Page 179 - Arabian Studies (I)

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i The Pilgrimage to Mecca in Mamluk Times 163
Amir al-Hajj. However, a messenger conveying letters from the
Syrian pilgrims was annually dispatched on the return journey of the
caravan from the stations of Tabuk or Al-‘Ula, arriving at Damascus
seven to ten days ahead of the caravan. 1 I 0

Under the second heading we may group those officials who are not
clearly indicated as having been appointed to the caravans during the
Mamluk period. They arc enumerated by JazTrT (who himself was an
official in the Egyptian pilgrimage of the tenth/sixteenth century) as'
forming part of the staff of the Egyptian Amir al-Hajj in his own
time, and, except in a few cases, no indication is given as to whether
these appointments were made during Mamluk times. In view of the
possibility that most, if not all, of these offices existed during
Mamluk times vve shall briefly enumerate these officials below. 1 1 1
(a) Amir Akhur. There were at least four officers bearing the title
of Amir Akhur in the Egyptian caravan. The first supervised the
horses in the stable of the Amir al-Hajj while the rest were in
general charge of the camels transporting the supplies and
equipment which accompanied the Amir al-Hajj.
(b) Shadd al-Samh. He controlled the food supplies carried in the
caravan for the maintenance of the Amir al-Hajj, his officials,
troops and servants.
(c) Shadd al-Matbakh. He was in charge of the kitchen of the
Amir al-Hajj and supervised the distribution of meals at the main
stations along the route.1 12 Under the supervision of this Shadd
were the cooks, whose number is not stated by JazTrT.
id) Shadd al-Saqqa’ln. He commanded the water carriers and
supervised the distribution of water among the officials of the
caravan. At the beginning of the Ottoman occupation of Egypt
the caravan used to be supplied with 16,000 waterskins (qirbah),
for the transportation of which 220 camels were provided. Both
the waterskins and camels had to be supplied by the Amir al-Hajj.
Ibn Battutah, who, in 726/1326, accompanied the caravan from
Damascus to the Holy Cities, describes the watering of the Syrian
pilgrims from a well at the station of Tabuk as follows: ‘It was the
general practice of the water carriers to climb down the sides of
the well. They had troughs made of buffalo skins, which
resembled great reservoirs, from which the camels were watered
and waterskins were filled. Each emir and dignitary owned a
trough of his own from which his camels and those of his
followers were watered and their waterskins filled. As for other
people, they concluded agreements with the water carriers to
water their camels and fill their waterskins for a fixed sum.1 1