Visit ArabiaHistory
Fayd is about 120 km south-east of Hail, in the governorate of Shinan. The remains are 1.5 km north of the present village.
The pilgrims' road. Darb Zubayda linked Kufa, in Iraq, to Mecca. It was laid out by the Abbasid caliphs and endowed by Zubayda, the wife of Harun ar-Rashid. In the 13th century, Yaqut describes Fayd as a small town halfway between Kufa and Mecca, still inhabited, where pilgrims left provisions. He adds that its people helped the pilgrims in this desert. The travellers Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta passed through it. According to the historians of the sira, ʿAli (may Allah be pleased with him) took “the Fayd road” in 9 AH, during the expedition to the land of Tayy. Fayd declined when the caravans took other routes, before the 17th century.
What you see. Qasr Kharash is a rectangular basalt fort measuring 120 m by 80 m. It has round towers and a double wall, with a fortified keep in the north-east corner. Archaeologists think it was the fortified residence of the governor or of the leader of the pilgrimage. Around it you can see the foundations of the districts, a mosque from the 1st century AH, basins, stone wells 10 m in diameter and underground channels. The excavations have yielded pottery, glass and coins. On Jabal al-Huwayyid, 25 km to the east, inscriptions are dated 74 AH / 693 and 82 AH / 701.
The excavations. The Heritage Commission excavated the site from 1998 to 2012. The University of Hail carried out nine seasons from 2014 to 2022. Carbon-14 dating shows that the main occupation dates from the early Abbasid period.
The other stations. The Heritage Commission lists 22 to 31 stations of Darb Zubayda in Hail province. They include basins, cisterns, forts and mosques. Among them: al-Ajfar (“between Fayd and al-Khuzaymiyya”, according to Yaqut), al-Wasit, al-Khuzaymiyya, al-Makhruqa, Tuz, Sumayra (rectangular basin and square fort; Yaqut places here the camp of Tulayha al-Asadi, the false prophet, in 11 AH), Hurayd, al-Hajir and al-Badʿ, near al-Ghazalah. Milestones on the road bear the name of the caliph al-Mahdi. The stations near the Hail-Qassim road (Fayd, Sumayra, Tuz) are the easiest to reach; the others need a 4×4.
The site of Fayd is open. A site museum has existed since 2009; its opening hours vary. Signs explain the remains.
What is certain and what is not
- Certain: the fort, basins, wells and mosque uncovered by the excavations; the main occupation in the early Abbasid period; the inscriptions dated 74 and 82 AH.
- Historians' account: ʿAli's passage along the Fayd road in 9 AH; Tulayha's camp at Sumayra in 11 AH (Yaqut).
- Uncertain: the exact use of Qasr Kharash (residence of the governor or of the leader of the pilgrimage) is an interpretation by the archaeologists. The number of Darb Zubayda stations in the province varies between counts.
Sources
1. Yaqut, Muʿjam al-buldan, « فيد » vol. 4 p. 281, « الأجفر » vol. 1 p. 101, « توز » vol. 2 p. 57, « سميراء » vol. 3 p. 254, « الحاجر » vol. 2 p. 203.
2. Waqidi, al-Maghazi, vol. 3 pp. 983-989.
3. “Dating of Stratified Settlement Remains in Faid Pilgrim Station”, Journal of Islamic Archaeology.
4. As-Samari I., « النقوش المؤرخة في منطقة حائل », Adumatu 39, 2019.
5. Saudipedia, “Fayd Archaeological City” and « محطات درب زبيدة في حائل ».
6. Asharq al-Awsat, article 427466; Arab News, article 1362941.