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P. 126
124 Travel | Jeddah
© Lucie Debelkova
1
As temperatures hot enough to fry an egg on a car bonnet before Caliph Uthman Ibn Affan made
begin to dissipate with the orange setting sun, the air is slowly it the official sea port for the holy city
filled with the symphony of a hundred muezzins calling the of Mecca in 647ce.
faithful to prayer. The shutters of local shops come down, and “I love Jeddah because of how multicultural
street traders cover their wares and head for the nearest mosque, it is. You can meet people from every corner
of the globe here,” explains Mohammed
joined by the millions of ajnabi – foreigners – both old and new, Ma’tar, a student of aeronautical engineering
who keep modern Jeddah moving. at the city’s King Abdul Aziz University.
He is right; unlike Mecca and Medina,
Jeddah is accessible to all, even non-Muslims.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s largest port The 12 -century Muslim travel writer
th
city has been welcoming pious Muslims from Ibn Jubayr is just one of the long list of “The white town hung between the
all over the world since the advent of Islam. illustrious believers to have passed through blazing sky and its reflection in the
Jeddah’s ancient streets. Globetrotter Ibn mirage which swept and rolled over
Most of the houses here are made of reed. There Battuta came in 1326 and, more recently, the wide lagoon,” wrote T. E. Lawrence
are also inns of stone and mud with palm-frond Malcolm X visited in 1964, the latter’s ‘of Arabia’ at the turn of the 19 century.
th
lean-tos serving as upper chambers, beneath worldview permanently altered by the
which people sleep at night to escape the heat… racial diversity he would encounter here. In those days, visitors came by camel
The many ancient remains in town attest to its or sea. Many stayed, giving Jeddah its
great age. Traces of prehistoric walls still rise The city’s name means ‘Grandmother’ famous multicultural flavour.
around it, and there is one place with an old in Arabic, alluding to the tomb of Eve
and lofty dome which is said to mark the supposedly in the old town, now closed “They call us the ‘the expulsion of
house of the Eve, humanity’s mother, in the to the public. Also known as the ‘Bride of the sea’, a wonderful mix of cultures
days when she was on her way to Mecca… the Red Sea’, Jeddah sits along ancient trade the sea has thrown up here in Jeddah,”
— Ibn Jubayr routes and was welcoming visitors even laughs Ma’tar.
© Lucie Debelkova
1
As temperatures hot enough to fry an egg on a car bonnet before Caliph Uthman Ibn Affan made
begin to dissipate with the orange setting sun, the air is slowly it the official sea port for the holy city
filled with the symphony of a hundred muezzins calling the of Mecca in 647ce.
faithful to prayer. The shutters of local shops come down, and “I love Jeddah because of how multicultural
street traders cover their wares and head for the nearest mosque, it is. You can meet people from every corner
of the globe here,” explains Mohammed
joined by the millions of ajnabi – foreigners – both old and new, Ma’tar, a student of aeronautical engineering
who keep modern Jeddah moving. at the city’s King Abdul Aziz University.
He is right; unlike Mecca and Medina,
Jeddah is accessible to all, even non-Muslims.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s largest port The 12 -century Muslim travel writer
th
city has been welcoming pious Muslims from Ibn Jubayr is just one of the long list of “The white town hung between the
all over the world since the advent of Islam. illustrious believers to have passed through blazing sky and its reflection in the
Jeddah’s ancient streets. Globetrotter Ibn mirage which swept and rolled over
Most of the houses here are made of reed. There Battuta came in 1326 and, more recently, the wide lagoon,” wrote T. E. Lawrence
are also inns of stone and mud with palm-frond Malcolm X visited in 1964, the latter’s ‘of Arabia’ at the turn of the 19 century.
th
lean-tos serving as upper chambers, beneath worldview permanently altered by the
which people sleep at night to escape the heat… racial diversity he would encounter here. In those days, visitors came by camel
The many ancient remains in town attest to its or sea. Many stayed, giving Jeddah its
great age. Traces of prehistoric walls still rise The city’s name means ‘Grandmother’ famous multicultural flavour.
around it, and there is one place with an old in Arabic, alluding to the tomb of Eve
and lofty dome which is said to mark the supposedly in the old town, now closed “They call us the ‘the expulsion of
house of the Eve, humanity’s mother, in the to the public. Also known as the ‘Bride of the sea’, a wonderful mix of cultures
days when she was on her way to Mecca… the Red Sea’, Jeddah sits along ancient trade the sea has thrown up here in Jeddah,”
— Ibn Jubayr routes and was welcoming visitors even laughs Ma’tar.
