Abbasid Darb Zubaydah Water Stations: Al-Araish Pool Preserves Legacy Of Water And Hajj

Al-Araish Pool is described as one of the key historical stops on the Kufan Hajj route, known as Darb Zubaydah, and is highlighted as an important example of Islamic-era water planning that supported pilgrims and travellers moving across the desert landscape.

Located about 60 kilometres south of the historic village of Linah, Al-Araish Pool lies within the area overseen by the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Nature Reserve Development Authority, whose jurisdiction covers a wide stretch of desert terrain crossed by the ancient Darb Zubaydah route.

The Kufan Hajj road, called Darb Zubaydah, flourished during the Abbasid era as a major corridor for pilgrim caravans heading toward the Two Holy Mosques, and Al-Araish Pool formed one of the main service points on this route by supplying stored water in an otherwise harsh and dry environment.

The wider Al-Araish site, locally known as Al-Tanahi, lies near Khadra and Al-Bada and is noted for its historical and archaeological importance, as it includes several water pools built along old flood channels during the Abbasid period to regulate seasonal flows and secure stable water supplies on Darb Zubaydah.

The name Al-Tanahi refers to the place where floodwater is stopped by a sandy ridge called Al-Labid, which causes water to collect between surrounding dunes, forming natural lakes that once helped sustain local life and offered a vital resource for travellers and pilgrims crossing the Hajj route.

Al-Araish forms part of a broader Darb Zubaydah ecosystem, yet the name covers three distinct locations: Northern Al-Araish, Central Al-Araish and Southern Al-Araish, each of which contains specialised structures that together show the planning and engineering used to manage water, store it and support movement along this historic road.

Northern Al-Araish, known as Birkat Al-Tanahi, has 10 units serving different functions, aligned in a straight northwest–southeast line stretching about 450 metres in length and 250 metres in width, together with a building of two rows of rooms, another building with one row of rooms, plus two kiln complexes north of the pool and three more to the east and southeast.

Central Al-Araish, called Al-Tananir, contains nine architectural units over an area about 400 metres from north to south and 250 metres from east to west, including a circular pool linked to a basin, a square pool, a ruined building north of the circular pool, two wells and three kilns that were used to produce gypsum from limestone.

Southern Al-Araish is described as further evidence of the advanced water and engineering systems that served pilgrims and travellers at that time, and the whole Al-Araish Pool complex now stands as a lasting record of Islamic water planning and of Darb Zubaydah’s role as a major infrastructure project in Islamic history, giving the site important heritage value and supporting work to document and protect it as a place of historical and human significance.

With inputs from SPA