Egyptian Hajj Route

The Egyptian Hajj Route is one of the seven most important pilgrimage and trade routes that linked the Islamic world to the Arabian Peninsula throughout history, namely the Kufi Hajj Route, the Basri Hajj Route, the Shami Hajj Route, the Egyptian Hajj Route, the Yemeni coastal Hajj Route, the Yemeni inland Hajj Route and the Omani Hajj Route. [1]

Alongside the pilgrims of Egypt, the route was taken by pilgrims from the Maghreb, Al-Andalus and West Africa from the beginning of the Islamic era, making it a path of communication between the parts of the Islamic world and a link to the Two Holy Mosques. [1]

Pilgrims continued to travel the coastal land route until the middle of the fifth Hijri century, and then turned to travelling by sea by way of the Aydhab route; among the causes were the events Egypt witnessed in the Fatimid era and the Fatimids' inability to pay the expenses of the route, and then the Crusaders' occupation of Ayla, which had been the most important station on the route and its only crossing to the Arabian Peninsula. [2] In the stage of the Aydhab route, use of the land route in northern Sinai ceased: the pilgrims of Egypt sailed the Nile vessels to the city of Qus in Qena Governorate in Upper Egypt, then travelled by caravans to the port of Aydhab, and then crossed the sea to Jeddah. [1]

The route was halted for about two centuries, which left its mark on its buildings, and then the movement of pilgrims returned to the coastal land route in the era of the Mamluk Sultan Al-Zahir Baybars, beginning with the pilgrimage season of 667 AH. [2] In the third stage the pilgrim caravans returned to using the coastal land route, and in the fourth stage the pilgrims ceased to use the land route and turned to the sea route from Suez. [1]

Use of the sea route in pilgrimage journeys appeared intensively from the first to the seventh Hijri century; it was taken by pilgrims from Egypt, the Maghreb, Al-Andalus, the islands of the Mediterranean and the rest of the countries of Africa, who would reach Egypt by sea, then Cairo and Aydhab, and from there to Jeddah, Yanbu or Al-Jar. [3]

Spatially the route is divided into three stages: the first begins at the Barakat al-Hajj area, which still stands under the name of the village of Al-Baraka and belongs to the Al-Marj district of Cairo Governorate, then the Al-Buwayb area and then Ujrud, with a distance of 150 kilometres between them; the second extends from Ujrud to the town of Nakhl in central Sinai, with a similar length of 150 kilometres; and the third runs from Nakhl to Ayla, present-day Aqaba on the Gulf of Aqaba, with a length of 200 kilometres. [1] The pilgrim caravans covered each of these three stages in about three days, and the journey from Barakat al-Hajj to the Ayla pass took nine days. [1]

The pilgrims then headed southward along the Red Sea through Haql, Madyan, Yanbu, Badr, Rabigh and Batn Marr to Makkah, passing through the Tabuk region at the far northern end of the route. [1] The stations of the route along its length include Al-Munsarif, Nakhl, Bi'r al-Qurays, Arqoub al-Baghla, Sath al-Aqaba and then the Ayla pass, and after it Haql, Al-Sharaf, Mugha'ir Shu'ayb, Aynunah, Tayrim, Al-Muwaylih, Wadi al-Ghal, Duba, Al-Aznam, Barakat Antar, Qal'at al-Wajh, Wadi al-Arja, Barakat Akra, Bi'r al-Qarawi, Al-Hawra, Nabt, Wadi al-Nar, the Seven Roughs, Al-Dahna and Wasit to Badr, then Rabigh, Khulays and Usfan to Makkah. [2]

The caravan spent a full month on the route between Makkah and Cairo. [2]

The first route taken by the pilgrims of Egypt and the Maghreb was the Qus–Aydhab route in Upper Egypt: the pilgrims left Cairo before the month of Ramadan, then headed south through Egypt for 640 kilometres to the city of Qus, then covered 160 kilometres to the port of Aydhab on the Red Sea coast opposite the port of Jeddah, and remained two months waiting for the vessels that carried them across the Red Sea to Jeddah and then to Makkah. [1]

The Yanbu route was more widely used for the return of the pilgrims of Egypt, the Maghreb, Sudan, Yemen, Russia and India, and the port of Al-Tur was used at times; Ibn Khaldun related that when he set out for the pilgrimage he rode from Al-Tur to Yanbu, and on his return he stayed in Yanbu for fifty days before going back to Egypt in the year 789 AH. [3]

The Egyptian archaeological mission working at the site of the archaeological port of Aydhab in the Halayeb area on the Red Sea coast uncovered a group of huge water reservoirs and cisterns, together with a number of buildings and service facilities; the water cisterns were an essential element in supporting navigation and trade, as well as in meeting the needs of the pilgrims arriving at the port on their way to the Holy Places. [5]

The Centre for the History of the Red Sea and Western Saudi Arabia, affiliated with the King Abdulaziz Foundation, published the book “The Strategic Importance of the Red Sea in the Ayyubid Era (567–648 AH/1171–1250 AD)” by Shahla bint Saad Al-Khalidi; the Red Sea is the only sea route that connects Muslims to the Holy Places, and among its markets are Aydhab, Jeddah, Ayla and Makkah. [4]

The Egyptian Hajj Route was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2015 through joint cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Republic of Egypt, for its value as a shared civilisational heritage linking the Holy Places to the parts of the Islamic world. [1]

Q: What is the Egyptian Hajj Route? A: One of the seven most important pilgrimage and trade routes that linked the Islamic world to the Arabian Peninsula; it was taken by pilgrims from Egypt, the Maghreb, Al-Andalus and West Africa from the beginning of the Islamic era. [1]

Q: What are the spatial stages into which the route is divided? A: Three stages; from Barakat al-Hajj to Ujrud over a distance of 150 kilometres, from Ujrud to Nakhl in central Sinai over a distance of 150 kilometres, and from Nakhl to Ayla (Aqaba) over a distance of 200 kilometres. [1]

Q: How long does the journey take? A: Nine days from Barakat al-Hajj to the Ayla pass, and a full month between Cairo and Makkah. [1][2]

Q: When was the route inscribed on the World Heritage Tentative List? A: In 2015. [1]

Q: When did the movement of pilgrims return to the coastal land route? A: In the era of the Mamluk Sultan Al-Zahir Baybars, beginning with the pilgrimage season of 667 AH. [2]

The Egyptian Hajj Route combines being one of the seven most important pilgrimage and trade routes with stations and stopping places stretching from Cairo to Makkah, and it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2015. [1] Related topics on the platform include the Shami Hajj Route, Darb Zubaydah, the Grand Mosque and the Madinah region.