2024 Shepard Urgent Action Grant: The Rest-stop and Minara of Umm Al-Qurun on the Darb Zubaydah
Rajwan Al-Maiyali (University of Al-Qadisiyah), Richard Wilding (Eye on Heritage)
The Darb Zubaydah
For centuries before the advent of modern air travel, pilgrims travelled long distances by land and sea. In addition to their religious function, pilgrimage routes also served as important arteries for commercial and cultural exchange. The听丑补箩箩听(the annual Islamic pilgrimage)听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
The route connecting the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Baghdad to Makkah was known as the听Darb Zubaydah.听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听Darb Zubaydah听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听丑补箩箩听in 792 CE and dedicated her considerable power and resources to improving pilgrims鈥� safety and comfort.
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听barid, a unit of measurement also meaning 鈥減ostal service鈥�, 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鈥� 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.
Umm Al-Qurun
The pilgrim station of Umm Al-Qurun lies 56 km south of Kufa in the Wadi Al-Seba鈥�. It is the first surviving rest-stop on the听Darb Zubaydah听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听manara, or lighthouse, built to guide pilgrims travelling by night.
The station complex includes a square-shaped rest house (qsar), two basins (birkat) and two square wells. Although largely filled with sand, the basins are covered with a sparse wild vegetation that indicates more humid soil in contrast to the surrounding desert.
The 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 water collection and wells.
The lighthouse tower 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.
Contemporary developments
Being the closest surviving station on the听Darb Zubaydah听to the city of Najaf, the surviving architecture at Umm Al-Qurun, especially the lighthouse (manara)听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听Darb Zubaydah. In addition to potentially disrupting important archaeology relating to the听丑补箩箩听route, the road passes extremely close to the site of Umm Al- Qurun, even passing between the station complex and听manara.
Groundworks associated with the road building have resulted in the digging of numerous ditches close to the听manara, and tracks left by bulldozers demonstrate how easily damage could be inflected, 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 to these unprotected sites.
Project Outcomes
Funding from 麻豆直播 has allowed the project team led by Rajwan Al-Maiyali from the University of Al-Qadisiyah and heritage consultant and photographer Richard Wilding to complete the following measures:
- Emergency protection measures around the听manara听including the erection of a protective fence and covering of the听manara
- Documentation through photography and drone filming of all structures at Umm Al- Qurun in their current state of preservation.
- Community engagement with local stakeholders to increase awareness of the site鈥檚 importance and need for greater protection
Photographic Documentation
In addition to photographing the听manara听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 (birkat) and wells.
Community Engagement
On 14 September 2024, as part of the project鈥檚 public outreach and engagement efforts, Rajwan Al-Maiyali and Richard Wilding gave presentations about Umm Al-Qurun and the听Darb Zubaydah听in a seminar hosted by the Association of Literature and Writers in Najaf. Following the presentations, the team answered questions posed by the audience. The event was subsequently broadcast by two national television stations in Iraq.
Further outreach work is being undertaken through visits to elders at the Great Mosque of Kufa and a forthcoming workshop being organised with the Karbala Holy Shrines Endowment.
