The Expulsion of Jurhum from Mecca
إجلاء جرهم عن مكة
c. 150 CE
After some twenty centuries of Jurhumite rule over Mecca, their tyranny over pilgrims and appropriation of the Kaaba’s wealth turns the Adnani clans against them; Khuzaʾa, with Banu Bakr ibn Abd Manaf, expels them in the mid-second century CE — and the departing Jurhumites bury Zamzam and carry off the two golden gazelles and the Black Stone.
At a glance
- Era
- Pre-Islamic Arabia
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Sides
Khuza'a and Banu Bakr
Jurhum
Overview
Khuza'a's expulsion of Jurhum from Mecca in the mid-second century CE, after they wronged newcomers and made free with the Ka'ba's treasure — their blocking of Zamzam and their departure to Yemen.
The story
Jurhum's state in Mecca soured and their affairs straitened; they wronged those who came to it and made free with the Ka'ba's wealth, which enraged the Adnanis 1. When Khuza'a settled at Marr al-Zahran and saw the Adnanis' estrangement from Jurhum, they seized on it: with help from subtribes of Adnan — Banu Bakr ibn Abd Manaf ibn Kinana — they warred on Jurhum until they expelled them from Mecca and took over its rule, in the mid-second century CE 1.
As Jurhum faced exile they blocked the well of Zamzam, effaced its site and buried things in it; Ibn Ishaq says: Amr ibn al-Harith ibn Mudad al-Jurhumi went off with the two gazelles of the Ka'ba and the stone of the Black Corner and buried them in the well of Zamzam 2. Al-Mubarakpuri estimates Jurhum's residence in Mecca at twenty-one centuries and their rule over it at some twenty centuries 3.
For young visitors
Jurhum ruled Mecca for an age; when they mistreated the pilgrims, Khuza'a fought them with their allies until they drove them out — and the departing people buried treasures in the well of Zamzam and blocked it.
Connections
- Occurred at
- Mecca
- Had participant
- JurhumKhuza'aBanu Bakr ibn Abd ManafAmr ibn al-Harith al-Jurhumi
- Part of
- Pre-Islamic Arabia
People and things also explored
Qusayy ibn Kilab Takes MeccaThe Settlement of Hajar and Ismail at MeccaThe Bakr–Khuza'a clash at al-WatirThe Command to Sacrifice IsmailHulayl ibn HubshiyyaMuhammadJurhumMecca
Sources
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham
- Qalb Jazirat al-Arab — Fuʾad Hamza
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Expulsion of Jurhum from Mecca”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/expulsion-of-jurhum/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.