Page 19 - Arabian Studies (V)

The Identification of the Wadi ’l-Qura 9
of al-‘Ula and Tabuk.69 Also al-'Abdari, on his pilgrimage in A.D.
1289, mentions that the Syrian pilgrim caravan departed from
Medina by way of al-Mu'alla80 (al-‘Ula). None of these writers
mentioned Wadi ’l-Qura.
It is certain that the disappearance of the name of Wadi ’l-Qura
was a result of the disappearance of its principal town, Qurh, all
trace of which vanished completely from the area, even the memory
of its name. In the present day no one knows anything of Qurh,
and all we have are references in historical and literary books. As to
its location and remains, nothing is known whatsoever.
Doughty was bewildered because he found no living memory of
the busy trading town Qurh. He says, ‘I have enquired among all
the nomads, but they had not heard of it; the lettered men of al-
Ally [al-*Ula] had no notice of such a name.’81
Doughty’s surprise reminds me of what al-Fayruzabadl relates
when he enquired of the nobles and princes, the theologians and
general public in Medina about Fadak. They all replied that the
name of Fadak was totally unknown to them.82 Al-SamhudI was
also surprised at the lack of knowledge of Fadak on the part of the
people of Medina. His surprise was likewise due to the fame and
nearness of Fadak to Medina.83
At any rate, if we trace the location of Wadi ’l-Qura and its
capital, Qurh, according to the ancient Arab geographers, we find
that they claim that Wadi ’l-Qura was situated between al-Hijr in the
north, and al-Ruhbah or al-Suqya, in the south. Moreover, they
say that the distance between al-Ruhbah, or al-Suqya in the south,
and Wadi ’l-Qura is a day’s journey by camel, and the distance
between Wadi ’l-Qura and al-Hijr in the north, is also a day’s jour­
ney. Neither al-Ruhbah or al-Suqya is known today, but al-Hijr has
continued to be inhabited, and known by this name and also by the
name Mada’in Salih. This is contrary to the claim of Vidal that the
name of ai-Hijrdisappeared.84
A1-Hasan al-Isfaham, one of the classical geographers, concurs
with others, that al-Suqya lies to the south of Wadi ’l-Qura, but he
does not mention that al-Hijr is in the north, but says that al-‘AwalI
is the village situated to the north of Wadi ’l-Qura. We consider,
however, that al-‘AwalI is in fact al-‘Ula, and was probably a
hamlet of the valley of al-Qura, or was a fortress (utum) of the
valley, as it is claimed in the ‘Umdat al-akhbar,85
However, after the disappearance of the names of Wadi ’l-Qura
and Qurh and after al-‘Ula became a famous city in the area, we
find that certain more recent Arab travellers, such as Ibn Battu-
tah,86 and Hajjl Khalifah,87 etc., state that the distance between al-
Hijr and al-‘Ula, is half a day’s journey only or even less. A day’s