The ruined rest house (qsar) at Umm Al-Qurun, February 2024
The Rest-stop and Manara of Umm Al-Qurun on the Darb Zubaydah
Richard Wilding & Rajwan Al-Maiyali
September 2024
This report was written for the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) as a summary of work undertaken with funding from the ASOR Shepard Urgent Action Grant.
Camel caravan travelling at night, depicted in an engraving by Gaston Vuillier to illustrate the story “A Pilgrimage to Nejd, the Cradle of the Arab Race”, by Lady Anne Blunt, 1878-1879
Hajj Pilgrimage Routes
The annual Islamic pilgrimage (hajj) to the holy city of Makkah is one of the five pillars of Islam and ranks among the most significant religious journeys in the world. To this day, millions of Muslim pilgrims travel to Makkah each year to fulfil this sacred obligation.
For centuries before the advent of modern air travel, pilgrims travelled long distances by land and sea. In addition to their religious function, the pilgrimage routes also served as important arteries for commercial and cultural exchange.
The hajj routes followed pre-Islamic trade pathways but gradually evolved to accommodate the specific needs of Islamic pilgrimage. Various routes emerged and flourished during different historical eras, adapting to the rise and fall of successive Islamic empires. Early Muslim historians and geographers documented major roads connecting Makkah with Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Oman.
Detail from a map of hajj routes to Makkah published in 1883, showing the Egyptian caravan from Cairo, the Syrian caravan from Damascus, the Darb Zubaydah from Kufa (Najaf), and the Najd caravan from Al Uqayr (Hofuf) on the Gulf.
The Darb Zubaydah
The hajj route connecting the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Baghdad to Makkah was known as the Darb Zubaydah. It grew in importance during the first hundred years of the Abbasid Caliphate from 750 to 850 CE, a period renowned as a golden age of Muslim civilisation. The flourishing Abbasid economy greatly increased the numbers of pilgrims able to undertake the journey to Makkah, exerting greater pressure on the limited water and food resources available in a 1,300 km stretch of desert with no permanent lakes or rivers.
The Darb Zubaydah was named in honour of Zubaydah bint Jafar, wife of the Abbasid Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, recognising enhancements made to infrastructure along the route under her patronage. Zubaydah had witnessed the hardships endured by pilgrims when undertaking the hajj in 792 CE and dedicated her considerable power and resources to improving pilgrims’ safety and comfort.
The Darb Zubaydah route from Kufa to Makkah and Madinah
The Abbasids originally constructed a series of 27 stations between Kufa and Makkah at intervals suited to the travelling speed of donkeys, horses and camels. They were built at regular distances calculated in barid, a unit of measurement also meaning “postal service”, reflecting the postal and intelligence network that developed alongside the pilgrimage trail to help the Abbasid Caliphs maintain communication and control across their wide empire.
An additional 27 intermediate stations were later added to cater for the increasing number of pedestrian pilgrims, while improvements were also made to the original 27 main stations. The new and enhanced infrastructure included a system of wells, cisterns and dams to provide water for travellers and their animals. Caravanserais, palaces and forts were constructed to improve the pilgrims’ safety and comfort, and some stretches of the route were paved. A series of milestones and markers were installed, with the addition of lighthouses to guide pilgrims who often travelled at night to avoid the daytime heat.
Pilgrims and their animals gather around a water cistern on the Darb Zubaydah
In the 10th century, a break in relations between Iraq and Makkah affected the ability of Iraqi and Persian Muslims to undertake the pilgrimage, leading to the progressive decline of the Darb Zubaydah. It was partially revitalised in the 11th century, but never recovered the status of its heyday in the 8th century.
The final organized pilgrimage was carried out in 1243 CE during the reign of Al-Musta’sim, the 37th and last Abbasid caliph ruling from Baghdad. In the following centuries, the trail was almost completely abandoned by pilgrims who forged new routes to Makkah. The last two centuries have seen even more dramatic changes to hajj travel, with the emergence of European maritime companies, the opening of the Suez Canal, the Ottoman Hijaz railway, and finally the arrival of air transport from the mid-20th century.
Major rest-stops in southern Iraq
1 Umm al-Qurun
2 Talhat
3 Sharaf
4 Al-Aqaba
UNESCO Nomination
The Darb Zubaydah is a transnational nomination for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, jointly submitted by the Republic of Iraq and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It comprises a series of key stations dating from the Abbasid period on the route between Kufa and Makkah. This nomination is part of a long-term programme that also aims to inscribe other hajj pilgrimage routes including the Egyptian and Syrian hajj roads.
The section of the Darb Zubaydah located in present-day Iraq covers approximately 1/5th of the total length of the route, while the other 4/5th is located in present-day Saudi Arabia. The nomination includes 13 sites, four in Iraq and nine in Saudi Arabia. The four sites in Iraq, from north to south, are the stations at Umm al-Qurun, Talhat, Sharaf and Al-Aqaba.
South and East sides of rest house (qsar), September 2024
Umm Al-Qurun
The pilgrim station of Umm Al-Qurun lies 56 km south of Kufa in the Wadi Al-Seba’. It is the first surviving rest-stop on the Darb Zubaydah heading south from Kufa towards Makkah, and the northernmost site of the UNESCO transnational nomination.
The site comprises a pilgrim station complex equipped with water and residential facilities, and a unique surviving example of a manara, or lighthouse, built to guide pilgrims travelling by night.
The station complex includes a square-shaped rest house (qsar), two basins (birka) and two square wells. Although largely filled with sand, the basins are covered with wild vegetation that indicates more humid soil still present in contrast to the surrounding desert.
View of manara showing the collapsed cylindrical section and foundation section, September 2024
Manara
The manara (lighthouse) of Umm Al-Qurun stands alone in the desert 1.35 km from the station. Its separate location was possibly due to the need for siting on higher ground, whereas the station complex needed to be located at a lower elevation for its wells and cisterns.
The manara has collapsed at an undefined date. The remains of the fallen tower reveal an interior made of fired bricks that likely contained a staircase to access the roof. The cylindrical tower, decorated externally with geometrical patterns, was built over a two-meter-high stone square substructure, and probably reached a total height of 12 metres.
Modern road construction on the route of the Darb Zubaydah, September 2024
Contemporary Developments
Being the closest surviving station on the Darb Zubaydah to the city of Najaf, the surviving architecture at Umm Al-Qurun, especially the lighthouse (manara) and rest house (qsar), has been vulnerable to intentional and unintentional damage. Both structures are now in an extremely vulnerable state and in need of greater protection and stabilisation.
One particularly concerning development is the construction of a modern tarmacked road from Najaf along the route of the Darb Zubaydah. In addition to potentially disrupting important archaeology relating to the hajj route, the road passes extremely close to the site of Umm Al-Qurun, even passing between the station complex and manara.
Groundworks associated with the road building have resulted in the digging of numerous ditches close to the manara, and tracks left by bulldozers demonstrate how easily damage could be inflicted, even unintentionally, to this unique historical structure. The road will also improve access to the site by private and commercial traffic from Najaf, increasing the risk of intentional and unintentional damage.
The situation is complicated by the combination of control by both Government and non-Government entities in the region. Whereas the road is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport in Baghdad, Shia militia (al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī) control check points along the route.
Fencing installed around manara site, September 2024
Project Outcomes
Funding from ASOR has allowed the project team led by Rajwan Al-Maiyali from the University of Al-Qadisiyah and heritage consultant Richard Wilding to complete the following measures:
1. Emergency protection measures around the manara including the erection of a protective fence and covering of the manara structure.
2. Documentation through photography and drone filming of all structures at Umm Al-Qurun in their current state of preservation.
3. Community engagement with local stakeholders to increase awareness of the site’s importance and need for greater protection
Emergency Protection Measures
The most urgent undertaking has been to erect a fence around the manara, which was undertaken in early September. This emphasizes the historical importance of the structure and prevents any unintentional damage to the site through bulldozing or other groundworks. Additionally, the two main sections of the collapsed manara have been covered with protective netting to prevent erosion.
West side of manara, September 2024
Photographic Documentation
In addition to photographing the manara before and after the emergency protection measures, the team has also undertaken photography and drone filming of the other structures at Umm Al-Qurun, including the rest house (qsar), basins (birka) and wells.
Cistern walls with qsar in distance, September 2024
Large well, September 2024
Seminar hosted by the Association of Literature and Writers in Najaf, 14 September 2024
