Urban Fabric of the Arab-Islamic City through the Journey of Ibn Jubeir (578 A.H/1182 -581 A.H/1185)

Abstract

Ibn Jubeir, the Arab Muslim traveler, set out on his pilgrimage to Mecca from Granada in Andalusia which lasted two years and three months, passing numerous Arab Islamic cities , recorded observations about them in his book:" Resalat E'tibar Alnasek fe thekr alathar alkareemah walmanasek". The Researcher identified the number of cities as 37, 12 of which were in Egypt, two cities in the Arabian Peninsula, 5cities in Iraq, 8cities in the land of Euphrates Island, and 10 cities in the Levant. This study aimed to identify urban fabric components of these cities, as described by Ibn Jubeir, which were distributed among the four types: Residential buildings, religious buildings, defensive buildings, and service buildings(khans, parks, Albemaristans, Hammamat …etc.) The researcher used the historical analytical approach to trace Ibn Jubeir’s Journey between these cities. The study came up with several findings referred to comprehensive Arab-Islamic in urban planning.