page_title: Jeddah
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Jeddah / History
caption_attribution_description: Jeddah , 1938
context_page_description: Jeddah, also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda, is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia and the country's commercial center. With a population of about 3 million and half people, Jeddah is the largest city in Makkah Province, the second-largest in Saudi Arabia, and the tenth-largest in the Arab world. Jeddah Islamic Port, located on the Red Sea, is the second-largest and second-busiest seaport in the Arab world.
  Jeddah is the principal gateway to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, located just 65 kilometres to the east, while Medina, the second-holiest city, is located 360 kilometres to the north.
  Economically, Jeddah is focusing on further developing capital investment in scientific and engineering leadership within Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East. Jeddah was independently ranked fourth in the Africa – Mid-East region in terms of innovation in 2009 in the Innovation Cities Index.
  Jeddah is of Saudi Arabia's primary resort cities and was named a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network. Given the city's close proximity to the Red Sea, fishing and seafood dominates the food culture unlike other parts of the country.
context_section_description: Some archaeologists' studies suggest the existence of inhabitants in the region now known as Jeddah since the Stone Age seeing as they found some artifacts and 'Thamoudian' writings in Wadi (valley) Breiman east of Jeddah and Wadi Boib northeast of Jeddah. Some historians trace its founding to the tribe of Bani Quda'ah, who inhabited it after the collapse of Sad (dam) Ma'rib in 115 BC. Some believe that Jeddah had been inhabited before the tribe of Bani Quda'ah by fishermen in the Red Sea, who considered it a center from which they sailed out into the sea as well as a place for relaxation and well-being. According to some accounts, the history of Jeddah dates back to early times before Alexander the Great, who visited the city between 323 and 356 BC.
caption: Jeddah in 1938
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