Mecca Mecca Mecca (; "" () is a city in the Hejazi region of the Arabian Peninsula, and the plain of Tihamah in Saudi Arabia, and is also the capital and administrative headquarters of the Makkah Region. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level, and south of Medina. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during the "Ḥajj" (, "Pilgrimage") period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of "Dhūl-Ḥijjah" (). As the birthplace of Muhammad, and the site
Battle of Mecca (883) various responsibilities over the pilgrimage and the Holy Cities. As with Ibn Tulun, 'Amr enjoyed a high degree of independence from the Abbasid government, but unlike the Egyptian ruler he was on relatively cordial terms with the caliphal court during this period, and in regards to Mecca he proved to be particularly jealous to preserve his own rights in the city. Despite these obstacles, Ibn Tulun had made an initial attempt to establish himself in Mecca in 881, when he sent an agent with a detachment of cavalrymen to represent his interests there. Upon their arrival, however, they found themselves