Jeddah
Jeddah (also spelled Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda; Arabic: جدّة Jidda) is a Saudi Arabian city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The population of the city currently stands at over 3.4 million. It is considered the second commercial capital of Saudi Arabia.
Jeddah is the principal gateway to Mecca, Islam's holiest city, which able-bodied Muslims are required to visit at least once in their lifetime.
Residents of Jeddah are called Jeddans. Jeddah has 24 sister cities, which are selected based on economic, cultural and political criteria.
History
The city was founded as a fishing hamlet over 2000 years ago by the Yemeni Quada tribe that's left central Yemen to settle Makkah.but first achieved prominence in 647 A.D., when the third Muslim caliph Uthman Ibn Affan turned it into a port for Muslim pilgrims making the required Hajj to Mecca.
Jeddah was for centuries the main city of the historic Hejaz province and historic port for pilgrims arriving by sea on their pilgrimage or Hajj to Mecca.
Hejaz - including Jeddah - became a part of the Ayyubid Empire in 1177 during the leadership of Sharif Ibn Abul-Hashim Al-Thalab (1094 - 1201).
Mamluk Sultanate
In 1254, following events in Cairo, Hejaz became a part of the Mamluk Sultanate. Vasco da Gama, having in 1497 CE found his way round the Cape and obtained pilots from the coast of Zanzibar, pushed his way across the Indian Ocean to the shores of Malabar and Calcutta, attacked the fleets that carried freight and Muslim pilgrims from India to the Red Sea, and struck terror into the potentates all around. The Princes of Gujarat and Yemen turned for help to Egypt. Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri accordingly fitted out a fleet of 50 vessels under his Admiral, Hussein the Kurd. Jeddah by forced labor was soon fortified as a harbor of refuge from the Portuguese, and Arabia and the Red Sea were protected. But the fleets in the Indian Ocean were at the mercy of the enemy.
Ottoman Empire
In 1517, the Ottoman Turks conquered the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and Syria, during the reign of Selim I.As territories of the Mamluk Sultanate, the Hejaz, including the holy city of Mecca and Jeddah, passed into Ottoman possession. The Ottomans rebuilt the weak walls of Jeddah in 1525 following their victory over Lopo Soares de Albergaria's Armada in the Red Sea. The new Turkish wall included six watchtowers and six city gates. They were constructed to defend against the Portuguese attack. Of the six gates, the Gate of Mecca was the eastern gate and the Gate of Al-Magharibah, facing the port, the western one. The Gate of Sharif was south facing. The other gates were the Gate of Al-Bunt, Gate of Al-Sham (also called Gate of Al-Sharaf) and Gate of Medina facing north. The Turks also built the The Qishla of Jeddah, a small castle for the city soldiers. In the 19th century these seven gates were minimized into four giant gates with four towers. These giant gates were the Gate of Sham from the north, the Gate of Mecca from the east, the Gate of Sharif from the south, and the Gate of Al-Magharibah on the sea side.
Ahmed Al-Jazzar, the Ottoman military man mainly known for his role in the Siege of Acre, has spent an earlier part of his career at Jeddah - where in 1750 he killed some seventy rioting nomads in retaliation for the killing of his commander Abdullah Beg. It was this act which reportedly earned him the nickname "Jezzar" (butcher), which he carried for the rest of his life.
First Saudi State and Ottoman-Saudi War
In 1802, Nejdi forces conquered both Mecca and Jeddah from the Ottomans; when Sharif Ghalib Efendi informed Sultan Mahmud II of this, the Sultan ordered his Egyptian viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha to re-take the city. Muhammad Ali successfully regained the city during Battle of Jeddah in 1813.
World War I and The Kingdom of Hejaz
During World War I, Sharif Hussein bin Ali declared a revolt against the Ottoman Empire seeking independence from the Ottoman Turks and the creation of a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.
King Hussein declared the Kingdom of Hejaz. Later, Hussein was involved in war with Ibn Saud, who was the Sultan of Nejd. Hussein resigned following the fall of Mecca, in December 1924, and his son Ali bin Hussein became the new king of the remaining soil of the Kingdom of Hejaz.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
A few months later, Ibn Saud, whose clan originated in the central Nejd province, conquered Medina, and Jeddah, via an agreement with Jeddans, following the events of the Second Battle of Jeddah. He deposed the Sharif of Hejaz, Ali bin Hussein, who fled to Baghdad, settling eventually in Amman, Jordan, where his descendants became the Hashemite royal family.
As a result, Jeddah came under the sway of the Al-Saud dynasty in December 1925. In 1926, Ibn Saud added the title King of Hejaz to his position of Sultan of Nejd. Today, Jeddah has lost its historical role in peninsular politics, since the historic Hejaz province along the west coast has been subdivided into smaller provinces, with Jeddah falling within the new province of Makkah with its provincial capital at Mecca.
From 1928 to 1932 the new Khuzam Palace was built as the new residence of King Abdul Aziz in Jeddah. The palace lies south of the old walled city and was constructed under the supervision of the engineer Muhammad bin Laden. After 1963 the palace was used as a royal guest house and since 1995 houses the Regional Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography.
What was left of the walls and gates of the old city was taken down in 1947. A fire in 1982 destroyed some ancient buildings in the old town center, called the Balad, but much is still preserved despite the commercial interest to tear down old houses and build modern high rise buildings. A house by house survey of the old districts was made in 1979, showing that some 1000 traditional buildings still existed, though the number of structures with great historic value was far less. In 1990 a Jeddah Historical Area Preservation Department was founded.
The modern city has expanded wildly beyond its old boundaries. The built up area expanded mainly to the north along the Red Sea coastline, reaching the new airport during the last decade of the last century and since edging its way around it towards the "Ob'hur Creek" some 27 kilometers from the old city center.
Economy
With a thousand years of trading behind it and home to some of the world's most successful merchants and business people, it is natural that Jeddah is the second commercial capital of Saudi Arabia. In addition, the city's geographical location places it at the heart of the region covered by the Middle East and North Africa, with all their capitals within two hours flying distance, defining Jeddah as the second commercial center of the Middle East after of Riyadh.Also, Jeddah industrial district is the four largest industrial city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh, Jubail and Yanbu.
King Abdullah Street
King Abdullah Street is an important place for companies' offices and commercial developments. The street hosts some of the most powerful conglomerates in Saudi Arabia such as Emaar Middle East and Al-Farsi. Due to the economic boom in this region there is a central business district planned which would be one of the biggest CBD in the eastern world.
Tahlia Street
Tahlia Street is an important fashion and shopping street in the mid-town of Jeddah. It contains many upscale department shops, and boutiques, such as Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Chanel and Giorgio Armani.
Major organizations headquartered in Jeddah
Culture
Religious significance
The vast majority of Jeddans are Sunni Muslims, with a minority of Shia Muslims, and Asian, Western, and Arab Christians. There are also non-Muslim/non-Christian Asians. There are no non-Muslim citizens; while there are Muslims who are not citizens, all non-Muslims are resident expatriate workers. The city has over 1,300 Mosques,and has no Churches, Synagogues, or other types of places of worship; non-Muslims are also strictly not allowed to celebrate their religion in any way openly. However, some Filipino workers report the presence of Churches inside some Gated communities.
Since the 7th Century , Jeddah has hosted millions of Muslim pilgrims from all over the world in their way to Hajj. This merge with pilgrims has also a major impact on the society, religion, and economy of Jeddah.
There is a ban on Alcohol and Narcotics all over the Kingdom. Anyone found to be involved in usage or handling of Alcohol and Narcotics is severely punished under "Saudi Rule Of Law" (which is derived mainly from "Islamic Sharia").
All business activities and markets are closed (five times a day) during prayer times.
The Court and Justice System of Saudi Arabia follows Islamic Codes.
Cuisine
Jeddah residents are a mix of several different ethnicities and nationalities. This mixture of races has made a major impact on Jeddah's traditional cuisine.
Like other Saudi cities, The Nejdi Kabsa is the most traditional lunch for Jeddan people. The Yemeni Mandi is also popular as a lunch meal. Hejazi cuisine is popular as well and dishes like Mabshoor, Mitabbak, Foul, Migalgal, Kibdah, Ma'asoob can be acquired in many traditional restaurants around the city such as Althamrat, Abo-Zaid, Al-Quarmooshi, Ayaz, and Hejaziyat
Grilled meat has a good market in Jeddah such as Shawarma, Kofta and Kebab. During Ramadan Sambousak and Ful are the most popular meals during Dusk. These meals are almost found in Lebanese, Syrian, and Turkish restaurants.
International food is also popular in the city. American chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, Domino's Pizza and KFC, among others are widely distributed in Jeddah, as are more upscale chains like Fuddruckers and Chili's. Chinese, Japanese, and other Eastern/Asian food are also popular. European restaurants, such as Italian and French, are also found throughout the city
Open-air art
During the oil boom in the late 1970s and 1980s, there was a focused civic effort at bringing art to Jeddah's public areas. As a result, Jeddah contains a large number of modern open air sculptures and works of art, typically situated in roundabouts, which makes it to this day the largest open-air art gallery in the world. Sculptures include works by a variety of artists, ranging from the obscure to international stars such as Jean/Hans Arp, César Baldaccini, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Joan Miró and Victor Vasarely and often depict elements of traditional Saudi culture - coffee pots, incense burners, palm trees, etc. The fact that Islamic tradition prohibits the depiction of living creatures, notably the human form, has made for some very creative modern art, ranging from the tasteful to the bizarre and downright hideous. These include a mounted defunct propeller plane, a giant geometry set, a giant bicycle, and a huge block of concrete with several cars protruding out of it at odd angles.
Museums and collections
There may be about a dozen museums or collections in Jeddah. Some of these, showing a wide variety of educational aim and professionality, are the Jeddah Regional Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography run by the Deputy Ministry of Antiquities and Museums, the Jeddah Municipal Museum, the Naseef House, the private Abdul Rauf Hasan Khalil Museum and the private Arts Heritage Museum.
Media
Jeddah is served by four major Arabic-language newspapers, Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Madina, Okaz, Al-Bilad, as well as two major English-language newspapers, The Saudi Gazette and Arab News. Okaz and Al-Madina are Jeddah's and some other Saudi cities' primary newspaper with over a million readers focusing mainly on issues that affect the city.
Jeddah is the largest radio and television market in Saudi Arabia. Television stations serving the city area include Saudi TV1, Saudi TV2, Saudi TV Sports, Al-Ekhbariya, ART channels network and hundreds of cable, satellite and other specialty television providers.
The Jeddah TV Tower is a 250 m (820 ft) high television tower with an observation deck at Jeddah. The tower started construction in 2006 and finished in 2007 and is a part of the new branch of Ministry of Information in Jeddah.
Sport
Jeddah hosts the oldest sport clubs in Saudi Arabia. Al-Ittihad was the first club in the country, being established in 1928.
Football is the most popular sport in Jeddah. Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli are well known football clubs. They are major competitors in both the Saudi Premier League and the AFC Champions League. They have also won the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.
There are several public football stadiums in Jeddah, such as:
- Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium
- Prince Sultan bin Fahd Stadium
- KAU Stadium
- Air-Defense Forces Stadium
- Schools League Stadium
- King Abdullah Stadium (Underconstruction)
