Zamzam Well

The Well of Zamzam is a well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 20m east of the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam. According to Islamic mythology, it is a miraculously generated source of water from God, which sprang thousands of years ago when Abraham's infant son Ishmael was left with his mother Hagar in the desert, where he was thirsty and kept crying. Millions of pilgrims visit the well each year while performing the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimages, in order to drink its water.Traditional originIslamic tradition states that the Zamzam Well was revealed to Hagara, the second wife of Abraham and mother of Ishmael. By the instruction of God, Abraham left his wife and son at a spot in the desert and walked away. She was desperately seeking water for her infant son, but she could not find any, as Mecca is located in a hot dry valley with few sources of water. Hagar ran seven times back and forth in the scorching heat between the two hills of Safa and Marwah, looking for water. Getting thirstier by the second, the infant Ishmael scraped the land with his feet, where suddenly water sprang out. There are other versions of the story involving God sending his angel, Gabriel (Jibra'il), who kicked the ground with his heel (or wing), and the water rose. A similar story about a well is also mentioned in the Bible.