Wadi al-Qura, the 'valley of villages', runs south from the sandstone country of al-Hijr (the Nabataean tombs of Mada'in Salih) towards Medina, with springs and palm gardens.
Its market town since early Islam, Qurh (the site of al-Mabiyat), thrived from about 650 and declined at some time before 1230; the walled old town of al-Ula (al-Dira), built with stones from the Dedanite and Lihyanite ruins, is put in the thirteenth century (Wikipedia, AlUla, uncited). On 1 January 1200, then, Qurh is probably still the valley's market, shrinking, and al-Ula an oasis of gardens not yet the walled town it became. The Syrian pilgrim road passes here from Tabuk to Medina.
After 1200 Qatada holds Wadi al-Qura until the emirs of Medina take it.
Who holds it
- Name
- not known for 1200
- Title
- not known
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Qatada later holds Wadi al-Qura until Qasim ibn Jammaz of Medina takes it (after 1215); its master in 1200 is not pinned.
Lord in 1200
Not pinned: the farming villages under Bedouin protection; later disputed between the emirs of Mecca and Medina
How things stand that morning
No ruler named.
Council
Not recorded.
Communities
Oasis farmers; Bali, Anaza and other Bedouin round the valley.
Fairs and markets
Passage of the Syrian pilgrim caravan (before the hajj, about August-September 1200).
Walls and castle
Not described for 1200; the walled old town of al-Ula is later (thirteenth century).
Trade and crafts
Dates, grain, citrus; supplies for the Syrian caravan.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- Before the hajj of 596 (about August 1200)The Syrian pilgrim caravan passes down the valley to Medina.Depends on: Al-Adil's government in Syria and safe roads. Stopped by: War in Syria or Bedouin hostility.
Where the sources disagree
- The brief names al-Ula as the town of Wadi al-Qura; for 1 January 1200 the walled town of al-Ula is probably not yet built and the old market town Qurh is in decline.
Evidence: Mostly archaeological and later evidence; the dating of Qurh's decline and al-Ula's rise is loose.
On the map: Position of al-Mabiyat approximate (about 20 km south of al-Ula).
Primary sources for The Bedouin
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of the Observant Traveller (A Traveller in Thirteenth-Century Arabia), Ibn al-Mujawir (Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Ya'qub) (about 1226 to 1232). A merchant-traveller's description of western and southern Arabia a generation after 1200: Mecca and the Hijaz ports, the Red Sea crossing, Zabid and the Tihama, Aden with its customs and tariffs, the Hadramawt coast, Dhofar and Oman, Socotra, and the opposite African shore at Zeila and the Dahlak islands. Read online
Sources and studies
- Qatada ibn Idris (Arabic Wikipedia)
- AlUla (English Wikipedia): al-Mabiyat's decline before 1230 and the thirteenth-century old town
- al-Hamdani, Sifat Jazirat al-Arab (tenth century), the standard description of the tribes and places of the Sarat, Najd and the Hejaz, as used in the Wikipedia tribal articles cited here
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.