The King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah) is organizing the “History of Hajj and the Two Holy Mosques” forum, in cooperation with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and the Pilgrim Experience Program, from November 10 to 12, on the sidelines of the fifth Hajj Conference and Exhibition at the Super Dome in Jeddah.
The forum aims to highlight the Kingdom’s historical and organizational efforts in serving the Two Holy Mosques, document architectural and artistic transformations at the holy sites, employ modern methods to study the history of Hajj through digital media, and support specialized research.
It also seeks to translate its outcomes into educational and media content that showcases the historical evolution of the Hajj journey across the Islamic world.
Over three days, the forum will feature more than ten specialized panel sessions with over fifty speakers, including historians, researchers, and specialists in history, architecture, culture, media, and digital technologies, documenting the Hajj rite through a modern and comprehensive lens.
The forum will discuss five themes, including organizing Hajj and Umrah and serving the pilgrims and Umrah performers; developing crowd management, transport, and healthcare; and digital transformation in documentation and guidance.
It will also examine what historical chronicles and travelers’ writings recorded about Hajj and the Two Holy Mosques, review architectural styles associated with the Two Holy Mosques and visual identity in manuscripts and historical maps, and explore the presence of Hajj in cultural and literary memory alongside the role of modern technologies and artificial intelligence in historical documentation.
An accompanying exhibition, titled “A Century of Care for the Two Holy Mosques”, will document the history of Hajj over a hundred years through rare original documents, historical photographs, manuscripts, artifacts, and tools used by pilgrims, in addition to digital media and modern display technologies.
Darah is organizing the forum as part of the History of Hajj and the Two Holy Mosques project, in line with its mission to preserve and document the history of the Kingdom and the Two Holy Mosques. The forum serves as a national and global platform for documenting the Hajj rite and boosting the Kingdom’s civilizational image, in step with Saudi Vision 2030 objectives in culture and tourism, through interactive scholarly and digital content that highlights the historical depth of Hajj and the Two Holy Mosques.
