al-ʻArâjed and to the west of Mount Šarawra’. Moṛârat al-Ḳalenderijje must be sought where the route leaves the plain and enters among rugged crags near Ẓahr al-Ḥâǧǧ. The names Uḫajḍer and Birket al-Muʻaẓẓame have been preserved as al-Aḫẓar and al-Muʻaẓẓam respectively. In place of Maṛâreš az-Zîr should be read Mafâreš ar-Ruzz (rice carpets), as the plain is called near the halting place of Dâr al-Ḥamra’ because the pilgrims declare that this plain is covered by petrified rice. Aḳraḥ is erroneously transcribed instead of Aḳraʻ. In place of aṭ-Ṭâf should be read aṭ-Ṭâḳ, which is the modern Abu Ṭâḳa. The name al-Mazḥam today belongs to a small railway station.
ʻAbdalṛani an-Nâbulusi (Ḥaḳîḳa, Codex Vindobonensis, 1269 [Mxt. 712], Vol. 2, fol. 170 r.—172 v.) on his return from al-Medîna in the year 1694 A. D. spent the night at al-ʻEla’ and rode between sand drifts and rugged mountains as far as a place called the Wells of the Ṯamûd, which was also known as Medâjen Ṣâleḥ, or al-Ḥeǧr. The pilgrims’ escort stayed there all night and until the noon of the following day; at midnight it reached the defile of Šuḳḳ al-ʻAǧûz, which I identify with the gully of Šoḳb al-ʻAǧûz, about forty kilometers distant from al-Ḥeǧr. The pilgrims then proceeded through the plain of az-Zelâḳât, which is covered with sand and soft stones and where the riding and draft animals frequently stumbled, and at daybreak were at al-Eḳêreʻ or Mafâreš ar-Ruzz. The author here is connecting two places which in reality are at some distance apart. Al-Eḳêreʻ, the name of which is the diminutive form of al-Aḳraʻ, lies to the southwest of Šoḳb al-ʻAǧûz, while Mafâreš ar-Ruzz extend more than twenty kilometers farther to the north. About an hour after sunrise the pilgrims reached Dâr al-Ḥamra’, where they found no water. Here they stayed until one o’clock in the afternoon and then continued their journey all night as far as the stronghold of al-Muʻaẓẓam, which they reached an hour after sunrise. This they found half-ruined and uninhabited. Formerly it had been guarded by a company of Syrian soldiers, but the Bedouins had broken through the walls and murdered the soldiers; whereupon the stronghold had been deserted. To the east of it ʻAbdalṛani inspected a square reservoir, each side of which was two hundred cubits long. The wall, one cubit thick, was built of the same material as the stronghold. The latter contained a well with an abundance of water.
Setting out in the afternoon, they rode through a narrow, rough valley covered with stones, which valley the author calls aṣ-Ṣâfi. It seems to me that this is an incorrect transcription of the name Luṣṣân, which he hastily noted down while riding on his camel; for Luṣṣân is the most difficult section of the Pilgrim Route between al-ʻEla’ and Tebûk and the one with the worst reputation. That ʻAbdalṛani actually means Luṣṣân is clear from his further statements. They rode for three hours through the rough valley, whereupon they arrived at the basin of Ǧenâjen al-Ḳâẓi. This basin lies fifteen kilometers northwest of the beginning of Luṣṣân, which would entirely agree with the three hours’ ride. At Ǧenâjen al-Ḳâẓi they found much sand and rugged soil covered with prickly plants which tore pieces from their clothing. After sunrise they again entered the valley and in three hours were at the halting place of al-Aḫẓar. ʻAbdalṛani refers to this well-constructed stronghold also as al-Uḫajḍer and explains that every year soldiers arrive there from Damascus to guard the reservoir against the Bedouins who would like to water their
