- the Kaaba
- God's House at Mecca's heart, toward which every prayer and every Hajj turns
- Zamzam
- the well inside the Grand Mosque that has watered pilgrims since the days of Abraham
- the Hijaz
- the peninsula's western region, holding Mecca, Medina and Taif
- the qibla
- the direction Muslims pray toward everywhere on earth — the Kaaba itself
- the cave of Hira
- the cave on the Mount of Light where the revelation began to descend on the Prophet
- the Hijra
- the Prophet's journey out to Yathrib, which began the Medina state and the calendar
- the Hajj
- the great journey to the Kaaba every able Muslim owes once in a lifetime
- the Quraysh
- Mecca's ruling tribe, which led its caravans and held the keys of its sanctuary
- the conquest
- the Prophet's victorious entry in 630 and the cleansing of the Kaaba's idols
- the caravans
- the trade journeys Quraysh was known for — the winter and the summer caravans
- Ramadan
- the month of fasting, when the holy city also fills with pilgrims performing umrah
- Dhu al-Hijja
- the pilgrimage month, in which the great Hajj rites are performed around the city
