Ha'il
Across the sand dunes of the Nafud, the Abbasid engineers paved Darb Zubaydah with stone for about 40 km, between the stations of Buraykat al-Ashshar and…
Across the sand dunes of the Nafud, the Abbasid engineers paved Darb Zubaydah with stone for about 40 km, between the stations of Buraykat al-Ashshar and Birkat al-Ara'is. The paving is 2 to 4 metres wide and kept the road passable for the pilgrim caravans through the sand. It is one of the best-preserved stretches of the road and lies in the desert north-east of Ha'il. Darb Zubaydah, the pilgrim road from Kufa in Iraq to Makkah, was laid out by the Abbasid caliphs from 751, and Zubaydah, the wife of Harun al-Rashid, paid for many of its wells, pools and rest stations, which is why it bears her name. Saudi Arabia and Iraq have placed it on UNESCO's Tentative List.