Glimpses on the Two Holy Sites in Al-Quds and Al-Khalil from the Surre Register and other Ottoman documents

This valuable study by the researcher Ms. Abla al-Muhtadi from the University of Jordan, Center for Strategic Studies, is about an Ottoman Surra Register from the 16^th century, one of the earliest extant. The Surra processions consigned to Makkah and Madina were regularly recorded in the Surra Registers; so were those sent to al-Quds. These registers, today preserved in the Ottoman Archive of the Turkish Republic, are original, first-hand sources on the history of Al-Quds. They throw light on the socio-economic status of the city under Ottoman rule and show us how much aid was received, and by whom, in the city. Along with al-Quds, the city of Khalil al-Rahman, called al-Khalil today, where the mausoleum complex of Prophet Ibrahim^saw is located, was also considered as “Haram al-Sharif” and therefore a Surra destination. Thus, Surras were sent annually to Al-Quds and Al-Khalil between the 16^th and 20^th centuries together with Makkah and Madina. IRCICA is pleased to present this publication in contribution to the historical documentation on Al-Quds and Palestine.