Sur les traces de Lawrence d'Arabie
The Hejaz Railway
In the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia
Le chemin de fer du Hejaz reliait Damas en Syrie
à Médine,
en traversant le Hejaz, région du nord-ouest de l'Arabie Saoudite.
Nous avons parcouru quelques centaines de kilomètres sur le
remblai où jadis étaient posés les rails.
Ce fut durant ce même
voyage que nous avons visité l'antique cité Nabatéenne de Madain'Saleh.
The
Hejaz Railway was linking Damas in Syria to Medina, through the Hejaz
region of Northwest Saudi Arabia.
We have driven a few hundreds
kilometers on the embankment where the railway used to be.
It was
during this same trip that we visited the antique Nabataean city of
Madain'Saleh.
où on trouve encore aujourd'hui une station qui fut rénovée par le ministère saoudien des antiquités.
The railway was passing through Madain'Saleh
where we still can see a railway station that was
restored by the Saudi Ministry of Antiquities.
The workshop where the repairs on the locomotives were done.
Inside the workwhop, a steam engine still in very good shape.
À droite, une citerne d'eau.
A caravanserai restored by the Saudi Ministry of Antiquities.
On the right hand side, a water cistern.
Inside the caravanserai, Lise shooting her video.
The railway cars were of Belgium construction.
l'ancien remblai où reposaient les rails à l'époque.
We leave Madain'Saleh and hit the "road",
the old embankment where used to be the railway.
Several culverts are still in very good condition.
We met a pack of wild dogs.
Some old rails scattered in the sand.
Ici on voit également une citerne d'eau.
Every 15 kilometers there is an army camp.
Here we can also see a water cistern.
Un long pont de pierre encore
debout après un siècle.
A long stone bridge still
standing after a century.
The only vestiges of dwellings that we come across are the Turkish army camps.
We can see a lot of pieces and remains of old railway cars.
It's an arid land as far as the eye can see.
de solides piquets de clôtures.
The local bedouins got hold of strong fence posts.
We think this was a well.
Marc picking some dried desert melons.
dernier sultan de l'empire Ottoman, Abdul Hamid II.
The railway has been built under the rule of the
last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Abdul Hamid II.
Adbul Hamid II was known in the West as "Abdul the Damned"
or "The Great Assassin" , for he was responsible for the killing of 200,000 Armenians in 1892-1893.
sa véritable justification était plus probablement de renforcer l'emprise des Ottomans sur l'ensemble de la région.
Whereas it was introduced as a religious railway, intended to facilitate the pilgrimage to Mecca,
its real justification was most likely to reinforce the Ottoman power on the whole region.
et ne serviront probablement jamais.
Huge amounts of material used to repair the railroad are still lying along the route, and will obviously never be used.
We can catch a glimpse of a bedouin tent.
et offraient gîte et couvert aux pèlerins en chemin vers La Mecque.
On the way we discover some ancient caravaserai (Qalaat in arabic) which dotted the Hejaz route
and offered shelter and food to the pilgrims on their way to Mecca.
Les travaux de construction commencèrent en 1900 et furent financés principalement par l'Etat ottoman,
avec l'assistance de l'Allemagne.
La ligne atteignit Médine le 1er septembre 1908, jour anniversaire de l'accession au trône du sultan. Malheureusement, pour respecter impérativement cette date, il fallut faire au plus vite et des tronçons de voies furent posés directement sur des remblais dans le lit de certains oueds. Nous voyons le résultat sur la photo de gauche.
The works started in 1900 and were financed mainly by the Ottoman State with the help of Germany. The line reached Medina on Sept. 1st, 1908, the anniversary day of the Sultan accession to the throne. Unfortunately, to be able to complete the works by that date, some parts of the railway line were laid directly in some wadi beds. We can see the results on the left photograph.
An "outlaw" on the road !
Notice that it's Lise who's at the wheel,
in a country where women are forbidden to drive.
un magnifique site de camping.
A few hundred meters from the railway embankment,
we found a great campsite.
The landscape is breathtaking !
Right in the beginning, the railway was attacked by the local arab tribes.
The Turks couldn't control the land on more than one or two kilometers on either side of the track. They had to put metal sleepers in many places because the locals were using the wooden ones as firewood.
en particulier du fait des attaques des bandes arabes dirigées par Lawrence d'Arabie.
The line has been damaged several times during the fights of the First World War,
especially when it was attacked by the arab tribes under the leadership of Lawrence of Arabia.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935), known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British soldier renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt of 1916–18, but whose vivid personality and writings, along with the extraordinary breadth and variety of his activities and associations, have made him the object of fascination throughout the world as "Lawrence of Arabia". Lawrence's public image was due in part to American journalist Lowell Thomas's sensationalised reportage of the Revolt, as well as to Lawrence's autobiographical account, Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
au sud de la frontière entre la Jordanie et l'Arabie saoudite.
After the break up of the Ottoman Empire, the Hejaz Railway has never been used again
south of the border between Jordania and Saudi Arabia.
Marc is taking a little bolt as a souvenir....
This well is not dry yet.
servaient à la protection du chemin de fer.
On the surrounding hills,
those strongholds were protecting the railway.
We can see some Turkish soldiers tombs here and there...
pousse partout dans le désert d'Arabie.
The "Apple of Sodom" (Calotropis Procera)
is growing all over the Arabian desert.
This caravanserai has been built in the middle of a beautiful oasis.
une famille de faucons à l'intérieur.
What a surprise to discover a family of falcons inside it.
In this area the Turkish forts are built of black basalt.
Inside the fort, this looks like an old oven...
And here is the "Turkish Toilet" !
We end this journey with these beautiful views of wadis with arched bridges.
chemin de fer du Hejaz et nous en avons tiré
ce video
Hejaz Railway and we came back with
this video
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