Al-Uḵayḍir

Al-Ukhaydir lies southeast of Tabuk on the Syrian road to the holy cities. A small fort built of dressed stone guarded the stopping place, one of a series established for the protection of pilgrims crossing the northern Hejaz. Ottoman inscriptions at the fort record work in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Wells and stores along this route helped sustain the annual caravans between Syria and Medina.