Mecca Saudi Arabia Islam the Hajj British Travelogue Film 49954 (1952)

Synopsis

Mecca The Forbidden City” is a black-and-white British picture taking its viewer to the Saudi Arabian city. The center of the Islamic religion is shown beginning at mark 01:00, with a brief narrative of Islam’s origins. The film shows how Muslims travel as part of the Hajj to Mecca from all over the world. At mark 03:53 we see Mecca’s market places, where bartering and trading occurs just as it had for 2,000 years, as well as a look at a solemn moment of prayer (mark 04:46 ). Pilgrims are shown traveling to Mecca by ship (mark 05:55 ), entering the Red Sea at mark 11:38, and being called to one of five daily prayers. Growing nearer to setting foot on the hallowed ground of the holy land of Mecca at mark 16:45, the film continues to capture the voyage of the pilgrims as they pass through Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. Some travel by bus while other pilgrims choose other, more humble means or transportation such as camel (mark 19:36 ) before finally reaching the forbidden city of Mecca (mark 21:30 ) and showing never-before-seen scenes from its streets. Mecca (/ˈmɛkə/) or Makkah (Arabic: مكة‎‎ Makkah) is a city in the Hejaz in Saudi Arabia, the capital of its Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during the hajj ("pilgrimage") period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar…

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Details

Running time

26 minutes

Language

English

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage