City in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
Tabuk
(
Arabic
:
???????
Tab?k
,
Arabic:
[ta?bu:k]
) is the capital city of the
Tabuk Region
in northwestern
Saudi Arabia
. It has a population of 594,350 (as of 2022). It is close to the
Jordan?Saudi Arabia border
and houses the largest air force base in Saudi Arabia.
[2]
History
[
edit
]
Ptolemy
mentioned a place by the name 'Tabawa', at the northwestern corner of
Arabia
. This name may be a reference to 'Tabuka' or 'Tabuk'. If this is true, the town may be as old as Ptolemy's time.
Pre-Islamic Arab poets
such as Antra and Nabiqa mention its mountain 'Hasmi' in their poems.
[
citation needed
]
Tabouk became famous for the
Expedition of Tabuk
in 630 CE, during the period of the
Islamic prophet
Muhammad
. Since then, it remained a gateway of North Arabia. It was visited by
Charles Montagu Doughty
in 1877.
Tabuk was captured by the Arab forces in 1918, three weeks after the British
capture of Damascus
.
[3]
Tabuk became a centre of military activity during the
1991 Gulf War
as the city faced threats from
Iraqi scuds
and air attacks
[
citation needed
]
.
Archaeology
[
edit
]
The region is rich in antiquities and archaeological sites such as petroglyphs, inscriptions, forts, palaces, walls, Syrian-Egyptian pilgrimage route, and the remains of the
Hejaz railway
, the main station of which is located in Tabuk.
Hundreds of localities with rock art and inscriptions dating to different chronological periods and ranging from Paleolithic to the Islamic period were recorded at Wadi Dam and the region west of Tabuk. Study of the art revealed rich stylistic variability and both human and animal figures were represented in it. Numerous sites in the area with
Thamudic
,
Greek
and
Nabataean
inscriptions have been found.
Tabuk Castle
, known as the castle of
A?-??b al-Aykah
(
Arabic
:
?????????? ????????????
, "Companions of the Wood"), is mentioned in the
Quran
.
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
The castle dates back to about 3500 BCE and has been restored many times; the last was in 1652. Several forts and stations were built along the Syrian pilgrimage route, from the Jordanian border to
Medina
to welcome the
pilgrims
. The fort consists of two floors built around an open courtyard with a mosque, a well, and a stairway leading to the watch towers used by the guards. Tabuk Castle is considered an archaeological landmark of the region and is open to visitors.
Ain Sukkrah is an ancient
‘spring
(
Arabic
:
?????
, 'ayn') dating back to
Iron Age times
(
Arabic
:
????????????
, 'Ignorance'). There is a legend that during the expedition of Tabuk, Muhammad camped more than ten days near the spring and drank from its water.
[
citation needed
]
The Prophet's Mosque is also known as the Repentance Mosque. It was originally built with mud and roofed with palm trunk trees. It was restored in 1652. Eventually, its complete renewal was ordered by the late King Faisal ibn Abdul-Aziz, along the pattern of the
Prophet's Mosque
in Medina.
Demographics
[
edit
]
In 1950, Tabuk had a population of 12,000. By 2022, this number had grown to 594,350.
Education
[
edit
]
Universities include:
Private schools include:
Geography and climate
[
edit
]
Climate data for Tabuk (1991?2020)
|
Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
Record high °C (°F)
|
32.0
(89.6)
|
33.2
(91.8)
|
37.0
(98.6)
|
39.0
(102.2)
|
43.4
(110.1)
|
44.2
(111.6)
|
46.4
(115.5)
|
46.0
(114.8)
|
45.0
(113.0)
|
40.0
(104.0)
|
34.0
(93.2)
|
32.0
(89.6)
|
46.4
(115.5)
|
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
|
18.3
(64.9)
|
21.0
(69.8)
|
25.2
(77.4)
|
30.5
(86.9)
|
34.8
(94.6)
|
38.0
(100.4)
|
39.2
(102.6)
|
39.5
(103.1)
|
37.3
(99.1)
|
32.4
(90.3)
|
25.0
(77.0)
|
19.9
(67.8)
|
30.1
(86.2)
|
Daily mean °C (°F)
|
11.1
(52.0)
|
13.6
(56.5)
|
17.6
(63.7)
|
22.7
(72.9)
|
27.1
(80.8)
|
30.4
(86.7)
|
31.9
(89.4)
|
32.0
(89.6)
|
29.4
(84.9)
|
24.6
(76.3)
|
17.6
(63.7)
|
12.5
(54.5)
|
22.5
(72.5)
|
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
|
4.5
(40.1)
|
6.5
(43.7)
|
10.2
(50.4)
|
14.8
(58.6)
|
19.2
(66.6)
|
22.3
(72.1)
|
24.4
(75.9)
|
24.4
(75.9)
|
21.7
(71.1)
|
17.1
(62.8)
|
10.8
(51.4)
|
5.8
(42.4)
|
15.1
(59.2)
|
Record low °C (°F)
|
?7.9
(17.8)
|
?7.4
(18.7)
|
?2.8
(27.0)
|
1.0
(33.8)
|
8.8
(47.8)
|
12.0
(53.6)
|
16.6
(61.9)
|
16.4
(61.5)
|
12.4
(54.3)
|
6.4
(43.5)
|
?1.4
(29.5)
|
?5.0
(23.0)
|
?7.9
(17.8)
|
Average
precipitation
mm (inches)
|
9.1
(0.36)
|
2.3
(0.09)
|
4.4
(0.17)
|
1.2
(0.05)
|
1.8
(0.07)
|
0.1
(0.00)
|
0.1
(0.00)
|
0.8
(0.03)
|
0.1
(0.00)
|
2.9
(0.11)
|
3.3
(0.13)
|
1.7
(0.07)
|
27.8
(1.09)
|
Average precipitation days
(≥ 1.0 mm)
|
1.0
|
0.7
|
0.8
|
0.3
|
0.5
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.1
|
0.0
|
0.7
|
0.5
|
0.4
|
5.0
|
Average
relative humidity
(%)
|
51
|
42
|
35
|
27
|
24
|
22
|
22
|
24
|
27
|
34
|
43
|
51
|
34
|
Average
dew point
°C (°F)
|
0
(32)
|
?1
(30)
|
0
(32)
|
0
(32)
|
2
(36)
|
4
(39)
|
6
(43)
|
7
(45)
|
6
(43)
|
5
(41)
|
3
(37)
|
1
(34)
|
3
(37)
|
Source 1:
World Meteorological Organization
,
[8]
Jeddah Regional Climate Center
[9]
(
Red Sea International Airport
)
|
Source 2:
Time and Date
(dewpoints, 1985-2015)
|
Transportation
[
edit
]
Tabuk Regional Airport
is served by
Saudia
and other airlines, with both domestic and international destinations.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Tabuk Governorate"
.
www.citypopulation.de
. Retrieved
2024-02-03
.
- ^
Mackey, Sandra (2002),
The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom
, New York:
W.W. Norton and Company
, p. 234,
ISBN
0-393-32417-6
Updated Edition. Norton Paperback. First edition: 1987; Pbk.
- ^
Saunders, Nicholas J. (2020-08-12).
Desert Insurgency: Archaeology, T. E. Lawrence, and the Arab Revolt
. Oxford University Press. p. 683.
ISBN
978-0-19-103071-0
.
- ^
Quran
15:78-79
- ^
Quran
26:176-189
- ^
Quran
38:13-15
- ^
Quran
50:12-14
- ^
"World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991?2020"
. World Meteorological Organization
. Retrieved
2 August
2023
.
- ^
"Climate Data for Saudi Arabia"
. Jeddah Regional Climate Center. Archived from
the original
on 1 April 2016
. Retrieved
June 13,
2022
.
- ^
Ambraseys, N. N.; Melville, C. P.; Adams, R. D. (2005).
The Seismicity of Egypt, Arabia and the Red Sea: A Historical Review
.
Cambridge University Press
. pp. 30?32, 101.
ISBN
978-0-521-02025-1
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Tabuk
.
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1,000,000 and more
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300,000-999,999
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<300,000
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