CAIRO -

The pilgrimage journey in the past was not as easy as we see now. The pilgrims of the Sacred House of God used to travel long distances and roam the desert and valleys on foot, or on the back of animals until they reached the Sacred House of God and perform the rites of Hajj, then cross that journey and its hardships again returning for their country.

The princes and sultans in Egypt gave the “pilgrimage route” a lot of their concerns, in terms of paving, insurance, building forts, providing watering, and building the Egyptian pilgrimage trail in the “Sinai Peninsula,” during the various stages of history, such as the Fatimid, Mamluk, Ottoman sultans and the family of Muhammad Ali Pasha.

Their interest reached their maximum with the departure of the covering of the Kaaba to pass this path accompanied by pilgrims every year since the era of the Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab until it stopped coming from Egypt in the modern era.

The traveler divided the "Egyptian Hajj Trail" into stages and stations that the pilgrims used to pass through, starting from the "Hajj pool" north of Cairo, to Suez, and Dar Al-Hamra, and from Ajrud to Nakhl to Ella and then to Aqaba, in the Sinai, which are the same areas that the pilgrims pass through. Now who use the road.

Nakhal fortress in central Sinai on the Egyptian pilgrimage trail.

Photo by Dr. Sami Saleh Abdel Malik Al-Bayadi (Al-Jazeera)

The beginning of Andalusia

In order to know the paths that pilgrimage convoys have taken since the dawn of Islam, starting from the countries of Andalusia and the Far, Middle and Near Maghreb, passing through Egypt and reaching the Two Holy Mosques, Al Jazeera Net meets with Dr. Sami Saleh Abdel Malik Al-Bayadi, Director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and head of the mission working on the pilgrimage route since 1993 Until now, with its archaeological discoveries and valuable literature on the Egyptian pilgrimage trail.

Al-Bayadi says that the Maghreb-Egyptian pilgrimage route with its tributaries and branches is divided into two main parts. The first starts from the major cities in Andalusia, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, reaching Egypt in the place where the caravans gather;

Where is the "Al-Jib" pool, northeast of Cairo, which became known as "Birkat Al-Hajj" for the disembarkation of pilgrims before the departure of the caravan, accompanied by the bearer and the Hajj caravan.

He adds that this road has two main tracks, one of which starts from the ports of the coasts of Andalusia and North Africa until reaching the coasts of Egypt, especially the port of Alexandria, and then the Suez Canal after its construction and opening in 1286 AH / 1869 AD.

Nakhl Castle after excavations.

Photo by Dr. Sami Saleh Abdel Malik Al-Bayadi (Al-Jazeera)

The other is wild and has two paths;

Coastal and inland desert through the oases, and they have tributaries and branches in which several official passengers travel, such as the "Hajj Al-Salihi", Al-Fassi, Al-Sijilmasi, Al-Marrakchi, Al-Walati, Al-Shanqeeti, Al-Bahri, Al-Jazaery, Al-Tunisi, and Trabelsi rides.

The pilgrimage route in Andalusia and North Africa has several tributaries and branches. From Andalusia, we find caravans departing from small cities and villages to large cities such as Cordoba, Toledo and Seville, and from there to the southern coastal port cities where the caravans depart, either from the sea to Alexandria, and then continue their journey by land, or Through the Nile to Cairo, and from there by land with the Egyptian pilgrimage convoy, or it may be via the sea to the ports of North Africa and from it by land on the coast road to Alexandria or Cairo.

Planning the "Nakhl" castle by Dr. Sami Saleh Abdul Malik Al-Bayadi (Al-Jazeera)

Timbuktu and Ghadames

According to Dr. Sami Al-Bayadi, from Africa comes the secondary path coming from Nouakchott, known in the country of Chinguetti, to Rabat in Morocco, and this path is a main point for the assembly of the rest of West African cities and countries, and perhaps one of its most important tributaries and branches from West and Central Africa is the city of Timbuktu in Mali, and from there to Ain Saleh in Algeria And from there to the city of Kairouan or the oasis of Ghadames, and it meets the coastal road, whether in Kairouan or Tripoli.


There is a branch from the city of Gao, northeastern Mali, and from there to Tadmakia, a historical city belonging to the state of Kidal, in the far north of Mali, near the Algerian border. Where is the coastal road, and to the east is "Ghat", and from there to "Awgla", where is the coastal road leading to Alexandria or the Libyan oasis of Jaghbub, and from there to Siwa Oasis, the Nile Valley, and all the way to Cairo.

Layout of Ajrud tower, well and ponds, northwest of Suez on the Egyptian Hajj Road.

Written by Dr. Sami Saleh Abdul Malik Al-Bayadi (Al Jazeera)

Central and West African pilgrims

Al-Bayadi told Al Jazeera Net, "We move here to the pilgrims of Central and West Africa to learn about the historical and geographical value of the Egyptian pilgrimage trail, where the path known as the Savannah Road (a tropical road north or south of the equator, includes Sudan, Chad, Niger, Mali, and some areas of Mauritania and Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Benin), which is a cut in Central Africa and leads to the port of Suakin on the Red Sea, and it starts from Jana or Geneina, which is located in the central region of the Republic of Mali, and from it branches meet the northern coast road passing through North Africa, where it starts from the city of Sokoto, the farthest Northwest Nigeria, to Ghat, which lies in the western Libyan desert, and from the city of Brno in Nigeria, to the road between Ghat and Awjala, the Libyan city south of Benghazi.

Then these branches meet on the coastal road leading to Alexandria and Cairo;

We also find another branch coming from western Sudan through the “Darb Al-Arba’in” from the city of Kobe (a forgotten city in North Darfur);

Until Upper Egypt, where the city of Assiut is on the Nile, and from it across the land or the Nile in the south to the port of Aydhab, or north to Cairo, where it meets at Barakat al-Hajj, and from there to the Two Holy Mosques.

Layout of Monsters Tower, Basin and Suez Well (Al-Jazira)

Crusaders block the pilgrimage route

During the early period of the Islamic conquest of Egypt until the end of the Fatimid era, we find that the land route passed through central Sinai, and stopped with the arrival of the Franks "the Crusaders" to "Aila" (Aqaba) at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba in the year 510 AH / 1116 AD.

In addition, the majority of the facilities that were built on the "Egyptian Hajj" road during these early Islamic ages were mostly watery, such as wells, dams and water conservation ponds, and religious ones such as mosques and mosques, and a number of fortified cities, such as the city of Qalzam and the fortified city of "Aila" that was recently discovered, The city of Al-Hawra, the city and the port of Al-Jar, and the first khan was established during this period for the convenience of pilgrims, travelers and traders in the clan on the coast opposite the city of Yanbu Al-Nakhl, mentioned by the traveler Al-Maqdisi (d.

Sultan Tower "Qansuh Al-Ghouri" in "Ajrud" northwest of Suez on the Egyptian pilgrimage road.

Photo by Dr. Sami Saleh Abdel Malik Al-Bayadi (Al-Jazeera)

During the Ayyubid period, due to the presence of the Franks in the Levant, and the extension of the borders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to the city of “Aila” (Aqaba), the overland pilgrim road moved from Sinai to southern Egypt through the Nile Valley;

where "Qus", "Qeft" and "Aswan";

And from there, through the eastern desert of Egypt to the port of "Aydab", corresponding to the port of Jeddah on the eastern Hejaz coast.

Dr. Sami Al-Bayadi continues in his talk to Al-Jazeera Net about the Egyptian pilgrimage trail, saying, "In the era of the Mamluk state, Sultan Al-Zahir Baybars Al-Bandaqari ordered the manufacture of a covering for the loader, a lining and a key for the Kaaba, and he ordered that the loader walk across the land road in the Sinai desert, and the road witnessed reconstruction works for the road facilities through Two major architectural projects, the first of which was in the middle of the Mamluk state during the reign of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun, where several khans and water facilities were built in the Al-Ala’i area in the middle of Qurayd, and ponds to conserve water. Ghouri".

He added, "In the Ottoman era, some of the towers that were built in the era of the Mamluk state were expanded in order to rehabilitate them to be castles and inns at the same time, such as the fortress of Khan in Nakhl."

Al-Bayadi concluded his talk about the efforts of the "Muhammad Ali Pasha family" and their interest in the architecture of the Egyptian Hajj and Mahmal Road, so a palace was built in Dar Al-Hamra during the reign of the Governor of Egypt Abbas I, and the Hejazi castles, water pools and wells were built and restored, especially in the cities of "Ajrud, Nakhl, Aqaba, and Al-Muwailih." , a dubba, and a face."