‘Do all roads lead to Mecca?’

Author: Kyle Longworth

The phrase “all roads lead to Rome” invokes notions of Roman infrastructure and the gravity of Rome as a metropolis. For scholars of the Middle East, the gravitational force of a single location is diminished by the pull of multiple political and religious centers. On the surface, this illustrates just how much more interesting Middle Eastern history is than Roman history, but, kidding aside, it goes deeper: does knowing where a road is heading influence our interpretation of the motivation, impact, and significance of the road?

Some 150 kilometers north of Jerusalem, near the town of Fīq (also spelled Afīq), scholars have discovered three important inscriptions on a road toward Damascus. How do we know the road was toward Damascus? —because they tell us. The most complete inscription reads as follows:

“In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. There is no God but Allāh, He has no partner, Muha[mmad] [is the messenger of] Allāh. The servant of God, [‘Abd] al-Malik, the Amīr al-Mu’minīn, has ordered the construction of these milestones (al-amyāl) under the supervision (‘alā yaday) of Musāwir, the mawla of the Amī[r al-Mu’minīn] in the month of Sha‘bān in the year eighty-five (from August 8 to September 5, 704). From Damascus to this (milestone) is fifty-three miles.”

The inscription is remarkable for several reasons. First, the milestones from Fīq are two of only seven surviving Umayyad-era milestones, with the other five in the vicinity of the city of Jerusalem. For scholars, their content is exceptionally significant. Milestones are some of our earliest Arabic inscriptions and contain valuable insight into the use of cultural slogans, such as the shahāda, or titles like Amīr al-Mu’minīn. Second, the material and size of the milestones indicate that they did not exist in isolation but were part of a larger structure and building project.

The most complete milestone from Fīq weighs approximately of 220 kg (485 lbs) of carved basalt but stands less than 40 centimeters tall. It is unlikely to have sat on the ground alone, but was part of a larger, more visually observable structure. Visually, the inscriptions are less impressive in comparison to other contemporary imperial inscriptions, but this is likely because basalt is a hard, porous stone even for a skilled engraver. Next, the milestones from Fīq are complemented by an additional inscription inaugurating the leveling of a difficult pass, which further illustrates that a milestone’s construction likely went hand in hand with additional road development. Finally, the two milestones and the commemorative inscription also mention an additional individual who supervised the project (‘alā yadī) and provide definitive dates. Thus, while it is unclear how these would have been displayed, we can see that milestones were part of a larger project of road infrastructure—one that involved labor, capital, materials, and supervision.

The names of these supervisors are important. The commemorative inscription at Fīq reads: “‘Abd al-Malik, the Amīr al-Mu’minīn, ordered the leveling of this path (amr bi-tashīl hādhihi al-‘aqba) under the supervision (‘alā yadī) of Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥakam.” As Moshe Sharon has posited, this Yaḥyā is likely none other than Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥakam b. Abī al-‘Āṣ, the stepbrother of the Caliph Marwān and the paternal uncle of the Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik. This is important to consider in the case of Musāwir, the mawlā Amīr al-Mu’minīn mentioned in the above milestone. Amikam Elad emphasizes that the name Musāwir is rare but an Arab name and notes that there is one important Musāwir during the time of ‘Abd al-Malik: the Arab poet al-Musāwir b. Hind, who was related to ‘Abd al-Malik through the marriage of Wallāda, the mother of the future Caliphs al-Walīd and Sulaymān. Elad argues that the phrase mawlā Amīr al-Mu’minīn here should be understood as an honorific rather than a social label attached to non-Arab converts to Islam. Additionally, Musāwir came from a prominent family within the leadership of his tribal subgroup. If correct, this draws attention to an important overlap between public infrastructure projects and personal relations.

The milestones at Fīq were constructed on the east side of the Sea of Galilee, which is important for two reasons. First, the milestones are on a newly constructed (at least partially) road heading north toward Damascus, rather than an existing of a pre-Islamic road. Second, the road was not a simple north-south direct line between Damascus and Jerusalem but formed part of a wider network linking additional cities and sites in the region. On the western coast of the Sea of Galilee sits the palace at Ṣinnabra on the way to Ṭabariyyā, which was heavily patronized by the Umayyads. It is said that ‘Abd al-Malik would winter there, and other caliphs resided at the palace at Ṣinnabra. Thus, this was not merely a road between Jerusalem and Damascus—it also connected caliphal estates on the western side of the Sea of Galilee with Damascus. Literary sources, such as Ibn Khurradādhbih, support this observation, describing the route between Damascus and Jerusalem as follows: Damascus > al-Kuswa > Jāsim > Fīq > Ṭabariyyā > Lajjūn > Qalansuwa > Ramla > Jerusalem (an alternate route went south towards Baysān).

In conclusion, the establishment of the Umayyad capital in Damascus provided physical distance from rivals in the Ḥijāz, but it also separated the new caliphs from the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Investment in road infrastructure around Jerusalem could be understood as the pious projects of a caliph projecting his authority as the custodian of a holy site. That said, the connection between Umayyad family members, such as ‘Abd al-Malik’s uncle Yaḥya b. al-Ḥakam, and caliphal estates on these routes should not be underappreciated. One could also make the case that it is quite convenient that the Umayyads were investing in roads on which they lived or owned property. The cluster of milestones west of Jerusalem also shares this feature, as they ultimately would be on the road that passed through Ramla, the future Caliph Sulaymān’s preferred residence. Thus, these roads do not exist only in relation to pilgrimage sites or political/religious centers but should be understood as part of broader economic and political networks. Perhaps, then, a more appropriate idiom for our milestones is, “It’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey.”

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