Old Jeddah
When you first
arrive in Jeddah it can be difficult to get your bearings, physically and
mentally. If you live on a
compound then you are sheltered from the city, living your daily life within
the confines of a Westernised micro-society.
You're likely to live in the suburbs, surrounded by buildings less than
20 years old. The look, feel,
essence of Jeddah is confusing - where is its soul?
For this you need
to head South. This sprawling
metropolis that now covers 520 square km, emerged from a centuries old fishing
village and trading port that until as recently as 50 years ago was
encompassed within a wall of coral, an area of just 1sq km.
Jeddah has long
been prosperous, even in its more modest past.
Settled by fisherman of the Quada'a
tribe approximately 2500 years ago, wishing to benefit from the natural
harbour provided by the gap in the reef and the warm seas wealthy in fish, the
village became a stopping point on the caravan route for frankincense and
spices from Yemen to Europe. Even
before the advent of Islam, Makkah was a place of pilgrimage for the local
tribesmen. In 26H/647AD Jeddah
was designated gatekeeper for the thousands of pilgrims travelling to the holy
cities of Makkah and Madinah, by Caliph Osman Ibn Affan and it became known as
Balad al Kanasil - the City of
Consulates. The Bride of the Red
Sea has welcomed strangers with warmth and hospitality for over 2000 years.
The city has been
walled for nearly 1000 years, possibly more.
The first documentation of it is by the traveller Nasir-I-Khusro in the
middle of the 5th Century H/1004-1007 AD - he noted that Jeddah had
a wall with two gates - one towards Makkah and one towards the sea.
A turbulent history has seen the city destroyed in approximately 1080
when the city's leaders fell out with the rulers of Makkah, only to reach
prosperity again by the 7th Century H/13th Century AD,
under the control of Egypt's Mamelukes. It
is from about this time that the first map of the wall, by Ibn Mujawar, dates.
To repel Portuguese colonial interest in the early 9th
Century H/16th Century AD, the limestone coral wall was fortified
and on completion had six towers with six gates - Bab Makkah facing east; Bab
Sharif, facing south; Bab Saraf;
Bab al Bunt; Bab al Madinah, facing north and Bab al-Magharibah. The
Portuguese, though unsuccessful in their campaigns, were in the region for
some years - indeed, the oldest known picture of the city is by a Portuguese
artist in 1517. Jeddah's location
in the Hejaz region though, meant it came under the rule of the Ottoman Turks,
when they gained control of the province in the mid-16th Century.
Their reign was interrupted briefly in the early 13th
Century H/19th Century AD, first by the Saudis of Central Arabia
and then the Egyptians, but their power was not completely relinquished until
the Turkish Revolt of 1916.
The first Foreign
Consuls arrived in the first half of the 13th Century H/19th
Century AD - recognising Jeddah's importance and wanting to ensure its
position on the diplomatic world stage. The
foreign representatives to the King's Court were posted to Jeddah rather than
the official capital, Riyadh, due to the latter's relative inaccessibility,
not relocating until the early 1980s AD.
Jeddah may have lost its role as the home of the diplomats but its
importance in the commercial sector is relatively undiminished and, of course,
it is still the gateway to Makkah and Madinah for over two million pilgrims
every year.
The easiest way to
get to Balad from anywhere in North Jeddah is to get onto the Madinah Road
southbound. The 21st
Century whizzes past you as cruise down the highway.
The road divides at Palestine Street, the northbound carriageway is a
block away to the east. As the
road narrows the age of the surrounding buildings increases, with occasional
flashes of modern chrome and glass constructions.
Once magnificent residences and former embassies line either side - on
the left-hand side one passes the modest, now floodlit palace of the
much-loved King Faisal,. It
almost feels like one is travelling back in time.
The illusion vanishes as the road opens into the imposing Maydan Al Bayal Square, where history and the present jostle for
position. The road winds round
into the one-way system of Balad, past the ingeniously designed National Commercial Bank headquarters and then into the heart of the
old city.
Although different experiences can be had by exploring the city at different times in the day, it is best to to be done early or late, avoiding the high temperatures of the middle of the day. For a long tour, such as the one described here, I suggest very early morning, from about 7.30am onwards, to avoid getting lost! But, for the most impact, after dark is the best time, when the heat of the day has lessened, although the humidity can still verge on the oppressive in the early hours of the evening. The brightness of the sun during the day tends to wash the colour and life out of everything and it is only as dusk descends that the city seems to return to life. To explore Old Jeddah at night is to find yourself in 1001 Nights or Disney’s Aladdin - one can truly feel what it was like 50, 100, 150 years ago. Narrow lanes wind between crazily leaning houses made of coral with wood formed into intricate lattice work for windows called rowasheen - designed to reduce the glare of the sun and onlookers, as well as to catch any breeze. Small entrances frame beautifully carved and decorated doors which open into private courtyards. Men hunker on their haunches and chat, smoking their ‘hubbly bubblies’ and the warm, sweet aroma of apple-flavoured tobacco hovers heavily. Light is provided by infrequently spaced electric, and sometimes even paraffin lamps, allowing the stars to be glimpsed in the small opening to the sky undimmed. The atmosphere is quiet - until one rounds a corner to land in the middle of the souq. Brightly lit and garish, smells of tobacco, fruit, spices and food cooking mingle yet somehow retain their identity. In an effort to keep an eye on the competition, row upon row of open-fronted shops sell the same merchandise - rolls and bales of spectacularly coloured material spill out into one alley while the next is home to herbs and spices, still sold from sacks and jars, some pre-packed and piled up in small plastic-wrapped packets. A few stalls sell the all-encompassing abaya, layer upon layer of black delineated by lace cuffs and hems or brightly-coloured embroidery. Others sell delicate silverware and wooden and brass trunks - the one nod to the limited foreign tourist trade and expat shoppers. This is still a market to meet the needs of many though so together with the unfamiliar paraphernalia are clothes, shoes, toys, electrical goods, watches, food, medicine, jewellery - a shopping mall that has existed for aeons.