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Tabuk ( ', ) is the capital city of the
Tabuk Province Tabuk Province, also known as Tabuk Region ( '), is a province in Saudi Arabia, located along the northwestern coast of the country, facing Egypt across the Red Sea. It also borders Jordan to the north. History The history of Tabuk province ...
in northwestern
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. It has a population of 594,350 (as of 2022). It is close to the
Jordan–Saudi Arabia border The Jordan–Saudi Arabia border is 731 km (454 mi) in length and runs from the Gulf of Aqaba in the south-west to the tripoint with Iraq in the north-east. Description The border starts in the south-west at Gulf of Aqaba, and then con ...
and houses the largest air force base in Saudi Arabia.


History and prehistory

The historical place of
Midian Midian (; ; , ''Madiam''; Taymanitic: 𐪃𐪕𐪚𐪌 ''MDYN''; ''Mīḏyān'') is a geographical region in West Asia, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia. mentioned in the Tanakh and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was ...
roughly corresponds to what is now region of Tabuk.
Tabuk Castle Tabuk Castle () is an ancient castle in Tabuk, the capital city of Tabuk Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia, which dates back to 1559. The castle has been rehabilitated and transformed into a museum which is open to all visitors. History ...
, known as the castle of '' Aṣ-ḥāb al-Aykah'' ("Companions of the Wood"), is mentioned in the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
. 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 Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
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.
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
mentioned a place by the name 'Tabawa', at the northwestern corner of
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
. 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 the mountain 'Hasmi' in their poems. Tabouk became famous for the
Expedition of Tabuk The Expedition of Tabuk (; ''Ghazwat Tabūk''), also known as the Campaign of Hardship (''Ghazwat al-ʿUsrah''), was a military campaign that was initiated by the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in October 630 CE (Raja ...
in 630, during the period of the
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic
prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
. Since then, it remained a gateway to North Arabia. It was visited by
Charles Montagu Doughty Charles Montagu Doughty (19 August 1843 – 20 January 1926) was a British poet, writer, explorer, adventurer and traveller, best known for his two-volume 1888 travel book '' Travels in Arabia Deserta''. Early life and education Son of Rev. Ch ...
in 1877. Tabuk was captured by the Arab forces in 1918, three weeks after the British capture of Damascus. Tabuk became a centre of military activity during the
1991 Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
as the city faced threats from Iraqi Scud missiles and air attacks. The region is rich in antiquities and archaeological sites such as petroglyphs, inscriptions, forts, palaces, walls, the 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 the Paleolithic to the Islamic period were recorded at Wadi Dam and the region west of Tabuk. A 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 Thamudic, named for the Thamud tribe, is a group of Epigraphy, epigraphic scripts known from large numbers of inscriptions in Ancient North Arabian (ANA) alphabets, which have not yet been properly studied. These texts are found over a huge area f ...
,
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and
Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petr ...
inscriptions have been found. Ain Sukkrah is an ancient ''‘ayn'' () dating back to ''
Pre-Islamic Arabia Pre-Islamic Arabia is the Arabian Peninsula and its northern extension in the Syrian Desert before the rise of Islam. This is consistent with how contemporaries used the term ''Arabia'' or where they said Arabs lived, which was not limited to the ...
'' ("Era of Ignorance"). During the expedition of Tabuk, it was remembered that Muhammad camped for more than ten days near the spring and drank from its water.Book of hadith of Sahih Muslim


Demographics

In 1950, Tabuk had a population of 12,000. By 2022, this number had grown to 594,350.


Education

Universities include: * University of Tabuk * Fahad bin Sultan University Private schools include: * British International School of Tabuk * International Indian School Tabuk * Pakistan International School of Tabuk * Philippine International School * King Abdulaziz Model schools * Tabuk International School * Bangladesh International School, Tabuk File:Tabuk of university - panoramio.jpg, The University of Tabuk File:British International School of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia - 20110428.jpg, British International School of Tabuk


Geography and climate


Transportation

Tabuk Regional Airport Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport, also known as Tabuk International Airport (; ) is an international and public airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Formerly, it was an exclusively military airport until its renovation to become a public airport i ...
is served by
Saudia Saudia (), formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines (), is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia based in Jeddah. The airline's main hubs are the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the ...
and other airlines, with both domestic and international destinations.


See also

* 1068 Near East earthquake, catastrophic event whose epicentre was in the area of Tabuk * Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Hegra) *
AlUla The alula , or bastard wing, (plural ''alulae'') is a small projection on the anterior edge of the wing of modern birds and a few non-avian dinosaurs. The word is Latin and means "winglet"; it is the diminutive of ''ala'', meaning "wing". The a ...
* Rakuba *
Mawqaq Mawqaq is a town in Saudi Arabia's southwestern Ḥa'il Province, situated approximately 80 kilometers from the city center of Ḥaʼil. Mawqaq is one of the oldest and most populous towns in the region, with numerous smaller villages dotting t ...
  *
Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
** Hijaz Mountains


References


External links


Tabouk - Saudi ArabiaTabuk City on Saudi Tourism Site
{{Authority control Populated places in Tabuk Province Provincial capitals of Saudi Arabia Jordan–Saudi Arabia border Cities in Saudi Arabia