Mecca the Desert of Paran mentioned in the Old Testament at Genesis 21:21. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah and the site where Ishmael settled was Mecca. Yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was "an arabized Hebrew word, one of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah." Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor (called "Al-Amin") appointed by the Saudi government. , the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar. Mecca
Mecca the "Hollow of Mecca". The area contains the valley of Al Taneem, the Valley of Bakkah and the valley of Abqar. This mountainous location has defined the contemporary expansion of the city. The city centers on the Masjid al-Haram area, which is lower than most of the city. The area around the mosque is the old city. The main avenues are "Al-Mudda'ah" and "Sūq al-Layl" to the north of the mosque, and "As-Sūg Assaghīr" to the south. As the Saudis expanded the Grand Mosque in the center of the city, hundreds of houses were replaced by wide avenues and city