Al Ula Wall: With Allah’ Blessing, the People of Al Ula Built the Wall

By Mohammed Mosa Abdulwahed

“With Allah’ Blessing, the people of Al Ula Built the Wall “; with this historical phrase (which was written on the wall that built by the people of Al Ula), I start the intro of this book that is a part of series of historical works I am releasing about the people of Al Ula. In this book, I am going to shed light on the period of the building of the wall called the Sab’aa wall (the seven wall), which extends from Al Ula’s western mountain slope. The people of Al Ula built it throughout a crucial period of their village’s history: protect the village from a probable assault by Mouhammed Al Rasheed’s army. I made sure to refer back to several ancient and available sources that talked about that period. For example, the writings of orientalists, the sources written on the history of the Al Rasheed’s emirate, the historical documents of the people of Al Ula, and the Ottoman records besides interviewing the elders of Al Ula to convey the anecdotal stories that talk about the reason for building the wall. Furthermore, the available photos are an essential role to enrich the matter and exhibit the historical and technical profiles of the project. The vernacular poetry, moreover, considers as a historical source that helps to illustrate the real image, where this poetry addressed some poems about that period (they talked about the prevailing political, security, and economic circumstances). An effort was made to list the information using the same historical evidence without exaggeration in order to convey correct information to the reader based on documented references. In addition, efforts were made to correct some inaccurate stories and myths about this important historical landmark in the beautiful city of Al Ula. The people of Al Ula as a term means the community of Al Ula and the villages that are around it. They are the people of civilization, history, and ancient cultural and social heritage; they are people of generosity and hospitability that honor their guests regardless of their nationalities, colors, or religions. Everyone who visited or passed by this area described its people as with their generosity and honesty.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Jun 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781543770322

Mohammed Mosa Abdulwahed

Mohammed Mosa Abdulwahed was born and raised in the town of AlUla, It is a witness to the stages of the development of the historical town and the change that the town has undergone, He authored many historical books about AlUla town

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ISBN

ISBN: 978-1-5437-7031-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5437-7033-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5437-7032-2 (e)

06/18/2022

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Contents

Prologue

The Writer

An Overview of the Political Situation of Al Ula in the Early thirteenth century Hijri

The Visit of Charles Montagu Doughty to Al Ula

The Visit of the Voyager Charles Auguste Huber 1297 Hijri (AD 1880)

The Visit of the Voyager Julius Euting 1301 Hijri (AD 1884)

Al Ula under the Authority of Prince Mouhammed Al Rasheed

The Situation That the Matters Reached during the Reign of the Ruler Saeed Al Ali

New Conflicts Arose amongst Al Ula Clans’ Elders

Sheikh Saeed Bin Abduldaem Is Wanted

Ali Bin Saeed Was Killed

Who Killed Ali Bin Saeed

Sheikh Saeed Is Accused

The Ruler Returned to Hail to Meet Prince Mohammed Al Rasheed

The Rebellion against the Rule of Bin Al Rasheed in Al Ula

Sheikh Suleiman Bin Rufadah Is Hosting Sheikh Saeed Bin Abduldaem

With Allah’s Blessing, The People of Al Ula Built the Wall

The First Plan Is to Build the Wall

The Second Plan Is to Receive the Delegation of Bin Al Rasheed

The Arrival of Prince Mohammed Al Rasheed’s Delegation at Al Ula and the Interview Scenario

The Departure of the Bin Al Rasheed’s Delegation from Al Ula

Settling the Blood Money of Ali Bin Saeed Al Ali and Closing of the Case

Sheikh Saeed Bin Abduldaem Returned to Al Ula and Was Assigned the Head of the Elders

Prince Mohammed Al Rasheed Kept Demanding for the Return of Al Ula under His Influence

The Hejaz Railroad and the Economic Transformation in Al Ula

The Length of the Wall That Was Built and Its Technical Specifications

The Events That the Wall Exposed to and the Status Quo

The Southern Wall of Al Ula

The Eastern Wall of Al Ula

The western wall of Al Ula

The Northern Wall Was a Front Watching and Guarding Centre

References

Prologue

With Allah’s blessing, the people of Al Ula built the wall. With this historical phrase, which was written on the wall built by the people of Al Ula, I start the intro of this book, which is a part of series of historical works I am releasing about the people of Al Ula. In this book, I am going to shed light on the period of the building of the wall called the Sab’aa wall (the Sabaa wall), which extends from Al Ula’s western mountain slope. The people of Al Ula built it throughout a crucial period of their village history, whilst protecting the village from a probable assault by Mouhammed Al Rasheed’s army. I made sure to refer to several ancient and available sources that talked about that period, for example, the writings of Orientalists, the sources written on the history of the Al Rasheed’s emirate, the historical documents of the people of Al Ula, and the Ottoman records besides interviewing the elders of Al Ula to convey the anecdotal stories that talk about the reason for building the wall. Furthermore, the available photos are essential to enrich the matter and exhibit the historical and technical profiles of the project. The vernacular poetry, moreover, considered as a historical source, helps illustrate and address the real images about that period. They talk about the prevailing circumstances on politics, security, and economics. An effort was made to list the information using the same historical evidence without exaggeration to convey correct information to the reader based on documented references. In addition, efforts were made to correct some inaccurate stories and myths about this important historical landmark in the beautiful city of Al Ula. As a term, the people of Al Ula refer to the community of Al Ula and the villages around it. They are the people of civilization, history, and ancient cultural and social heritage; they are people of generosity and hospitability that honor their guests regardless of their nationalities, colors, or religions. Everyone who visited or passed by this area described its people as generous and honest.

The Writer

Mohammed Mosa Abdulwahed

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An inscription engraved on one of the wall’s stones shows the name of

the man who ordered to build it and the date of construction

"With Allah’s blessing, Zaher Bin Omar Bin Baidar ordered

the people of Al Ula to build the wall, in 1309 Hijri"

An Overview of the Political Situation of Al Ula

in the Early thirteenth century Hijri

Before it was under the banner of the unifier of the Arabian Peninsula and the founder of its renaissance, King Abdulaziz—may Allah have mercy on him—Al Ula had witnessed insecurity because it was surrounded by conflicts and threatened by prevailing chaos. Also, the central government in Istanbul considered the Arabian Peninsula as a nomadic area only; for that reason, the government was only interested in appointing governors and judges and collecting zakat and taxes. The Ottoman Empire, furthermore, previously contributed to support the state of division that had happened between the people of Al Ula using the divide-and-conquer strategy. For instance, the people of Al Ula divided into two parties brought about by the conflicts on heading the village after the military campaign, which was launched by the governor of Damascus, Abdullah Pasha, on Al Ula and its surrounding tribes that extended on the Shami Hajj Road and had enforced Bin Sakher tribe to leave the village in 1170 Hijri (AD 1757). To weaken the influence of these tribes on this strategic road, the central government intended to sometimes address Sheikh Mousa Al Qadi as the elder of Al Ula and then at other times address Sheikh Bin Budair as the elder; it also did the same with Sheikh Abduldaem Bin Salman. The official decrees supported the appointment of the aforementioned sheikhs as elders for the same area. The ancient document issued in 1143 Hijri (AD 1730) emphasised one kind of these divisions: It seems a systemic division that exploited the prevailing situation in conflict amongst the people of Al Ula during the past period. Besides, the successive Ottoman