At-Thulayma

Al-Thulayma was a stopping place on the Darb Zubayda, the pilgrimage road from Iraq to Mecca. Its circular stone reservoir, some thirty-two metres across, received runoff from the surrounding hills through a channel and settling basin. Steps descended into the pool, while buildings and resting places stood nearby. The reservoir and its associated structures date from the Abbasid period, when facilities along the desert road supplied water to passing pilgrims.