Sadd Al-Khair (Wadi Fatima Dam, Sadd al-Hamra)
سد الخير · Wadi Fatima Dam · Sadd al-Hamra Wadi Fatima
Umayyad (with possible South Arabian precursor)·Umayyad Hejaz oasis·🇸🇦 Makkah Region, Wadi Fatima, Al Jumum, Saudi Arabia
About
About Sadd Al-Khair (Wadi Fatima Dam, Sadd al-Hamra)
Sadd dam 28 km west of Makkah (280 m) on Wadi Fatima (Wadi al-Fatma) at Al Jumum narrowing, Hejaz foothill wadi 72 km to Jeddah Red Sea. Rock-fill dam 65 m long, 5.8 m high with clay core and 22-m masonry spillway with step apron, trapping 32,000 m³ for Al Jumum oasis date palms and Mecca western gardens. Upstream sediment basin 80 m long. Dated early Islamic 8th c. Umayyad (or earlier South Arabian reuse) with 1908 Ottoman repair inscribed stone. Feeds Al Jumum spring qanats 4 km via silt-filter channel. Wadi Fatima was Mecca's western agricultural hinterland.
Why it mattersWestern Mecca oasis dam complementing eastern Ayn Zubaydah aqueduct—Hejaz dual water strategy.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Umayyad vs South Arabian precursor dating
Theories
- 01South Arabian dam tradition west Hejaz
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.720 CE (Umayyad), Ottoman repaired 1908
- Period
- Umayyad (with possible South Arabian precursor)
- Culture
- Umayyad Hejaz oasis
- Builders
- Umayyad Al Jumum engineers (Wadi Fatima tribe)
- Purpose
- Wadi Fatima flood harvest for Al Jumum oasis and Mecca western date-palm gardens
- Abandoned
- 1950s modern well(field) but dam preserved
- Rediscovered
- 1960s King Abdulaziz Foundation survey; 2018 Wadi Fatima dam drone mapping
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
720 CE
Umayyad dam construction
1908 CE
Ottoman repair inscription
On the ground
Structures & features
21.6200° N · 39.7000° E · 280 m · 2 mapped features
Al Jumum Masonry Spillway 22 m
spillway22-m stepped spillway with apron at dam overflow
21.6180° N · 39.6980° EWadi Fatima Sediment Basin
reservoir80-m upstream basin feeding 4-km silt-filter channel to oasis
21.6220° N · 39.7020° E