The Image of Mafraq in the Geographers' and Travelers' Books and the Books of the Stations of Pilgrimage. (Since the Umayyad Era till the End of the Ottoman Era)

Abstract

The cities and places located on the route of the pilgrims of the Levant were taken care of by Arab and Muslim geographers and travelers, their blogs included a description of their geographical nature and general conditions in terms of water resources and the availability of food, the fodder necessary to feed the animals, and the state of the roads that penetrate or pass next to it in terms of security and difficulty of passage and other things that the traveler should beware of such as thieves and bandits. The books of the pilgrimage also included brief statements aimed at serving the pilgrim and informing him of the route of the road and the conditions of the places located on it.

      Mafraq (its ancient name: Al-Faddain) occupied an important place before Islam by being located on the ancient Sultanic road (Trajan's road). Its flat terrain contributed to making it a corridor preferred by travelers away from the desert routes to the East, and The Straits of the Ajloun mountains to the West.

      This paper aims to trace the descriptions of Arab geographers and travelers about Mafraq (Al-Faddain) and note its presence in their writings and in the works of the pilgrimage stations, and to indicate their impressions of it and its geographical location.