Cultural and intellectual centers in the Hijaz in the third and fourth centuries AH

Abstract

Abstract; The Hijaz held special importance for travelers, receiving a significant portion of their study of this region, especially since it includes the Two Holy Mosques. They elaborated on the roads, paths, and stations that spread along the routes leading to it from the Levant, Iraq, Yemen, and North Africa. Descriptions of the two holy cities occupied a significant portion of their discussion of the Hijaz in general, as did references to the seaports leading to it and everything related to cultural life, scientific, economic, and social, which received a large share of the writings of these geographers. What gives this geographical information special importance in Islamic geography books is that the scientific material was coupled with personal and descriptive observations. The close connection between geography and history is not repeated by the discerning, since Muslims began their interest in documenting their history. They focused on the science of calculating countries (geography), and they devoted various works to it. Since the geographical location of the Hijaz placed it in the middle of two different types of civilization: the civilization of the Arabs of the south and the civilization of the Arabs of the north, this diversity and cultural richness undoubtedly contributed to The emergence of independent political entities known to scholars as the Great Hijazi Capitals, namely Mecca, Yathrib, and Taif.

Medina, the Holy Hous