|Well of Zamzam|
Pilgrims visiting the well.
|Location||Kaaba, Masjid al-Haram|
|Area||about 30 m (98 ft) deep and 1.08 to 2.66
|Well of Zamzam|
Pilgrims visiting the well.
|Location||Kaaba, Masjid al-Haram|
|Area||about 30 m (98 ft) deep and 1.08 to 2.66 m (3 ft 7 in to 8 ft 9 in) in diameter|
|Founded||Traditionally about 2000 BC|
|Governing body||Government of Saudi Arabia|
|Official name: Zamzam|
The Well of Zamzam (or the Zamzam Well, or just Zamzam; Arabic: زمزم) is a well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 20 m (66 ft) east of the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam. According to Islamic belief, it is a miraculously-generated source of water from God, which began thousands of years ago when Ibrāhīm's infant son ʼIsmāʻīl was thirsty and kept crying for water. Millions of pilgrims visit the well each year while performing the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimages, in order to drink its water.
Muslims believe that the Zamzam well is a contemporary miracle, never having gone dry despite the millions of litres of water attributed to the well consumed every year. It had been deepened several times in history during periods of severe droughts.
Traditional origin of the Zamzam Well
Islamic history states that the Zamzam Well was revealed to Hagar, the second wife of Abraham and mother of Ismail. By the instruction of God, Abraham left his wife and son at spot in the desert and walked away. She was desperately seeking water for her infant son, but she could not find any, as Mecca is located in a hot dry valley with few sources of water. Hagar ran seven times back and forth in the scorching heat between the two hills of Safa and Marwah, looking for water. Getting thirstier by the second, the infant Ismail scraped the land with his feet, where suddenly water sprang out. There are other versions of the story involving God sending his angel, Gabriel, who kicked the ground with his heel and the water rose.
The name of the well comes from the phrase Zomë Zomë, meaning'stop', which, according to legend, was a command repeated by Hagar during her attempt to contain the spring water.
According to Islamic tradition, Abraham rebuilt the Bait-ul-Allah ("House of God", cognate of the Hebrew-derived place name Bethel) near the site of the well, a building which had been originally constructed by Adem, and today is called the Kaaba, a building toward which all Muslims around the world face in prayer, five times each day. The Zamzam Well is located approximately 20 m (66 ft) east of the Kaaba.
According to IslamOnline, the well originally had two cisterns in the first era, one for drinking and one for ablution. At that time, it was a simple well surrounded by a fence of stones. Then in the era of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur 771 AD (149 AH) a dome was built above the well, and it was tiled with marble. In 775 AD (153 AH), Al-Mahdi rebuilt the well during his caliphate, and built a dome of teak which was covered with mosaic. One small dome covered the well, and a larger dome covered the room for the pilgrims. In 835 AD (213 AH) there was further restoration, and the dome was covered with marble during the caliphate of Al-Mu'tasim.
In 1417 (795 AH), during the time of the Mamluks