Riyadh – Asdaf News:
The Zubaida Trail, a venerable artery that transcends time, is intricately woven into the Arabian Peninsula’s wonderfully variegated historical tapestry. This is more than just a path for the devout on their hallowed pilgrimage; it’s a thriving conduit for business and cultural exchange, a tribute to the inventiveness of a bygone period.
The Zubaida Trail, lauded for its optimized efficiency, served as the most expeditious route between Kufa and Makkah. Its meticulously charted course, a product of prescient planning, featured designated stations and havens offering weary pilgrims respite from the desert’s unrelenting solar onslaught. Sandy stretches were meticulously paved with stone, a lasting homage to the trail’s sagacious engineering principles.
Scattered like silent sentinels along the Zubaida Trail are archaeological repositories and architectural testaments. These relics – wells, cisterns, dams, palatial structures, and mosques – stand as enduring monuments to a bygone epoch, each a hushed chronicler whispering tales of the past.
Wayfarers traversing the Zubaida Trail weren’t condemned to navigate blindly. Esteemed geographers and explorers, like the illustrious Lady Anne Blunt who documented the trail’s significance in her tome “A Pilgrimage to Najd,” shed light on its importance.
Illuminating the trail’s ingenious navigational system is tour guide Khalaf Al-Ghofaily. Strategically positioned at intervals of roughly 24 kilometers, these structures, some manifesting as imposing squares and others as enigmatic circles, served as guiding beacons for travelers throughout their odyssey.
Abdulrahman Al-Tuwaijri, a scholar steeped in the lore of archaeology and history, underscores the trail’s sophisticated signage. Beacons, meticulously placed stone markers, and precisely positioned milestones not only demarcated the route but also facilitated navigation during both the sun-drenched hours and the veil of darkness. Convergence points at crucial junctions ensured travelers remained oriented, while placement atop prominent hills and natural elevations guaranteed unobstructed visibility across the vast desert expanse.–Wikipedia —SPA
