Makkah in 610–615 CE, at the Time of the Prophet ﷺ

The scene covers the years of the first revelation, 610 to 615 CE. In those years the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ lived with Khadijah ﵂ in her house near Marwa, and the early Muslim community met at Dar al-Arqam on the slope of Safa. The Ka'bah stood in a small open space hemmed in by house fronts, and unpaved paths ran along the valleys between the ridges.

The sections below follow the valley outward: from the Ka'bah and Zamzam to Safa and Marwa, the houses of the early community, the ravine quarter of Banu Hashim, and the mountains of Hira and Thawr to the north-east and the south. Each place has its own note on where it is placed, how it is reconstructed and which sources support it, and each one opens in the 3D model.

The Ka'bah (often spelled Kaaba) stood within an open space for circumambulation, with houses and the routes of the valley around it. The sanctuary had no enclosure wall until 'Umar ﵁ added one in 638 CE. Zamzam, the well of the sanctuary, lay a few paces from the Ka'bah, and the market place of al-Hazwara lay near the sanctuary.

Safa and Marwa are two small hills on the eastern side of the sanctuary, linked by an open passage. The model keeps that passage clear of buildings and shade structures; it is not the modern roofed or paved corridor.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ lived in the home of Khadijah ﵂ near Marwa throughout the years shown in this scene. Its location is attested, while its plot and plan are illustrative. 'Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt lived in the same quarter, and Ibn Ishaq ﵀ names him among the neighbours who were hostile to the Prophet ﷺ.

Two houses of early Makkah stand on either side of the sanctuary in the model: Dar al-Nadwa, the council house of Quraysh, to the north, its entrance facing the sanctuary, and Dar al-Arqam on the slope of Safa, where the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ met the early Muslim community. Their exact plots are unknown, so both are shown as illustrative stone houses with courtyards.

The ravine quarter of Banu Hashim, the clan of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, is also known as Shi'b Abi Talib. It lay east of the sanctuary below Abu Qubays. The boycott that confined the clan there, c. 616/617 to 619 CE, came after the years this model shows, so the quarter is marked as a broad area and its houses are not rebuilt.

Hira rises north-east of the settlement, apart from the central town. Its cave is associated with the first revelation to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, around 610 CE. The model keeps the mountain and the cave as two distinct places and leaves out the modern paths and visitor infrastructure.

Thawr stands beyond the southern valleys. It is in the model for its geography: its cave would later shelter the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and Abu Bakr ﵁ during the Hijrah in 622 CE, after the period shown here.

Makkah lies in connected dry valleys enclosed by rocky ridges. The ranges below are placed from historical topographic plans and modern elevation data; their names locate broad regions, not surveyed ancient summits.

The houses, sanctuary clearing and architectural details are reconstructions, not excavated footprints. Unpaved paths and house frontages form an interpretive street network along historically supported valley relationships. Exact routes, widths and plots are not known. The open Safa–Marwa passage is protected from buildings and shade structures; it is not the modern roofed or paved corridor. The sanctuary is a small open space hemmed in by house fronts; it had no enclosure wall until 'Umar ﵁ added one in 638 CE. Dar al-Nadwa is placed north of the sanctuary, and Dar al-Arqam near Safa; their exact plots are unknown. The home of Khadijah ﵂, where the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ lived throughout 610–615 CE, stands near Marwa on Zuqaq al-'Attarin (later Zuqaq al-Hajar); that location is attested, while its plot and plan are illustrative. Zamzam is shown as a low stone well-head about 20 m east of the Ka'bah, a position assumed from the modern layout. The Ka'bah's orientation follows its mapped footprint, and it is shown roofed with a plain, muted textile covering; its colour is illustrative. Its height is about 18 cubits (roughly 8.5–9 m, cubit length assumed), on a footprint following the Quraysh foundations that later rebuilds kept, with the single door that Quraysh raised "so as to admit into it whom they wished and prevent whom they wished" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1584). Before Islam, idols stood in and around the Ka'bah (Sahih al-Bukhari 4287, 1601); they are not modelled. There are no later mosque colonnades, minarets, modern marble courts or human figures.

One model unit equals one metre. Heights are shown exaggerated ×1.5 for legibility; horizontal positions and building dimensions are unchanged, and buildings stay grounded on the exaggerated terrain. Modern mapped anchors identify known sites; range labels locate broad regions rather than certified ancient summits. The DEM under-resolves some peaks; published mountain heights should not be inferred from this surface.