Mecca Then and Now, 128 Years of Growth

In the late 1880s, the photographer Al Sayyid Abd al Ghaffar carried cumbersome equipment to the desert city of Mecca, capturing scenes of thousands of Muslim pilgrims
camped in the surrounding hills and valleys during the Hajj. Today, more than 125 years later, more than two million Hajj pilgrims descended on Mecca, which has grown drastically to accommodate the annual gathering. Gathered here is a series of photographs from al Ghaffar taken sometime around 1887, compared with images from similar locations taken in 2015.
ALAN TAYLOR

Left: A photograph of the Kaaba (center of photo) in the city of Mecca, circa 1887. Right: A view from a similar location 128 years later shows the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on September 25, 2015. #

Al Sayyid Abd al Ghaffar / Library of Congress—Mohammed Al-Shaikh / AFP / Getty

An aerial view of Mecca, with the Grand Mosque at center, on September 25, 2015. 

Ahmad Masood / Reuters

The western part of the Mina Valley, outside Mecca, during the Hajj pilgrimage, circa 1887. 

Al Sayyid Abd al Ghaffar / Library of Congress

Tents for pilgrims attending the annual Hajj pilgrimage fill the Mina Valley on September 25, 2015. 

Mosa'ab Elshamy / AP

Pilgrims in the eastern part of the Mina Valley, circa 1887. 

Al Sayyid Abd al Ghaffar / Library of Congress

Tents for pilgrims attending the annual Hajj pilgrimage fill the Mina Valley on September 25, 2015. 

Mosa'ab Elshamy / AP

Pilgrims at a rest station near Mount Arafat, east of Mecca, during the Hajj, circa 1887. 

Al Sayyid Abd al Ghaffar / Library of Congress

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers, with their four-faced clock, stand over the Kaaba as Muslims encircle it inside the Grand Mosque, during the Hajj on September 25, 2015. 

Mosa'ab Elshamy / AP

A view of the city of Mecca, circa 1887. 

Al Sayyid Abd al Ghaffar / Library of Congress

 An aerial view of Mecca is seen on October 5, 2014. 

Muhammad Hamed / Reuters