu Tamim. Other regional powers such as the Abyssinian, Ghassan, and Lakhm were in decline leaving Makkan trade to be the primary binding force in Arabia in the late 6th century.^[18]

Muhammad

Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570, and thus Islam has been inextricably linked with the city ever since. Muhammad was born in a minor faction, the Hashemites, of the ruling Quraysh tribe. It was in Mecca, in the nearby mountain cave of Hira, that he is said to have begun receiving divine revelations from God through the Angel Gabriel in 610 AD, and began to preach monotheism against Meccan animism. After enduring intense persecution from the pagan tribes for 13 years, Muhammad emigrated (see Hijra) in 622 with his companions to Yathrib (later called Madinah). The conflict between the Quraysh and the Muslims, however, continued: the two fought in the Battle of Badr, where the Muslims defeated the heavily armed Quraysh army outside Madinah; while the Makkans narrowly overcame the Muslims at the Battle of Uhud. Overall, however, Makkan efforts to annihilate Islam proved to be very costly and ultimately unsuccessful. During the Battle of the Trench in 627, the combined armies of Arabia were unable to defeat Muhammad’s forces.^[20]

In 628, Muhammad and his followers peacefully marched to Mecca, attempting to enter the city for pilgrimage. Instead, however, they were blocked by the Quraysh, after which both Muslims and Makkans entered into the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, whereby the Quraysh promised to cease fighting Muslims and promised that Muslims would be allowed into the city to perform the pilgrimage the following year. Two years later, however, the Quraysh violated the truce by slaughtering a group of Muslims and their allies. Muhammad and his companions, now 10,000 strong, decided to march into Mecca. However, instead of continuing their fight, the city of Mecca surrendered to Muhammad and his followers, who, rather than seeking revenge for years of severe persecution, declared amnesty for the inhabitants. The ancient pagan deities and artwork, including those that had been placed in the Kaabah, were destroyed by Muhammad and his followers and rededicated to the worship of the One God, the God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Muhammad declared Mecca as the holiest site in Islam ordaining it as the center of Muslim pilgrimage, one of the faith’s Five Pillars. Muhammad declared that no non-Muslim would ever be allowed in the city again. Muhammad returned to Madinah, after assigning Akib ibn Usaid as governor of the city. Muhammad’s other activities in Arabia led to the unification of the peninsula, putting an end to the petty tribal wars that had disrupted life in the city for so long.^[15][20]

Muhammad died in 632, but with the sense of unity that he had passed on to his Ummah (Islamic nation), Islam began a rapid expansion, and within the next few hundred years stretched from North Africa well into Asia and parts of Europe. As the Islamic Empire grew, Mecca continued to attract pilgrims not just from Arabia, but now from all across the Muslim world and beyond, as Muslims came to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Mecca also attracted a year-round population of scholars, pious Muslims who wished to live close to the Kaaba, and local inhabitants who served the pilgrims. Due to the difficulty and expense of the Hajj, pilgrims arrived by boat at Jeddah, and came overland, or joined the annual caravans from Syria or Iraq.

Medieval and pre-modern times

Mecca was never capital of any of the Islamic states but Muslim rulers did contribute to its upkeep. During the reigns of Uthman Ibn Affan (c. 579-656) and Umar (c. 586-590-644 CE) concerns of flooding caused the caliphs to bring in Christian engineers to build barrages in the low-lying quarters and construct dykes and embankments to protect the area round the Kaaba.^[15]

Muhammad’s migration to Medina shifted the focus away from Mecca, this focus moved still more when the Umayyad Caliphate took power choosing Damascus in Syria as their capital. The Abbasid Caliphate moved the capital to Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq, which remained the center of the Islamic Empire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re-entered Islamic political history briefly when it was held by Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr, an early Muslim who opposed the Umayyad caliphs and again when the caliph Yazid I besieged Mecca in 683.^[21] For some time thereafter the city figured little in politics remaining a city of devotion and scholarship governed by the Hashemite Sharifs.

In 930, Mecca was attacked and sacked by Qarmatians, a millenarian Ismaili Muslim sect led by Abu Tahir Al-Jannabi and centered in eastern Arabia.^[22] The Black Death pandemic hit Mecca in 1349.^[23]

In 1517, the Sharif, Barakat bin Muhammed, acknowledged the supremacy of the Ottoman Caliph but retained a great degree of local autonomy.^[24]

In 1803 the city was captured by the First Saudi State, which held Mecca until 1813. This was a massive blow to the prestige of the (Turkish) Ottoman Empire, which had exercised sovereignty over the holy city since 1517. The Ottomans assigned the task of bringing Mecca back under Ottoman control to their powerful viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. Muhammad Ali Pasha successfully returned Mecca to Ottoman control in 1813.

In 1818, followers of the Salafi juristic school were again defeated, but some of the Al Saud clan survived and founded the Second Saudi State that lasted until 1891 and lead on to the present country of Saudi Arabia.

Mecca was regularly afflicted with cholera epidemics.^[25] 27 epidemics were recorded during pilgrimages from the 1831 to 1930. More than 20,000 pilgrims died of cholera during the 1907–08 hajj.^[26]

Saudi Arabia

In June 1916, During the Arab Revolt, the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali revolted against the Ottoman Empire from Mecca and it was the first city captured by his forces following Battle of Mecca (1916). Sharif Hussein declared a new state, Kingdom of Hejaz, and declared Mecca as the capital of the new kingdom. Following the Battle of Mecca (1924), the Sharif of Mecca was overthrown by the Saud family, and Mecca was incorporated into Saudi Arabia.^[4]

On November 20, 1979 two hundred armed Islamist dissidents led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaibi seized the Grand Mosque. They claimed that the Saudi royal family no longer represented pure Islam and that the sacred mosque and the Kaaba, must be held by those of true faith. The rebels seized tens of thousands of pilgrims as hostages and barricaded themselves in the mosque. The siege lasted two weeks, and resulted in several hundred deaths and significant damage to the shrine, especially the Safa-Marwa gallery. Pakistani forces carried out the final assault, they were assisted with weapons, logistics and planning by an elite team of French commandos from The French GIGN commando unit.^[27]

On July 31, 1987, during an anti-US demonstration by pilgrims, 402 people were killed (275 Iranian Shia pilgrims, 85 Saudis [including policemen], and 45 pilgrims from other countries) and 649 wounded (303 Iranian Shia pilgrims, 145 Saudis [including policemen] and 201 pilgrims from other countries) after the Saudi police opened fire against the unarmed demonstrators.

The Hajj festivities

The main reason Muslims go to Mecca is to pray in the Holy Mosque. Often, they perform the Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage, while visiting the Holy Mosque. Once a year, the Hajj, the greater pilgrimage, takes place in Mecca and nearby sites. During the Hajj, three million people of all races worship in unison.

Islam teaches that if a person performs the Umrah or the Hajj correctly and with sincere intentions (to please God), all his/her sins are forgiven.

Every adult, healthy, sane Muslim who has the financial and physical capacity to travel to Mecca and can make arrangements for the care of his/her dependents during the trip, must perform the Hajj once in a lifetime.

In 2009, the Hajj began on Wednesday, November 25.

Geography

Mecca is at an elevation of 277 m (910 ft) above sea level, and approximately 50 mi (80 km) inland from the Red Sea.^[17] The city is situated between mountains, which has defined the contemporary expansion of the city. The city centers on the Masjid al-Haram area, whose elevation is lower than most of the city. The area around the mosque comprises the old city. The main avenues are Al-Mudda’ah and Sūq al-Layl to the north of the mosque, and As-Sūg Assaghīr to the south. As the Saudis expanded the Grand Mosque in the center of the city, where there were once hundreds of houses are now replaced with wide avenues and city squares. Traditional homes are built of local rock and are generally two to three stories. The total area of Mecca metro today stands over 1,200 km² (460 sq mi).^[28]

Central Mecca lies in a corridor between mountains, which is often called the «hollow of Mecca.» Mecca’s location was also important for trade, and it was the stop for important trade routes.^[15]

In pre-modern Mecca, the city exploited a few chief sources of water. The first were local wells, such as the Zamzam Well, that produced generally brackish water. The second source was the spring of Ayn Zubayda. The sources of this spring are the mountains of J̲abal Saʿd (Jabal Sa’d) and Jabal Kabkāb, which lie a few kilometers east of Ḏj̲abal ʿArafa (Djabal ‘Arafa) or about 20 km (12 mi) east southeast of Mecca. Water was transported from it using underground channels. A very sporadic third source was rainfall which was stored by the people in small reservoirs or cisterns. The rainfall, as scant as it is, also presents the threat of flooding and has been a danger since earliest times. According to Al-Kurdī, there had been 89 historic floods by 1965, including several in the Saudi period. In the last century the most severe one occurred in 1942. Since then, dams have been constructed to ameliorate the problem.^[29]

Climate

Unlike other Saudi Arabian cities, Mecca retains its warm temperature in winter, which can range from 17 °C (63 °F) at midnight to 25 °C (77 °F) in the afternoon. Summer temperatures are considered very hot and break the 40 °C (104 °F) mark in the afternoon dropping to 30 °C (86 °F) in the evening. Rain usually falls in Mecca in small amounts between November and January.

Weather data for Mecca
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	37.0 (99)	38.3 (101)	42.0 (108)	44.7 (112)	49.4 (121)	49.4 (121)	49.8 (122)	49.6 (121)	49.4 (121)	46.8 (116)	40.8 (105)	37.8 (100)	49.8 (122)
Average high °C (°F)	30.2 (86)	31.4 (89)	34.6 (94)	38.5 (101)	41.9 (107)	43.7 (111)	42.8 (109)	42.7 (109)	42.7 (109)	39.9 (104)	35.0 (95)	31.8 (89)	43.7 (111)
Daily mean °C (°F)	23.9 (75)	24.5 (76)	27.2 (81)	30.8 (87)	34.3 (94)	35.7 (96)	35.8 (96)	35.6 (96)	35.0 (95)	32.1 (90)	28.3 (83)	25.5 (78)	30.7 (87)
Average low °C (°F)	18.6 (65)	18.9 (66)	21.0 (70)	24.3 (76)	27.5 (82)	28.3 (83)	29.0 (84)	29.3 (85)	28.8 (84)	25.8 (78)	22.9 (73)	20.2 (68)	18.9 (66)
Record low °C (°F)	11.0 (52)	10.0 (50)	13.0 (55)	15.6 (60)	20.3 (69)	22.0 (72)	23.4 (74)	23.4 (74)	22.0 (72)	18.0 (64)	16.4 (62)	12.4 (54)	10.0 (50)
Rainfall mm (inches)	20.6 (0.81)	1.4 (0.06)	6.2 (0.24)	11.6 (0.46)	0.6 (0.02)	0.0 (0)	1.5 (0.06)	5.6 (0.22)	5.3 (0.21)	14.2 (0.56)	21.7 (0.85)	21.4 (0.84)	110.1 (4.33)
% Humidity	58	54	48	43	36	33	34	39	45	50	58	59	46
Avg. precipitation days	4.1	0.9	2.0	1.9	0.7	0.0	0.2	1.6	2.3	1.9	3.9	3.6	1.9
Source: [30]

Landmarks

Mecca houses the Masjid al-Haram, the largest mosque in the world. The mosque surrounds the Kaaba, which Muslims turn towards while offering daily prayer. This mosque is also commonly known as the Haram or Grand Mosque.^[31]

Expansion of the city is ongoing and includes the construction of 577 m (1,890 ft) tall Abraj Al Bait Towers across the street from the Grand Mosque.^[32] The towers are set to be completed in 2010 when they will be one of the world’s tallest buildings.

The Zamzam Well is another notable landmark mentioned elsewhere in this article.

Past landmarks

The Qishla of Mecca was an Ottoman castle facing the Grand Mosque and defending the city from attack. However, the Saudi government removed the structure to give space for hotels and business buildings near to the Grand Mosque.^[33]

Economy

File:Abraj Al.jpg

The Meccan economy has been heavily dependent on the annual pilgrimage. As one academic put it, «[Meccans] have no means of earning a living but by serving the hajjis.» Economy generated from the Hajj, in fact, not only powers the Meccan economy but has historically had far reaching effects on the economy of the entire Hijaz and Najd regions. The income was generated in a number of ways. One method was taxing the pilgrims. Taxes especially increased during the Great Depression, and many of these taxes existed as late as 1972. Another way the Hajj generates income is through services to pilgrims. For example, the Saudi national airline, Saudi Arabian Airlines, generates 12% of its income from the pilgrimage. Fares paid by pilgrims to reach Mecca by land also generate income; as do the hotels and lodging companies that house them.^[29]

The city takes in more than $100 million, while the Saudi government spends about $50 million on services for the Hajj. There are some industries and factories in the city, but Mecca no longer plays a major role in Saudi Arabia’s economy, which is mainly based on oil exports.^[34] The few industries operating in Mecca include textiles, furniture, and utensils. The majority of the economy is service oriented. Water is scarce and food must be imported via Shu’eyba water plant and Jeddah.^{[clarification needed]}

Nevertheless, many industries have been set up in Mecca. Various types of enterprises that have existed since 1970: corrugated iron manufacturing, copper smithies, carpentry shops, upholstering establishments, vegetable oil extraction plants, sweets manufacturies, flour mills, bakeries, poultry farms, frozen food importing, photography processing, secretarial establishments, ice factories, bottling plants for soft drinks, barber shops, book shops, travel agencies and banks.^[29]

The city has grown substantially in the 20th and 21st centuries, as the convenience and affordability of jet travel has increased the number of pilgrims participating in the Hajj. Thousands of Saudis are employed year-round to oversee the Hajj and staff the hotels and shops that cater to pilgrims; these workers in turn have increased the demand for housing and services. The city is now ringed by freeways, and contains shopping malls and skyscrapers.^[35]

Health care

Health care is provided by the Saudi government free of charge to all pilgrims. There are five major hospitals in Mecca:

• Ajyad Hospital (Arabic: مستشفى أجياد)
• King Abdul Aziz Hospital ( Arabic: مستشفى الملك عبدالعزيز)
• Al Noor Hospital ( Arabic: مستشفى النور )
• Sheesha Hospital ( Arabic: مستشفى الششة )
• Hira Hospital. ( Arabic: مستشفى حراء )

There are also many walk-in clinics available for both residents and pilgrims.

Culture

Mecca’s culture has been affected by the large number of pilgrims that arrive annually, and thus boasts a rich cultural heritage.

The first press was brought to Mecca in 1885 by Osman Nuri Paşa, an Ottoman Wali. During the Hashemite period, it was used to print the city’s official gazette, al-Qibla. The Saudi regime expanded this press into a larger operation, introducing the new Saudi official gazette Umm al-Qurā. Henceforth presses and printing techniques were introduced in the city from around the Middle East, mostly via Jeddah.^[29]

Jeddah is served by one major Arabic-language newspaper, Shams. However, other Saudi and international newspapers are also provided in Mecca such as the Saudi Gazette, Medina, Okaz and Al-Bilad. The first three are Mecca’s (and other Saudi cities’) primary newspapers focusing mainly on issues that affect the city, with over a million readers.

Many television stations serving the city area include Saudi TV1, Saudi TV2, Saudi TV Sports, Al-Ekhbariya, Arab Radio and Television Network and hundreds of cable, satellite and other speciality television providers.

In pre-modern Mecca the most common sports were impromptu wrestling and foot races.^[29] Football is the most popular sport in Mecca, the city hosting some of the oldest sport clubs in Saudi Arabia such as, Al-Wahda FC (established in 1945). King Abdulaziz Stadium is the largest stadium in Mecca with capacity of 33,500.

Entry to Mecca for Non-Muslims

Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca under Saudi law.^[1][36]

The Saudi government supports their position using Sura 9:28 from the Qur’an:

“O you who believe! The Mushrikeen (idolaters) are (spiritually) unclean, so they shall not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year; and if you fear poverty then Allah will enrich you out of His grace if He please; surely Allah is Knowing Wise.”^{[Qur’an 9:28]}

The existence of cities closed to non-Muslims and the mystery of the Hajjis have often aroused intense curiosity in people from around the world. Some have falsely claimed to be Muslims in order to visit the city of Mecca and the Grand Mosque to experience the Hajj for themselves. The first to leave a record was Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna in 1503.^[37] The most famous account of a foreigner’s journey to Mecca is A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, written by Sir Richard Francis Burton.^[38] Burton traveled as a Qadiriyyah Sufi from Afghanistan; his name, as he signed it in Arabic below his frontispiece portrait for The Jew The Gypsy and El Islam, was al-Hajj ‘Abdullah. Individuals who use fake certificates of Muslim identity to enter may be arrested and prosecuted by Saudi authorities.^[39]

Cuisine

The mixture of different ethnicities and nationalities amongst Meccan residents has significantly impacted Mecca’s traditional cuisine and North American chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza and KFC are popular.

As in other Saudi cities Kabsa (a spiced dish of rice and meat) is the most traditional lunch but the Yemeni mandi (a dish of rice and tandoori cooked meat) is also popular.

Grilled meat dishes such as shawarma (flat-bread meat sandwich), kofta (meatballs) and kebab are widely sold in Mecca. During ramadan fava beans in olive oil and samosas are the most popular dishes and are eaten at dusk. These dishes are almost always found in Lebanese, Syrian, and Turkish restaurants.

Traditionally during the month of Ramadan, men (known as Saggas) provided mineral water and fruit juice for Muslims breaking their fast at dusk. Today, Saggas make money providing sweets such as baklava and basbosa along with fruit juice drinks.

Language

Main article: Hejazi Arabic

Demographics

Population density in Mecca is very high. Most long-term residents of Mecca live in the Old City, and many work in the industry known locally as the Hajj Industry. As Iyad Madani, Saudi Arabia’s minister for Hajj was quoted as saying, «We never stop preparing for the Hajj.»^[40] Year-round, pilgrims stream into the city to perform the rites of Umrah, and during the last weeks of Dhu al-Hijjah, on average 4 million Muslims arrive in the city to take part in the rites known as Hajj.^[41]

Pilgrims are from varying ethnicities and backgrounds, mainly from Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Many of these pilgrims have remained and become residents of the city. As a result, Mecca is much more ethnically diverse than most Saudi cities and its culture is more eclectic in nature. Adding to the Hajj-related diversity, the oil-boom of the past 50 years has brought hundreds of thousands of working immigrants.

Education

See also: List of universities and colleges in Saudi Arabia

Formal education started to be developed in late Ottoman period continuing slowly into and Hashimite times. The first major attempt to improve the situation was made by a Jeddah merchant, Muhammad ʿAlī Zaynal Riḍā, who founded the Madrasat al-Falāḥ in Mecca in 1911-12 that cost £400,000.^[29]

The school system in Mecca has many public and private schools for both males and females. As of 2005, there were 532 public and private schools for males and another 681 public and private schools for female students.^[42] The medium of instruction in both public and private schools is Arabic with emphasis on English as a second language, but some private schools founded by foreign entities such as International schools use the English language for medium of instruction. They also allow the mixing between males and females while other schools do not.

For higher education, the city has only one university, Umm Al-Qura University, which was established in 1949 as a college and became a public university in 1979.

Communications

Telecommunications in the city were emphasized early under the Saudi reign. King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (Ibn Saud) pressed them forward as he saw them as a means of convenience and better governance. While in King Husayn’s^{[clarification needed]} time there were about 20 telephones in the entire city; in 1936 the number jumped to 450, totalling about half the telephones in the country. During that time telephone lines were extended to Jeddah and Ta’if, but not to the capital Riyadh. By 1985, Mecca, like other Saudi cities, possessed the most modern telephone, telex, radio and TV communications.^[29]

Limited radio communication was established within the Hejaz region under the Hashimites. In 1929, wireless stations were set up in various towns of the region, creating a network that would become fully functional by 1932. Soon after World War II, the existing network was greatly expanded and improved. Since then, radio communication has been used extensively in directing the pilgrimage and addressing the pilgrims. This practice started in 1950, with the initiation of broadcasts the Day of Arafat, and increased until 1957, at which time Radio Makka became the most powerful station in the Middle East at 50 kW. Later, power was increased to 450 kW. Music was not immediately broadcast, but gradually introduced.^[29]

Transportation

Transportation facilities related to the Hajj or Umrah are the main services available. Mecca has only the small Mecca East Airport with no airline service, so most pilgrims access the city through the Hajj terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport or the Jeddah Seaport, both of which are in Jeddah.

The city lacks any public transportation options for residents and visitors alike, both during and outside of the pilgrimage season. The main transportation options available for travel within and around the city are either personal vehicles or private taxis.

A 20 km (12 mi) metro system is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2011.^[43] A total of 5 metro lines are planned to carry pilgrims to the religious sites.^[43]

Notes

References

• the editors of Time-Life Books. (1999). What life was like in the lands of the prophet: Islamic world, AD 570 — 1405. Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-7835-5465-6.
• «Quraysh». Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (online). 2007. http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9062323/Quraysh. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
• Lapidus, Ira M. (1988). A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 22552 5.
• Hawting, G. R. (1980). «The Disappearance and Rediscovery of Zamzam and the ‘Well of the Ka’ba'». Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 43 (1): 44–54. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0041-977X(1980)43%3A1%3C44%3ATDAROZ%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3.

Arc. «Mecca.» Trifter.com. 18 Feb. 2009. <http://www.trifter.com/Asia-&-Pacific/Saudi-Arabia/Mecca.538297>.

Encyclopedia

• Watt, W. Montgomery. «Makka — The pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods.» Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 6 June 2008
• Winder, R.B. «Makka — The Modern City.» Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 6 June 2008

Further reading

• Rosenthal, Franz; Ibn Khaldun (1967). The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09797-6.
• Crone, Patricia (1987). Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Princeton University Press.
• Burton, Richard Francis (Text file). Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 1. 2. 1 (Memorial Edition ed.). Tylston and Edwards. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4657. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
• Burton, Richard Francis (Text file). Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 2. 2. 2 (Memorial Edition ed.). Tylston and Edwards. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4658. Retrieved 2008-10-22.

External links

• Mecca travel guide from Wikitravel
• Kabbah in 3D using Photosynth
• Umm Al Qura University in Mecca
• High Resolution Images of Mecca by Daawah.com
• Holy Mecca Municipality Official website (in Arabic)
• Saudi Information Resource — Holy Mecca
• Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Meccah, by Richard Burton

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Перевод «Мекка» на арабский

nf

Это все еще мировой центр и своего рода Мекка для художников и любителей стекла.

لا يزال مركزًا عالميًا ونوعًا من مكة للفنانين ومحبي الزجاج.

Для зарождающейся религии Мекка и Кааба стали важнейшим религиозным центром.

بالنسبة للديانة الناشئة، أصبحت مكة والكعبة المركز الديني الأكثر أهمية.

Мекка является священным городом, и немусульмане не разрешается вводить его.

مكة هي المدينة المقدسة، ولا يسمح لغير المسلمين للدخول إليها.

Мекка готовится к открытию самой большой гостиницы в мире.

مكة تستعد لإفتتاح أكبر فندق في العالم

Этот регион всегда имел особую значимость для мусульман, так как здесь находятся священные города Мекка и Медина.

هذه المنطقة كانت دائما ذات أهمية خاصة للمسلمين، وهنا هي المدن المقدسة في مكة والمدينة المنورة.

Одним из важных ритуалов мусульман является путешествие в страну откровения, в город Мекка и совершение паломничества Хаджа.

واحدة من الطقوس الهامة للمسلمين هو السفر إلى أرض الوحي، مكة، والقيام بفريضة الحج.

А Мекка разве не в той стороне?

هل (مكة) بهذا الاتجاه؟

Мекка — священный город мусульман, расположенный в западной части Саудовской Аравии.

مكة، هي مدينة مقدسة للمسلمين وتقع في غرب السعودية.

Не стоит удивляться, это «Мекка» виндсерфинга в Египте.

لا تفاجأ، هذا هو «مكة» من ركوب الأمواج في مصر.

Одной из визитных карточек Италии в общем, и Милана в частности, является Мекка оперного искусства — театр Ла Скала.

واحدة من السمات المميزة لإيطاليا بشكل عام، وميلان على وجه الخصوص، هي مكة فن الأوبرا — مسرح لا سكالا.

Лас-Вегас — Мекка азарта, город-праздник и величайший комбинатор, сделавший себе имя на главных человеческих слабостях — страсти к игре и надежде на внезапное обогащение.

لاس فيغاس — مكة من الإثارة، ومدينة العطلات وأكبر Combinator الذي صنع لنفسه اسم على نقاط الضعف البشرية الرئيسية — شغف اللعبة والأمل في الإثراء المفاجئ.

В мухафазе Мекка сообщили, что 26 пожарным командам гражданской обороны Саудовской Аравии в борьбе с огнем помогали сотрудники службы безопасности страны.

قالت محافظة مكة إن موظفي الطيران الأمني قد وصلوا لدعم فرق مكافحة الحرائق في الدفاع المدني السعودي البالغ عددها 26 فريقًا في مكافحة الحريق.

Еще была завоевана Мекка в 1925 году.

كما استولى على مكة في عام 1925.

А после того, как в 1924 году его завоевал король Абдул-Азиз ибн Сауд, Мекка стала частью Саудовской Аравии.

وبعد أن فتحه الملك عبد العزيز بن سعود في عام 1924، أصبحت مكة جزءًا من المملكة العربية السعودية.

Дубай известен во всем мире как «Мекка Золота» и так называемые «бриллианты Дубая», всегда востребованы.

تُعرف دبي في جميع أنحاء العالم باسم «مكة من الذهب» و ما يسمى دائمًا باسم «ماس دبي».

Последующие сообщения в газете «Мекка» в июне заявляли, что Эр-Рияд продвигается вперед по плану, и пять неназванных компаний приглашены участвовать в торгах по проекту, а победитель будет объявлен в сентябре.

وأفادت تقارير أخرى نشرت في صحيفة مكة في يونيو بأن الرياض تمضي قدما نحو تنفيذ الخطط وإن خمس شركات، لم تذكر أسماؤها، دعيت للتقدم بعروض لإقامة المشروع وإن اسم الشركة الفائزة سيعلن في سبتمبر.

Является вторым по величине городом в стране и её «экономической столицей», а также крупнейшим городом в административном округе Мекка.

جدة هي ثاني أكبر مدينة في البلاد و «عاصمتها الاقتصادية»، وكذلك أكبر مدينة في الحي الإداري في مكة.

Последний саммит в Шарм-эш-Шейхе адресует послание и Саудовской Аравии: именно Каир, а не Мекка стала политическим центром Ближнего Востока.

لقد وجهت قمة شرم الشيخ الاخيرة رسالة للسعوديين تقول: القاهرة، وليس مكة، هي المركز السياسي للشرق الاوسط.

Это сражение стало началом конца Османской империи и «началом» королевства Хашемитов, столицей которого стала Мекка.

كانت المعركة بداية نهاية الدولة العثمانية وكانت بداية المملكة الهاشمية والتي اتخذت من مكة عاصمة لها.

Ибица — один из самых известных курортов Балеарского архипелага, настоящая Мекка для богатых туристов и ультрасовременной молодежи, устремляющейся сюда вовсе не ради солнца и моря, а ради безбашенного круглосуточного веселья.

إيبيزا هي واحدة من أشهر منتجعات أرخبيل الباليار، وهي مكة الحقيقية للسياح الأثرياء والشباب العصريين، حيث تهرع هنا على الإطلاق للاستمتاع بالشمس والبحر، ولكن من أجل المتعة المجنونة على مدار الساعة.

Ничего не найдено для этого значения.

Результатов: 83. Точных совпадений: 83. Затраченное время: 10 мс

Documents

Корпоративные решения

Спряжение

Синонимы

Корректор

Справка и о нас

Индекс слова: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900

Индекс выражения: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Индекс фразы: 1-400

Город в Саудовской Аравии и столица провинции Мекка

Город в провинции Мекка, Саудовская Аравия

Мекка. مكة. Бакка. بكة. Мать всех поселений. ام القرى
Город
Мекка аль-Мукаррама. مكة المكرمة
Абрадж аль-Байт с видом на Великий Мечеть Мекки
Мекка
Координаты: 21 ° 25′21 ″ N 39 ° 49′24 ″ E / 21,42250 ° N 39,82333 ° E / 21,42250; 39.82333
Страна	Саудовская Аравия
Провинция	Провинция Мекка
Провинция	Провинция Мекка
Правительство
• Мэр	Усама аль-Барр
• Губернатор провинции	Халид бин Фейсал Аль Сауд
Высота	277 м (909 футов)
Население (2015)
• Всего	1,578,722
• Оценка (2020)	2,042,000
• Ранг	3-й
Демоним (ы)	Макки. مكي. Маккави. مكاوي
Время зона	UTC + 3 (арабское стандартное время )
Веб-сайт	holymakkah.gov.sa

Мекка, официально Мекка аль- Мукаррама (арабский : مكة المكرمة, романизированный : Маккат аль-Мукаррама, букв. «Мекка Благородная») и обычно сокращается до Мекка, это святейший город в исламе и столица провинции Мекка Саудовская Аравия. Город находится в 70 км от Джидды на Красном море, в узкой долине на высоте 277 м (909 футов) над уровнем моря. уровень. Это ла В 2015 году зарегистрированное население составляло 1 578 722 человека. Расчетное население метрополитена в 2020 году составляет 2,042 миллиона человек, что делает его третьим по численности населения городом в королевстве. Паломники более чем в три раза превышают это число каждый год во время Ḥадж паломничества, которое отмечается в двенадцатом месяце хиджры зуль-хиджжа.

Мекка — это место рождения Мухаммеда. Пещера Хира на вершине Джебель аль-Нур («Гора Света») находится недалеко от города, и именно здесь, по мнению мусульман, Коран был впервые ниспослан Мухаммеду. Посещение Мекки для совершения хаджа — обязанность всех способных мусульман. Великая мечеть Мекки, известная как Масджид аль-Харам, является домом для Каабы, которая, по мнению мусульман, была построена Авраамом и Измаил, одно из священных мест ислама и направление молитв для всех мусульман (кибла ), укрепляющее значение Мекки в исламе.

мусульманин правители из этого региона и его окрестностей долгое время пытались захватить город и удержать его под своим контролем, и поэтому, как и в большей части региона Хиджаз, в городе произошло несколько смен режима, который обязан своей богатой истории. Город был окончательно завоеван во время завоевания Саудовской Аравией Хиджаза Ибн Саудом и его союзниками в 1925 году. С тех пор Мекка значительно расширилась в размерах и инфраструктуре с появлением новых, современных такие здания, как Абрадж аль-Байт, четвертое по высоте здание в мире и третье по площади по площади, возвышающееся над Великой мечетью. правительство Саудовской Аравии также осуществило разрушение нескольких исторических построек и археологических памятников, таких как крепость Аджяд. Немусульманам (кафиров ) строго запрещается въезжать в город.

Мусульмане со всего мира посещают город не только для хаджа и умра паломничества, а также в качестве туристов для посещения региональных достопримечательностей, таких как мечеть Аиша (Масджид Аиша) и мест, которые посещали паломники во время хаджа и умры. В настоящее время в Мекке находятся два самых дорогих здания в мире: Масджид аль-Харам, стоимостью 100 миллиардов долларов США, и комплекс Абрадж аль-Байт, оцененный в 15 миллиардов долларов США.

При правительстве Саудовской Аравии Меккой управляет региональный муниципалитет Мекки, муниципальный совет из 14 местных избранных членов во главе с мэром (по-арабски Амин), назначенным Правительство Саудовской Аравии. По состоянию на май 2015 года мэром города является д-р Усама бин Фадель аль-Барр. Город Мекка амана, который составляет Мекку и ее окрестности, является столицей провинции Мекка, в которую входят соседние города Джидда и Таиф, хотя население Джидды значительно больше по сравнению с Меккой. Губернатором провинции с 16 мая 2007 г. является принц Халид бин Фейсал Аль Сауд был назначен новым губернатором.

Содержание

• 1 История
  • 1.1 Этимология
  • 1.2 Предыстория
  • 1.3 Ранняя история (до V века н.э.)
  • 1.4 При курайшитах
  • 1.5 Мухаммед и завоевание Мекки
  • 1.6 Средневековье и досовременное время
    • 1.6. 1 Описание Ибн Баттуты Мекки
  • 1.7 Новейшая история
• 2 Значение в исламе
  • 2.1 Масджид аль-Харам
  • 2.2 Хадж и Умра
  • 2.3 Джебель ан-Нур
    • 2.3.1 Хира Пещера
• 3 География
  • 3.1 Высота
  • 3.2 Топография
  • 3.3 Источники воды
  • 3.4 Климат
• 4 Экономика
• 5 Человеческие ресурсы
  • 5.1 Образование
  • 5.2 Здравоохранение
    • 5.2.1 Влияние пандемии COVID-19
• 6 Культура
  • 6.1 Спорт
  • 6.2 Демография
  • 6.3 Архитектурные достопримечательности
• 7 Коммуникации
  • 7.1 Пресса и газеты
  • 7.2 Телевидение
  • 7.3 Радио
• 8 Транспорт
  • 8.1 Воздушный транспорт
  • 8.2 Дороги
  • 8.3 Скоростной транспорт
  • 8.4 Железнодорожный транспорт
    • 8.4.1 Intercity
• 9 См. Также
• 10 Ссылки
• 11 Библиография
• 12 Дополнительная литература
• 13 Внешние ссылки

История

Этимология

Мекку называют многими именами. Как и у многих арабских слов, этимология Мекки неясна. Считается, что оно является синонимом Мекки, но более конкретно — это раннее название расположенной в ней долины, в то время как мусульманские ученые обычно используют его для обозначения священной области города, которая непосредственно окружает и включает Ка ‘бах.

Бакка

Коран называет город Бакка в Сура Аль Имран (3), стих 96,

«Действительно, первый Дом [поклонения], созданный для человечества, находился в Бакке… «- Коран 3:96

Предполагается, что так назывался город во времена Авраам (Ибрагим в исламской традиции ), и он также транслитерируется как Бака, Бака, Бака, Бакка, Бекка, Бекка и другие.

Мекка, Мекка аль-Мукаррама и Мекка

В южноарабском, языке, который использовался в южной части Аравийского полуострова во времена Мухаммеда, буквы b и m были взаимозаменяемыми. Предполагается, что это было источником нынешней формы имени. «Мекка» — это официальная транслитерация, используемая правительством Саудовской Аравии, и она ближе к арабскому произношению. Правительство приняло официальное написание Мекка в 1980-х годах, но не повсеместно известно и не используется во всем мире. Полное официальное название — Мекка аль-Мукаррама (арабский : مكة المكرمة, латинизированный : Маккат аль-Мукаррама, букв. «Мекка Достопочтенная»). «Мекка» используется для обозначения города в Коране в Суре Аль-Фатх (48), стих 24.

Слово «Мекка» в английском языке стало использоваться для обозначения любого места, которое привлекает большое количество людей, и из-за этого некоторые англоговорящие мусульмане стали рассматривать использование этого написания для города как оскорбление. Тем не менее, Мекка — это знакомая форма английской транслитерации арабского названия города,

. Согласно мнению ученых, «Макораба», место, упомянутое в Arabia Felix авторством Клавдий Птолемей, это Мекка. Было предложено много этимологий, но наиболее подходящей является то, что оно происходит от древнеаравийского корня «MKRB», что означает храм.

Другие названия

Другое название Мекки в Коране ‘ан находится в 6:92, где он называется Умм аль-Кура (أُمّ ٱلْقُرَى, что означает «Мать всех поселений». Город получил несколько других названий как в Коране, так и в хадисах. Другое название, исторически используемое для Мекки, — Тихама. Согласно арабской и исламской традиции другое название Мекки, Фаран, является синонимом Пустыни Фаран, упомянутой в Ветхом Завете. at Бытие 21 : 21. Арабская и исламская традиция считает, что пустыня Фаран, в широком смысле, это прибрежная равнина Тихамы, а место, где поселился Измаил, было Меккой. 35>Якут аль-Хамави, сирийский географ XII века, писал, что Фаран был «арабским словом на иврите, одним из названий Мекки, упомянутых в Торе».

Предыстория

В В 2010 году Мекка и ее окрестности стали важным местом палеонтологии в отношении эволюции приматов с открытием окаменелости Сааданиуса. Сааданиус считается приматом, тесно связанным с общим предком обезьян Старого Света и обезьян. Место обитания окаменелостей около того, что сейчас является Красным морем в западной Саудовской Аравии, между 28 и 29 миллионами лет назад было влажным лесом. Палеонтологи, участвующие в исследованиях, надеются найти в этом районе новые окаменелости.

Ранняя история (до V века н.э.)

Мекка, как видно из Джабаль ан-Нур, 2009. Обратите внимание, что Великая мечеть — это в основном белое здание с 9 минаретами на заднем плане, рядом с строящимся небоскребом. Мекка упоминается в рукописи Корана. Codex Arabe 331 (48:24) 1787 Османская турецкая карта мечети Аль-Харам и связанных с ней религиозных объектов, таких как Джабаль аль-Нур

История Мекки до сих пор в значительной степени оспаривается, поскольку нет однозначных упоминаний о ней в древней литературе до появления ислама и в архитектуре со времен Мухаммеда. Римская империя взяла под свой контроль часть Хиджаза в 106 н.э., правящие города, такие как Хегра (теперь известная как Мадаин Салех ), расположенная примерно в 800 км к северу. Мекки. Хотя подробные описания Западной Аравии были составлены римлянами, например, Прокопием, нет никаких упоминаний о паломнических и торговых постах, таких как Мекка.

Возможные древние ссылки

Греческий историк Диодор Сицилийский пишет об Аравии в своем труде Bibliotheca Historica, описывая святую святыню: «И там был построен храм, который очень свят и чрезвычайно почитаем всеми арабами». Были сделаны утверждения, что это могло быть отсылкой к Каабе в Мекке. Однако географическое положение, которое описывает Диодор, находится на северо-западе Аравии, в районе Леук-Коме, ближе к Петре и в пределах бывшего Набатейского царства и римской провинции. of Arabia Petraea.

Птолемей перечисляет названия 50 городов в Аравии, один из которых носит название «Макораба». С 1646 года ходят слухи, что это может быть ссылка на Мекку, но многие ученые не видят убедительного объяснения связи этих двух названий. Бауэрсок предпочитает идентичность первого, поскольку его теория состоит в том, что «Макораба» — это слово «Мекка», за которым следует возвышающее арамейское прилагательное равб (великий). Римский историк Аммиан Марцеллин также перечислил многие города Западной Аравии, большинство из которых можно идентифицировать. Согласно Бауэрсоку, он действительно упомянул Мекку как «Геаполис» или «Иераполис», последний из которых означает «святой город», имея в виду святилище Каабы, хорошо известное уже в языческие времена <. 57>Патрисия Кроун из ревизионистской школы исламских исследований, с другой стороны, пишет, что «чистая правда в том, что имя Макораба не имеет ничего общего с именем Мекки […] если Птолемей вообще упоминает Мекку, он называет ее Мока, город в Аравии Петреи «(на северо-западе Аравии около современной Петры ).

Первое прямое упоминание Мекки во внешней литературе происходит в 741 году н.э., в византийско-арабских хрониках, хотя здесь автор помещает его в Месопотамию, а не в Хиджаз. Учитывая негостеприимную среду и отсутствие исторических ссылок в римских, персидских и индийских источниках, историки, в том числе Патриция Кроун и Том Холланд, подвергли сомнению утверждение о том, что Мекка была крупным историческим торговым центром. застава. Однако другие ученые, такие как Глен В. Бауэрсок, не согласны и утверждают, что Мекка была крупным торговым форпостом.

Мекка упоминается в следующих ранних рукописях Корана:

• Кодекс Ис. 1615 I, лист 47v, радиоуглерод от до 591–643 гг. Н. Э.
• Codex anʿāʾ DAM 01–29.1, лист 29a, радиоуглерод датирован между 633 и 665 г. н.э.
• Codex Arabe 331, лист 40 v, радиоуглеродный датируется между 652 и 765 годами нашей эры.

Исламское повествование

С исламской точки зрения начало Мекки приписывается библейским персонажам, Аврааму, Агарь и Измаил. Считается, что цивилизация Мекки началась после того, как Ибрахим (Авраам) оставил своего сына Исмаила (Измаила) и жену Хаджар (Агарь) в долине у Аллаха команда. Некоторые люди из йеменского племени джурхум поселились с ними, и Исмаил, как сообщается, женился на двух женщинах, одна после развода с первой, по совету Ибрагима. По крайней мере, один человек из джурхума помог Исмаилу и его отцу построить или, согласно исламским нарративам, реконструировать Кааба («Куб»), который имел бы социальные, религиозные, политические и исторические последствия для место и регион.

Мусульмане видят упоминание о паломничестве в долине Бака в Ветхом Завете глава Псалом 84 : 3 –6 как ссылка на Мекку, аналогично Корану в суре 3:96. В Sharḥ al-Asāīr, комментарии к самаритянской мидрашской хронологии патриархов неизвестной даты, но, вероятно, составленной в 10 веке нашей эры, утверждается, что Мекка была построена сыновья Наваиофа, старшего сына Исмаила или Измаила.

надписи тамудика

Некоторые надписи тамудика, которые были обнаружены на юге Иордания содержали имена некоторых людей, таких как ʿAbd Mekkat (عْبْد م «ة, «Слуга Мекки»).

Были также некоторые другие надписи, содержащие личные имена, такие как Makki (مَكِّي, «Меккан»), но Джаввад Али из Багдадского университета предположил, что также существует вероятность существования племени под названием «Мекка».

Под курайшитами

Где-то в 5-м веке Ка Бах был местом поклонения божествам языческих племен Аравии . Самым важным языческим божеством Мекки было Хубал, которое было помещено там правящим племенем курайшитов. и оставался до завоевания Мекки Мухаммадом. В V веке курайшиты взяли под свой контроль Мекку и стали опытными торговцами и торговцами. В VI веке они присоединились к прибыльной торговле пряностями, поскольку сражения в других местах отвлекали торговые пути от опасных морских путей на более безопасные сухопутные пути. Византийская империя ранее контролировала Красное море, но пиратство росло. Другой предыдущий маршрут, который пролегал через Персидский залив через реки Тигр и Евфрат, также находился под угрозой эксплуатации со стороны Империи Сасанидов, и его разрушили Лахмиды, Гассаниды и римско-персидские войны. Известность Мекки как торгового центра также превосходила города Петра и Пальмира. Однако Сасаниды не всегда представляли угрозу для Мекки, так как в 575 году н. Э. Они защищали ее от йеменского вторжения во главе с ее христианским лидером Абраха. Племена южной Аравии обратились за помощью к персидскому царю Хосрову I, в ответ на что он прибыл на юг в Аравию с пехотинцами и флотом кораблей около Мекки.

Посередине 6 века в северной Аравии было три крупных поселения, вдоль всего юго-западного побережья, граничащего с Красным морем, в жилом районе между морем и горами Хиджаз на востоке. Хотя местность вокруг Мекки была совершенно бесплодной, это было самое богатое из трех поселений с обильной водой из известного колодца Замзам и расположением на перекрестке основных караванных путей <528.>

Суровые условия и местность Аравийского полуострова означали почти постоянное состояние конфликта между местными племенами, но раз в год они объявляли перемирие и собирались в Мекку в ежегодном паломничестве. Вплоть до VII века это путешествие было предназначено по религиозным причинам арабами-язычниками, чтобы отдать дань уважения их святыне и выпить Замзам. Тем не менее, это было время, когда каждый год споры решались в арбитраже, долги решались, а торговля происходила на мекканских ярмарках. Эти ежегодные мероприятия дали племенам ощущение общей идентичности и сделали Мекку важным центром полуострова.

Год Слона (570 г. н.э.)

«Год Слона » — это имя в исламской истории за год, приблизительно равный 550-552 CE, когда, согласно исламским источникам, таким как Ибн Исхак, Абраха спустился в Мекку, верхом на слоне с большой армией после постройки собора в Сан’аа, названного аль-Куллайс в честь Негуса из Аксума. Он получил широкую известность, даже привлек внимание со стороны Византийской империи. Абраха попытался отвратить паломничество арабов из Каабы в Аль-Куллайс, эффективно обращая их в христианство. Согласно исламской традиции, это был год рождения Мухаммеда. Абраха якобы отправил посланника по имени Мухаммад ибн Хузаи в Мекку и Тихама с сообщением, что ал-Куллайс был намного лучше, чем другие молитвенные дома, и чище, поскольку он не был осквернен жилищем идолов. Когда Мухаммад ибн Хузаи добрался до земли Кинана, жители низины, зная, зачем он пришел, послали человека из Худхайла по имени Урва бин Хайяд ал -Миласи, который выстрелил в него стрелой, убил его. Его брат Кайс, который был с ним, бежал в Абраху и рассказал ему эту новость, которая увеличила его ярость и ярость, и он поклялся совершить набег на племя кинана и уничтожить Каабу. Ибн Исхак далее заявляет, что один из мужчин племени курайшитов был рассержен этим и пошел в Сану, зашел в церковь ночью и осквернил ее; широко предполагается, что это произошло благодаря испражнению в нем.

Авраха двинулся на Каабу с большой армией, которая включала одну или несколько войн слоны, намереваясь снести его. Когда пришло известие о наступлении его армии, арабские племена курайшитов, кинана, хузаа и худхайла объединились для защиты Каабы и города. Абраха послал человека из Химьяритского царства, чтобы сообщить им, что Абраха хотел только разрушить Каабу, и если они будут сопротивляться, то будут раздавлены. Абдул Мутталиб велел мекканцам искать убежища в холмах, в то время как он и некоторые члены курайшитов оставались в пределах Каабы. Абраха отправил депешу с приглашением Абдул-Мутталиба встретиться с Абрахой и обсудить дела. Когда Абдул-Мутталиб покинул собрание, он услышал, как он сказал:

«Хозяин этого Дома — его Защитник, и я уверен, что он спасет его от нападения врагов и не позорит слуг своего Дома».

В конце концов Авраа напал на Мекку. Однако главный слон, известный как Махмуд, как говорят, остановился на границе вокруг Мекки и отказался войти. Было высказано предположение, что эпидемия, такая как оспа, могла вызвать такое неудавшееся вторжение в Мекку. Ссылка на историю в Коране довольно коротка. Согласно 115-й суре Корана, Аль-Фил, на следующий день появилось темное облако маленьких птиц, посланных Аллахом. Птицы несли в клювах небольшие камни, бомбардировали эфиопские силы и разбивали их до состояния, напоминающего съеденную солому.

Экономика

Караваны верблюдов, которые, как говорят, впервые использовались прадедом Мухаммеда, были основная часть оживленной экономики Мекки. Были заключены союзы между купцами в Мекке и местными кочевыми племенами, которые привозили товары — кожу, скот и металлы, добытые в местных горах, — в Мекку для погрузки на караваны и перевозки в города Шаама и Ирак. Исторические свидетельства также указывают на то, что товары с других континентов также могли проходить через Мекку. Товары из Африки и Дальнего Востока проходили по пути в Сирию, включая специи, кожу, лекарства, ткани и рабов; взамен Мекка получила деньги, оружие, крупы и вино, которые, в свою очередь, были распределены по всей Аравии. Мекканцы подписали договоры как с византийцами, так и с бедуинами, и договорились о безопасных проходах для караванов, давая им права на воду и пастбища. Мекка стала центром свободной конфедерации клиентских племен, в которую входили племена Бану Тамим. Другие региональные державы, такие как абиссинцы, Гассаниды и Лахмиды, находились в упадке, оставив мекканскую торговлю основной связующей силой в Аравии в конце 6-го века.

Мухаммед и завоевание Мекки.

Мухаммад родился в Мекке в 570 году, и с тех пор ислам неразрывно связан с ним. Он родился в малой фракции, Бану Хашим, из правящего племени курайшитов. Именно в Мекке, в близлежащей горной пещере Хира на Джабаль ан-Нур, согласно исламской традиции, Мухаммад начал получать откровения от Бога через архангела. Джибрил в 610 году нашей эры. Пропагандируя свою форму авраамического монотеизма против мекканского язычества, и после 13-летнего преследования языческих племен, Мухаммад эмигрировал в Медину (хиджра ) в 622 году со своими товарищами, Мухаджирун, в Ясриб (позже переименованный в Медина ). Принято считать, что конфликт между курайшитами и мусульманами начался именно здесь. В целом попытки Мекки уничтожить ислам потерпели неудачу и оказались дорогостоящими и безуспешными. Во время Битвы у Траншеи в 627 году объединенные армии Аравии не смогли победить силы Мухаммеда. В 628 году Мухаммад и его последователи хотели войти в Мекку для паломничества, но были заблокированы курайшитами. Впоследствии мусульмане и мекканцы заключили Худайбийский договор, по которому курайшиты и их союзники пообещали прекратить борьбу с мусульманами и их союзниками и пообещали, что мусульманам будет разрешено войти в город для совершения паломничества в следующем году. Это должно было быть прекращение огня на 10 лет; однако всего два года спустя Бану Бакр, союзники курайшитов, нарушили перемирие, убив группу Бану Хузаа, союзников мусульман. Мухаммад и его товарищи, насчитывавшие теперь 10 000 человек, вошли в Мекку и захватили город. Языческие образы были уничтожены последователями Мухаммеда, а место исламизировано и вновь посвящено поклонению Аллаху. Мекка была объявлена ​​самым священным местом в исламе и стала центром мусульманского паломничества (хадж ), одним из пяти столпов.

Панорама Мекки, 1845 г., из Халили. Коллекции

Мухаммад вернулся в Медину, назначив губернатором города Акиба ибн Усаида. Другая его деятельность в Аравии привела к объединению полуострова под знаменем ислама. Мухаммед умер в 632 году. В течение следующих нескольких сотен лет он простирался от Северной Африки до Азии и некоторых частей Европы. По мере роста исламского царства Мекка продолжала привлекать паломников со всего мусульманского мира и за его пределами, поскольку мусульмане приезжали для совершения ежегодного паломничества хаджа. Мекка также привлекала круглогодичное население ученых, набожных мусульман, которые хотели жить недалеко от Каабы, и местных жителей, которые служили паломникам. Из-за сложности и затратности хаджа паломники прибывали на лодках в Джидду и прибывали по суше или присоединялись к ежегодным караванам из Сирии или Ирака.

Средневековые и досовременные времена

Мекка никогда не был столицей какого-либо из исламских государств. Мусульманские правители внесли свой вклад в его поддержание, например, во время правления ‘Умара (годы правления 634–644 г. н.э.) и’ Усмана ибн Аффана (годы правления 644–656 г. н.э.), когда опасения наводнения заставили халифов привлечь христианских инженеров для строительства заграждений в низинных кварталах и строительства дамб и насыпей для защиты территории вокруг Каабы.

Возвращение Мухаммеда в Медину сместило акцент с Мекки и позже, еще дальше, когда ‘Али, четвертый халиф, пришел к власти, выбрал Куфу своей столицей. Омейядский халифат перенес столицу в Дамаск в Сирии, а Аббасидский халифат в Багдад в современном Ираке, который остался центр Исламской Империи на протяжении почти 500 лет. Мекка вновь вошла в исламскую политическую историю во время Второй Фитны, когда ее владели Абдулла ибн аз-Зубайр и Зубайриды. Город дважды осаждался Омейядами, в 683 и 692, и в течение некоторого времени после этого город мало фигурировал в политике, оставаясь городом преданности и учености, управляемым различными другими фракциями.. В 930 году Мекка подверглась нападению и разграблению карматами, милленарийцем ши’а исмаилиты мусульманская секта во главе с Абу-Тахиром Аль-Джаннаби с центром в Восточной Аравии. Черная смерть пандемия поразила Мекку в 1349 году.

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  Мекка, ок.. 1718 г. н. Э.

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  Мекка, ок.. 1778 г. н.э.

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  Мекка, 1880-е годы

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  Мекка в 1910 году

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  Паломники окружают Каабу в 1910 году

Описание Мекки Ибн Баттутой

Один из самых известных путешественников в Мекку в XIV век — марокканский ученый и путешественник Ибн Баттута. В своей рихле (повествовании) он дает обширное описание города. Примерно в 1327 году н.э. или 729 году хиджры Ибн Баттута прибыл в священный город. Сразу же, по его словам, это было похоже на святое святилище, и поэтому. он начал обряды паломничества. Он оставался в Мекке три года и уехал в 1330 году н. Э. Он говорит, что во время своего второго года пребывания в святом городе его караван прибыл «с большим количеством милостыни для поддержки тех, кто оставался в Мекке и Медине». Находясь в Мекке, в Каабе возносились молитвы за (но не за) царя Ирака, а также за Салахеддина аль-Айюби, султана Египта и Сирии. Баттута говорит, что Кааба была большой, но была разрушена и восстановлена ​​меньше, чем оригинал, и что в ней были изображения ангелов и пророков, включая Иисуса, его мать Марию и многих других. Баттута описывает Каабу как важную часть Мекки из-за того, что многие люди совершают паломничество к ней. Баттута описывает жителей города как скромных и добрых, а также готовых отдать часть всего, что у них есть, тому, у кого ничего не было. По его словам, жители Мекки и самой деревни были очень чистыми. В деревне также царила элегантность.

При османах

В 1517 году тогдашний шариф Мекки Баракат бин Мухаммад признал превосходство османского халифа, но сохранил большую степень местной автономии. В 1803 году город был захвачен Первым государством Саудовской Аравии, которое удерживало Мекку до 1813 года. Было разрушено несколько исторических гробниц и куполов в городе и вокруг него. Османы поручили вернуть Мекку под контроль их могущественного хедива (наместника) и Вали Египта, Мухаммеда Али-паши. Мухаммед Али-паша успешно вернул Мекку под контроль Османской империи в 1813 г.. В 1818 году сауды снова потерпели поражение, но выжили и основали Второе саудовское государство, которое просуществовало до 1891 года и привело к нынешней стране Саудовская Аравия. В 1853 году сэр Ричард Фрэнсис Бертон предпринял мусульманское паломничество в Мекку и Медину, переодетый мусульманином. Хотя Бертон определенно не был первым европейцем-немусульманином, совершившим хадж (Людовико ди Вартема сделал это в 1503 году), его паломничество остается одним из самых известных и задокументированных в наше время. Мекка регулярно подвергалась вспышкам холеры. Между 1830 и 1930 годами холера вспыхивала среди паломников в Мекке 27 раз.

Современная история

Хашимитское восстание и последующий контроль со стороны Шарифата Мекки

В Первой мировой войне, Османская империя находилась в состоянии войны с Великобританией и ее союзниками. Он успешно отразил нападение на Стамбул во время Галлиполийской кампании и на Багдад в осаде Кута. Британский агент Т.Э. Лоуренс вступил в сговор с османским губернатором Хуссейном бин Али, шарифом Мекки, чтобы восстать против Османской империи, и это был первый город, захваченный его войсками в битве за Мекку в 1916 году. Восстание Шарифа стало поворотным моментом в войне на восточном фронте. Хусейн объявил новое государство, Королевство Хиджаз, объявив себя Шарифом государства, а Мекку своей столицей. В новостях в ноябре 1916 г. через контакт в Каире с вернувшимися паломниками хаджа сообщалось, что после ухода османских турецких властей хадж 1916 года был свободен от предыдущих массовых вымогательств и денежных требований. турками, которые были агентами османского правительства.

Завоевание Саудовской Аравии и современная история

После битвы за Мекку 1924 года, Шариф Мекки был свергнут семьей Саудов, и Мекка была включены в Саудовскую Аравию. Под властью Саудовской Аравии большая часть исторического города была разрушена из-за того, что правительство Саудовской Аравии опасалось, что эти места могут стать местами поклонения Богу рядом с Аллахом (ширк ). Город был расширен за счет включения нескольких городов, которые ранее считались отдельными от священного города, и теперь он находится всего в нескольких километрах от основных мест Хаджа, Мины, Муздалифы и Арафата. Мекка не обслуживается ни одним аэропортом из-за опасений по поводу безопасности города. Вместо этого он обслуживается Международным аэропортом Короля Абдель Азиза в Джидде (примерно в 70 км) на международном уровне и Региональным аэропортом Таиф (примерно 120 км. прочь) для внутренних рейсов.

Сегодня город находится на пересечении двух самых важных автомагистралей во всей системе автомобильных дорог Саудовской Аравии, шоссе 40, которое соединяет город с Джиддой на западе и столицей, Эр-Рияд и Даммам на востоке и шоссе 15, которое соединяет его с Мединой, Табуком и далее с Иорданией на севере и Абха и Джизан на юге. Османы планировали расширить свою железнодорожную сеть до священного города, но были вынуждены отказаться от этого плана из-за своего участия в Первой мировой войне. Этот план был позже осуществлен правительством Саудовской Аравии, которое соединило два священных города Медина и Мекка современной системой высокоскоростной железной дороги Харамайн, которая работает со скоростью 300 км / ч (190 миль / ч) и соединяет два города через Джидду, международный аэропорт короля Абдель Азиза и экономический город короля Абдаллы возле Раби в течение двух часов.

зона харама Мекки, в которую въезд -Мусульмане это запрещено, намного больше, чем в Медине.

Захват Большой мечети 1979 года

20 ноября 1979 года двести вооруженных диссидентов во главе с Джухайманом аль-Отайби, захватили Большую мечеть, заявив, что саудовская королевская семья больше не представляет собой чистый ислам, и что Масджид аль-Харам и Кааба должны принадлежать истинным верующим. Повстанцы захватили в заложники десятки тысяч паломников и забаррикадировались в мечети. Осада длилась две недели и привела к гибели нескольких сотен человек и значительному повреждению святыни, особенно галереи Сафа-Марва. Многонациональные силы наконец смогли отбить мечеть у диссидентов. С тех пор Большая мечеть несколько раз расширялась, и многие другие расширения проводятся в наши дни.

Уничтожение объектов исламского наследия

Под властью Саудовской Аравии, по оценкам, с 1985 года было снесено около 95% исторических зданий Мекки, возраст которых превышает тысячу лет. Сообщается, что в настоящее время в Мекке осталось менее 20 построек, построенных во времена Мухаммеда. Некоторые важные здания, которые были разрушены, включают дом Хадиджи, жены Мухаммада, дом Абу Бакра, место рождения Мухаммеда и османскую эпоху Крепость Аджяд. Причиной разрушения исторических зданий было строительство отелей, квартир, парковок и других объектов инфраструктуры для хаджа паломников.

Инциденты во время паломничества

Мекка была место нескольких инцидентов и сбоев в управлении толпой из-за большого количества людей, которые пришли совершить хадж. Например, 2 июля 1990 года паломничество в Мекку закончилось трагедией, когда в переполненном пешеходном туннеле вышла из строя система вентиляции, и 1426 человек либо задохнулись, либо были растоптаны насмерть в результате давки . 24 сентября 2015 года 700 паломников были убиты в давке в Мина во время ритуала побивания камнями дьявола в Джамарате.

Значение в исламе

Хадж вовлекает паломников, посещающих мечеть Аль-Харам, но в основном разбивая лагерь и проводя время на равнинах Мины и Арафа

Мекка занимает важное место в исламе и является святейший город во всех отраслях религии. Важность города обусловлена ​​ролью, которую он играет в хадже и Умре.

Масджид аль-Харам

Масджид аль-Харам — самая большая мечеть в мире. и самое дорогое отдельное здание в мире, оцененное в 100 миллиардов долларов США по состоянию на 2020 год. Это место проведения двух наиболее важных обрядов как хаджа, так и умры, обхода вокруг Каабы ( таваф ) и прогулка между двумя горами Сафа и Марва (са’и ). В мечети также находится колодец Замзам. Согласно исламской традиции, молитва в мечети равна 100000 молитв в любой другой мечети по всему миру.

Кааба

Между исламскими учеными существует разногласие во мнениях относительно того, кто первым построил Каабу., одни полагают, что его построили ангелы, другие полагают, что его построил Адам. Тем не менее, он был построен несколько раз, прежде чем достиг своего нынешнего состояния, самая известная из этих реконструкций — реконструкция Авраама (Ибрагима в исламской традиции). Кааба также является общим направлением молитвы (кибла ) для всех Мусульмане. Поверхность, окружающая Каабу, по которой мусульмане обходят ее, известна как Матаф.

Хиджр аль-Асвад (Черный камень)

Черный камень — это камень, который ученые считают метеоритом или аналогичного происхождения, и мусульмане считают, что он имеет божественное происхождение. Он установлен в восточном углу Каабы, и Сунна прикоснуться к камню и поцеловать его. Территория вокруг камня обычно всегда многолюдна и охраняется полицией, чтобы обеспечить безопасность паломников.

Макам Ибрагим

Это камень, на котором Авраам построил верхние части Каабы. На нем есть два следа, которые сравнительно больше, чем средняя ступня современного человека. Камень поднят и помещен в золотой шестиугольной камере рядом с Каабой на плите Матаф.

Сафа и Марва

.

Мусульмане верят, что в божественном откровении Мухаммаду, Коране, Аллах описывает горы Сафа и Марва как символы его божественности. Переход между двумя горами семь раз, 4 раза от Сафы до Марвы и 3 раза от Марвы, взаимозаменяемо, считается обязательным столбом (рукн ) ‘Умра.

Панорама аль-Масджид аль-Харам, также известная как Большая мечеть Мекки, во время паломничества хаджа

хаджа и умры

Паломничество хаджа, также называемое великим паломничеством, привлекает миллионы мусульман со всего мира и почти утроило население Мекки за одну неделю в двенадцатый и последний исламский месяц Зу аль-Хиджа. В 2019 году хадж привлек в священный город 2 489 406 паломников. Умра, или меньшее паломничество, можно совершить в любое время в течение года. Каждый взрослый здоровый мусульманин, имеющий финансовые и физические возможности для поездки в Мекку, должен совершать хадж хотя бы раз в жизни. Умра, меньшее паломничество, не является обязательным, но рекомендуется в Коране. Помимо Масджид аль-Харам, паломники также должны посетить близлежащие города Мина / Муна, Муздалифа и гора Арафат для проведения различных ритуалов, являющихся частью хадж.

Джабаль ан-Нур, гора на вершине пещеры Хира, где, как считается, Мухаммад получил свое первое откровение.

Джабаль ан-Нур

Это гора Считается, что мусульмане были местом, где Мухаммед проводил свое время в уединении вдали от шумного города Мекка. Гора расположена на восточном въезде в город и является самой высокой точкой города на высоте 642 метра (2106 футов).

Пещера Хираа

Расположенная на вершине Джабаль ан-Нур, это место, где мусульмане верят, что Мухаммад получил первое откровение от Аллаха через архангела Гавриила (Джибриль в исламской традиции) в возрасте 40 лет.

Врата Корана

География

Мекка, как видно с Международной космической станции

Мекка расположена в Регион Хиджаз, полоса гор шириной 200 км (124 миль), отделяющая пустыню Нафуд от Красного моря. Город расположен в одноименной долине примерно в 70 км к западу от портового города Джидда. Мекка — один из самых низких по высоте городов в регионе Хиджаз, расположенный на высоте 277 м (909 футов) над уровнем моря на 21º23 ‘северной широты и 39º51’ восточной долготы. Мекка разделена на 34 района.

Центр города находится в районе аль-Харам, где находится Масджид аль-Харам. Район вокруг мечети — старый город и самый известный район Мекки, Аджяд. Главная улица, ведущая к аль-Хараму, — это улица Ибрагима аль-Халила, названная в честь Ибрагима. Традиционные исторические дома, построенные из местного камня, длиной от двух до трех этажей все еще присутствуют в центральной части города, в пределах видимости современных отелей и торговых комплексов. Общая площадь современной Мекки сегодня составляет более 1200 км (460 квадратных миль).

Высота

Мекка находится на высоте 277 м (909 футов) над уровнем моря и примерно в 70 км. (44 мили) вглубь от Красного моря. Это один из самых низких показателей в регионе Хиджаз.

Топография

Центр города находится в коридоре между горами, который часто называют «впадиной Мекки». Этот район включает долину Ат-Таним, долину Бакках и долину Абкар. Это горное место определило современное расширение города.

Источники воды

В Мекке до современной эпохи в городе использовалось несколько основных источников воды. Первыми были местные колодцы, такие как колодец Замзам, которые обычно давали солоноватую воду. Вторым источником был источник Айн Зубайда (Источник Зубайды). Источниками этого источника являются горы Джебель-Саад и Джебель-Кабкаб, которые находятся в нескольких километрах к востоку от Арафа / Арафата или примерно в 20 км к юго-востоку от Мекки. Оттуда воду отводили по подземным каналам. Третьим очень спорадическим источником были осадки, которые люди накапливали в небольших резервуарах или цистернах. Осадки, хотя они и скудные, также представляют угрозу наводнений и были опасны с давних времен. По словам аль-Курди, к 1965 году было 89 наводнений. В прошлом веке самым сильным наводнением было наводнение 1942 года. С тех пор для решения этой проблемы были построены плотины.

Климат

Мекка отличается жарким пустынным климатом (Кеппен : BWh) с тремя различными зонами устойчивости растений : 10, 11 и 12. Как и у большинства жителей Саудовской Аравии. В городах Мекка сохраняет тепло и жарко даже зимой, которая может колебаться от 19 ° C (66 ° F) ночью до 30 ° C (86 ° F) днем, но также, очень редко, опускается до нуля и ниже нуля. температуры. Летние температуры очень жаркие и постоянно превышают отметку 40 ° C (104 ° F) днем ​​и опускаются до 30 ° C (86 ° F) вечером, но влажность остается относительно низкой, на уровне 30–40%. Дожди обычно выпадают в Мекке небольшими количествами, которые выпадают в период с ноября по январь, с сильными грозами также обычными зимой.

Климатические данные для Мекки
Месяц	Янв	Фев	мар	апр	май	июн	июл	авг	сен	окт	ноя	декабрь	год
Рекордно высокий ° C (° F)	37,4. (99,3)	38,3. (100,9)	42,4. (108,3)	44,7. (112,5)	49,4. (120,9)	49,6. (121,3)	49,8. (121,6)	49,7. (121,5)	49,4. (120,9)	47,0. (116,6)	41,2. (106,2)	38,4. (101,1)	49,8. (121,6)
Средняя высокая ° C (° F)	30,5. (86,9)	31,7. (89,1)	34,9. (94,8)	38,7. (101,7)	42,0. (107,6)	43,8. (110,8)	43,0. (109,4)	42,8. (109,0)	42,8. (109,0)	40,1. (104,2)	35,2. (95,4)	32,0. (89,6)	38,1. (100,6)
Среднесуточное значение ° C ( ° F)	24,6. (76,3)	25,4. (77,7)	28,0. (82,4)	31,6. (88,9)	34,3. (93,7)	35,8. (96,4)	35,9. (96,6)	35,7. (96,3)	35,0. (95,0)	33,0. (91,4)	29,1. (84,4)	25,6. (78,1)	30,8. (87,4)
Средняя низкая ° C (° F)	18,8. (65,8)	19,1. (66,4)	21,1. (70,0)	24,5. (76,1)	27,6. (81,7)	28,6. (83,5)	29,1. (84,4)	29,5. (85,1)	28,9. (84,0)	25,9. (78,6)	23,0. (73,4)	20,3. (68,5)	24,7. ( 76,5)
Записать низкое значение ° C (° F)	11,0. (51,8)	10,0. (50,0)	13,0. ( 55,4)	15,6. (60,1)	20,3. (68,5)	22,0. (71,6)	23,4. (74,1)	23,4. (74,1)	22,0. (71,6)	18,0. (64,4)	16,4. (61,5)	12,4. (54,3)	10,0. (50,0)
Среднее осаждение мм (дюймов)	20,8. (0,82)	3,0. (0,12)	5,5. (0,22)	10,3. (0,41)	1,2. (0,05)	0,0. (0,0)	1,4. (0,06)	5,0. (0,20)	5,4. (0,21)	14,5. (0,57)	22,6. (0,89)	22,1. (0,87)	111,8. ( 4,40)
Среднее количество дней с осадками	4,0	0,9	1,8	1,8	0,7	0,0	0,3	1,5	2,0	1,9	3,9	3,6	22,4
Средняя относительная влажность (%) (среднесуточная)	58	54	48	43	36	33	34	39	45	50	58	59	46
Среднее ежемесячное количество солнечных часов	260,4	24 5,8	282,1	282,0	303,8	321,0	313,1	297,6	282,0	300,7	264,0	248,0	3,400,5
Среднесуточное количество солнечных часов	8,4	8,7	9,1	9,4	9,8	10,7	10,1	9,6	9,4	9,7	8,8	8,0	9,3
Источник 1: Региональный климатический центр Джидды
Источник 2: Deutscher Wetterdienst (солнечные часы, 1986–2000)

Экономика

Экономика Мекки сильно зависела от ежегодного паломничества. Доход, полученный от хаджа, фактически не только поддерживает экономику Мекки, но исторически имел далеко идущие последствия для экономики всего Аравийского полуострова. Доход был получен несколькими способами. Один из способов — облагать паломников налогом. Налоги были особенно увеличены во время Великой депрессии, и многие из этих налогов существовали вплоть до 1972 года. Другой способ получения дохода от хаджа — это услуги паломникам. Например, саудовский авиаперевозчик , Saudia получает 12% своего дохода от паломничества. Плата за проезд паломниками по суше в Мекку также приносит доход; как и отели и гостиничные компании, в которых они размещены. Город получает более 100 миллионов долларов, в то время как правительство Саудовской Аравии тратит около 50 миллионов долларов на услуги во время хаджа. В городе есть несколько промышленных предприятий и фабрик, но Мекка больше не играет важной роли в экономике Саудовской Аравии, которая в основном основана на экспорте нефти. Немногочисленные отрасли промышленности, работающие в Мекке, включают текстиль, мебель и посуду. Большая часть экономики ориентирована на услуги.

Район аль-Азизия в Мекке

Тем не менее, в Мекке было создано много предприятий. В городе с 1970 года существуют различные типы предприятий: производство гофрированного железа, добыча меди, столярные изделия, мебельные, пекарни, сельское хозяйство и банковское дело. Город значительно вырос в 20-м и 21-м веках, поскольку удобство и доступность путешествий на самолетах увеличили количество паломников, участвующих в хадже. Тысячи саудовцев работают круглый год, чтобы наблюдать за хаджем и обслуживают отели и магазины, обслуживающие паломников; эти рабочие, в свою очередь, увеличили спрос на жилье и услуги. В настоящее время город окружен автомагистралями, в нем есть торговые центры и небоскребы.

Человеческие ресурсы

Образование

Формальное образование начало развиваться в поздний период Османской империи, постепенно переходя в Хашимитские времена. Первую серьезную попытку улучшить ситуацию предпринял торговец из Джидды Мухаммад Али Зайнал Рина, который в 1911–1912 годах основал медресе аль-Фалах в Мекке стоимостью 400 000 фунтов стерлингов. В школьной системе Мекки есть много государственных и частных школ как для мужчин, так и для женщин. По состоянию на 2005 год насчитывалось 532 государственных и частных школ для мужчин и еще 681 государственная и частная школа для учащихся женского пола. Средством обучения как в государственных, так и в частных школах является арабский язык с упором на английский как второй язык, но некоторые частные школы, основанные иностранными организациями, такие как Международные школы, используют английский язык для средства обучения. Некоторые из них с совместным обучением, а другие — нет. Для получения высшего образования в городе есть только один университет, Университет Умм-аль-Кура, который был основан в 1949 году как колледж и стал государственным университетом в 1979 году.

Здравоохранение

Здравоохранение предоставляется правительством Саудовской Аравии бесплатно для всех паломников. В Мекке десять основных больниц:

• Госпиталь Аджяд (مُسْتَشْفَى أَجْيَاد)
• Госпиталь короля Фейсала (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْمَلِك فَيْصَل بِحَي ٱلشّشه)
• Больница короля Абдулазиза (Арабский) : مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلْمَلِك عَبْد ٱلْعَزِيْز بِحَي ٱلـزَّاهِر)
• Специализированная больница Аль-Нур (مُسْتَشْفَى ٱلنُّوْر ٱلتَّخَصُّصِي)
• Больница
• Хира’аِ ​​(Детская больница) Hira’a (Детская больница) ٱلولادة وٱلأطفال)
• King Abdullah Medical City (مدينة ٱلملك عبد ٱلله ٱلطبية)
• Khulais General Hospital (مستشفى خليص ٱلعام)
• Al Камель General Hospital (مستشفى ٱلكامل ٱلعام)
• Больница Ибн Сина (مُسْتَشْفَى ابْن سِيْنَا بِحَدَاء / بَحْرَه)

Есть также много клиник, доступных как для жителей, так и для паломников. Во время хаджа создается несколько временных клиник для оказания помощи раненым паломникам.

Последствия пандемии COVID-19

В феврале 2020 года Саудовская Аравия временно запретила иностранцам въезд в Мекку и Медину для смягчения последствий пандемии COVID-19 в Королевстве.

Культура

Мечеть Аль-Харам и Кааба

На культуру Мекки повлияло большое количество паломников, которые ежегодно прибывают, и поэтому может похвастаться богатым культурное наследие. В результате того, что в город ежегодно приезжает огромное количество паломников, Мекка на сегодняшний день стала самым разнообразным городом мусульманского мира. В отличие от остальной части Саудовской Аравии, и в частности Неджд, Мекка, согласно The New York Times, стала «поразительным оазисом свободы мысли и дискуссий, а также маловероятный либерализм, поскольку мекканцы считают себя оплотом против надвигающегося экстремизма, который охватил многие исламские дебаты «.

Al Baik, местная сеть ресторанов быстрого питания, очень популярна как среди паломников, так и среди местных жителей. До 2018 года он был доступен только в Мекке, Медине и Джидде, и поездки в Джидду, чтобы попробовать жареную курицу, были обычным делом.

Спорт

В досовременной Мекке самыми распространенными видами спорта были импровизированная борьба и пешие скачки. Футбол сейчас самый популярный вид спорта в Мекке и королевстве, и в городе расположены одни из старейших спортивных клубов Саудовской Аравии, такие как Al Wahda FC (основан в 1945 году). Стадион Короля Абдель Азиза — самый большой стадион в Мекке, вмещающий 38000 человек.

Демография

Мекка очень густонаселенная. Большинство постоянных жителей Мекки живут в Старом городе, в районе Великой мечети, и многие из них работают, чтобы поддерживать паломников, что в местном масштабе известно как индустрия хаджа. Процитировали ‘Ияд Мадани, министр Саудовской Аравии по вопросам хаджа: «Мы никогда не прекращаем подготовку к хаджу».

Круглый год паломники стекаются в город, чтобы совершить обряды’ умры, а в последние недели одиннадцатого исламского месяца, Зу аль-Киада, в среднем 2-4 миллиона мусульман прибывают в город, чтобы принять участие в обрядах, известных как хадж. Паломники принадлежат к разным этническим группам и национальностям, в основном Южной и Юго-Восточной Азии, Европе и Африке. Многие из этих паломников остались и стали жителями города. Бирманцы — более старое, более устоявшееся сообщество, насчитывающее примерно 250 000 человек. Вдобавок к этому открытие нефти за последние 50 лет привлекло сотни тысяч рабочих иммигрантов.

Немусульманам не разрешается въезжать в Мекку в соответствии с законодательством Саудовской Аравии, а использование поддельных документов для этого может привести к аресту и судебному преследованию. Запрет распространяется на ахмади, поскольку они считаются немусульманами. Тем не менее, город посетили многие немусульмане и ахмади, поскольку эти ограничения соблюдаются слабо. Первый такой зарегистрированный пример въезда в город немусульманина — это случай Людовико ди Вартема из Болоньи в 1503 году. Гуру Нанак Сахиб, основатель сикхизма, посетил Мекку в декабре 1518 года. Одним из самых известных был Ричард Фрэнсис Бертон, который путешествовал как Кадирийа суфий из Афганистана в 1853.

Провинция Мекка — единственная провинция, где экспатриантов больше, чем саудовцев.

Архитектурные достопримечательности

Украшают южный фасад Масджид аль-Харам, Комплекс Абрадж аль-Байт, возвышающийся над Великой мечетью, представляет собой комплекс из семи зданий с центральной часовой башней длиной 601 м (1972 фута), что делает его четвертым по высоте зданием в мире. Все семь зданий в комплексе также образуют третье по площади здание по площади.

Ворота Мекки, известные в народе как Ворота Корана, на западном входе в город Мекка., или из Джидды. Расположенный на шоссе 40, он отмечает границу зоны Харам, в которую немусульманам запрещен въезд. Ворота были спроектированы в 1979 году египетским архитектором Самиром Елабдом для архитектурной фирмы IDEA Center. По структуре книга, представляющая Коран, сидящая на рихале, или подставке для книг.

Связь

Пресса и газеты

Первый печать была доставлена ​​в Мекку в 1885 году Османом Нури-пашой, османом Вали. В хашимитский период на нем печатали официальную газету города Аль-Кибла. Режим Саудовской Аравии расширил эту прессу до более крупной операции, представив новый саудовский официальный вестник Мекки, Умм аль-Кура. В Мекке также есть собственная газета, принадлежащая городу, Аль-Надва. Однако другие саудовские газеты также доступны в Мекке, такие как Saudi Gazette, Al Madinah, Okaz и Al Bilad, а также в другие международные газеты.

TV

В начале правления Саудовской Аравии особое внимание уделялось телекоммуникациям в городе. Король Абдулазиз настаивал на них, поскольку он видел в них средство удобства и лучшего управления. При Хусейне бин Али во всем городе было около 20 таксофонов; в 1936 году их число выросло до 450, что составляет около половины телефонных аппаратов в стране. За это время телефонные линии были продлены до Джидды и Таифа, но не до столицы, Эр-Рияда. К 1985 году в Мекке, как и в других городах Саудовской Аравии, была современная телефонная связь, телекс, радио и телевидение. Многие телевизионные станции, обслуживающие город, включают Saudi TV1, Saudi TV2, Saudi TV Sports, Al-Ekhbariya, Arab Сеть радио и телевидения и различные поставщики кабельного, спутникового и другого специализированного телевидения.

Радио

Ограниченная радиосвязь была установлена ​​в Королевстве при Хашемитах. В 1929 году беспроводные станции были установлены в различных городах региона, создав сеть, которая станет полностью функциональной к 1932 году. Вскоре после Второй мировой войны существующая сеть была значительно расширена и улучшена. С тех пор радиосвязь широко использовалась для направления паломников и обращения к паломникам. Эта практика началась в 1950 году с начала радиовещания в День Арафа (9 зуль-хиджа) и увеличивалась до 1957 года, когда Radio Makkah стало самой мощной станцией на Ближнем Востоке. на 50 кВт. Позже мощность была увеличена в 9 раз до 450 кВт. Музыка не сразу стала транслироваться, но постепенно появилась народная музыка.

Транспорт

Воздушный транспорт

Терминал хаджа

Единственный аэропорт, расположенный недалеко от Мекки, — это восточный аэропорт Мекки. не активный. Мекка в основном обслуживается Международным аэропортом Короля Абдулазиза в Джидде для международных и региональных рейсов и Региональным аэропортом Таиф для региональных рейсов. Чтобы обслужить большое количество паломников хаджа, в этом аэропорту есть терминал для хаджа, специально предназначенный для использования в сезон хаджа, который может одновременно принимать 47 самолетов и принимать 3800 паломников в час во время сезона хаджа.

Дороги

Мекка, похожая на Медину, расположена на стыке двух важнейших автомагистралей Саудовской Аравии, автомагистрали 40, соединяющей ее с важным портовым городом Джидда на западе и столицей Эр-Рияд и другой крупный портовый город, Даммам, на востоке. Другой, шоссе 15, соединяет Мекку с другим священным исламским городом Мединой примерно в 400 км (250 миль) на севере и далее до Табук и Иордания. Находясь на юге, он соединяет Мекку с Абхой и Джизаном. Мекка обслуживается четырьмя кольцевыми дорогами, и они очень многолюдны по сравнению с тремя кольцевыми дорогами Медины.

Скоростной транспорт

Метро Аль-Машаер Аль Мукаддасса

Метро Аль Маша’ер Аль Мукаддасса — это линия метро в Мекке, открытая 13 ноября 2010 года. 18.1- километровое (11,2 мили) надземное метро перевозит паломников к святым местам ‘Арафат, Муздалифа и Мина в городе, чтобы уменьшить заторы на дорогах и Работает только во время сезона хаджа . Он состоит из девяти станций, по три в каждом из вышеупомянутых городов.

Метро Мекки

Схема проезда метрополитена Мекки

Метро Мекки, официально известное как Массовый железнодорожный транспорт Мекки, представляет собой запланированное метро с четырьмя линиями система для города. Это будет в дополнение к метро Al Masha’er Al Muqaddassah, которое перевозит паломников.

Железная дорога

Въездные ворота Мекки на шоссе Джадда Мекка

Междугородние

В 2018 году высокоскоростная междугородняя железнодорожная линия, входящая в проект высокоскоростной железной дороги Харамайн, названная линия высокоскоростной железной дороги Харамайн, введена в эксплуатацию, соединяя священные города, города Мекку и Медину вместе через Джидду, короля Абдулазиза Международный аэропорт и Экономический город короля Абдаллы в Рабиг. Железная дорога состоит из 35 электропоездов и способна перевозить 60 млн пассажиров ежегодно. Каждый поезд может развивать скорость до 300 км / ч (190 миль / ч), преодолевая общее расстояние 450 км (280 миль), сокращая время в пути между двумя городами до менее двух часов. Он был построен бизнес-консорциумом из Испании.

См. Также

• Шарифат Мекки

Ссылки

Библиография

• редакторы книг Time-Life. (1999). Какой была жизнь на земле пророка: исламский мир, 570–1405 гг. Книги времени жизни. ISBN 978-0-7835-5465-5.
• Лапидус, Ира М. (1988). История исламских обществ. Издательство Кембриджского университета. ISBN 978-0-521-22552-6.

Дополнительная литература

• Бьянка, Стефано (2000), «Пример 1: Священные города ислама. — Влияние общественного транспорта и быстрых городских изменений «, Городская форма в арабском мире, Цюрих: ETH Zurich, ISBN 978-3-7281-1972 -8, 0500282056
• Босуорт, К. Эдмунд, изд. (2007). «Мекка». Исторические города исламского мира. Лейден: Конинклийке Брилл.
• Дампер, Майкл Р. Т.; Стэнли, Брюс Э., ред. (2008), «Мекка», города Ближнего Востока и Северной Африки, Санта-Барбара, Калифорния: ABC-CLIO
• Розенталь, Франц; Ибн Халдун (1967). Мукаддима: Введение в историю. Издательство Принстонского университета. ISBN 978-0-691-09797-8.
• Уотт, У. Монтгомери. «Мекка — доисламский и ранний исламский периоды». Энциклопедия ислама. Под редакцией: П. Бирман, Т. Бианкис, К.Е.Босуорт, Э. ван Донзель и В.П. Генрихс. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 6 июня 2008 г.
• Уиндер, Р. Б. «Мекка — современный город». Энциклопедия ислама. Под редакцией: П. Бирман, Т. Бианкис, К.Е.Босуорт, Э. ван Донзель и В.П. Генрихс. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 2008
• «Курайшиты». Encyclopædia Britannica. Краткая энциклопедия Британики (онлайн). 2007. Проверено 19 февраля 2007.

Внешние ссылки

• Священный муниципалитет Мекки
• Саудовский информационный ресурс — Священная Мекка
• Персональный рассказ о паломничестве в Аль-Медину и Мекку, Ричард Бертон