iscovered in Saudi Arabia (Jeddah 68/69, 1968, p. 71). The revenues from oil, as well as the continuing flow of pilgrims through the city, caused Jeddah to experience "a commercial and financial boom" in the years following the Second World War (Bokhari, 1978, p. 120). Because of the city's rapid growth at that time, the walls which had surrounded Jeddah since the early sixteenth century were torn down in order to make room for further expansion (Jeddah, the bride of the Red Sea, p. 49). Today, Jeddah continues to serve as an important port for Islamic pilgrims on their way to Makkah. In addition, it continues to serve as a major commercial, industrial and cultural center for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and for the Middle East as a whole (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Information, 1991, p. 91).
From this brief description of its past, it is obvious that Jeddah is a city of great historical, cultural, and economic importance. However, few complete studies have ever been made regarding Jeddah's historical development. One of the few such studies, dating from the sixteenth century C.E., was an Arabic work entitled al-Silah wa-'l-`uddah fi tarikh bandar Juddah ("Bride of the Red Sea") by Ibn Faraj (who died in 1602) (Smith & `Umar al-Zayla`i, 1984, p. ii). Most of the other historical studies of Jeddah have been generalized works contained within a few pages of texts dealing with the history of either Saudi Arabia or the Hejaz. Therefore, the proposed thesis will seek to rectify this situation by providing a comprehensive investigation of the historic evolution of the City of Jeddah. The continuity of Jeddah's importance will be traced
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