According to Islamic narratives, the well is a miraculously generated source of water, which opened up thousands of years ago when the son of Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismaʿil (Ishmael), was left with his mother Hajar (Hagar) in the desert.

The terms are onomatopoeic and derive from what Arabs perceived to be an indistinct, droning sound of the recitation of Avestan prayers and scriptures by Magi.

[b][3][6] Islamic tradition states that the Zamzam Well was opened up in some form by God to assist Hajar, the second wife of Ibrahim and mother of Ismaʿil.

In Islamic narratives Ibrahim, commanded by God, led Hajar and Ismaʿil to the area of present-day Mecca, there he left them alone in the desert.

[10] According to Islamic tradition, Ibrahim rebuilt a shrine called Arabic: بيت ٱللَّٰه, romanized: Baytu 'l-llah, lit.

[e] Following ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib's precognitions to dig, he is claimed to have found a number of artefacts: golden gazelle figurines, armour, and several specimens of a type of sword called Arabic: السيف القلعى, romanized: as-Sayf al-Qalaʿī, lit.

[12][11] Hawting's analysis argues that the oral traditions surrounding the Arabic: بئر الكعبة, romanized: Biʾru 'l-Kaʿba, lit.

[11] The traditional Islamic account of the well's history relayed by al-Azraqī traces the lineage of its management via to Abū Tālib as inherited from its (re)-discoverer and his father ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.

'giving of water') was reputedly a hereditary position of the Abbasids, i.e. the progeny of al-ʿAbbās, who ended up seizing control over Mecca as a whole using their caliphate.

[16] In the years 775–778 the second Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur, sponsored extensive construction projects in the Masjid al-Haram, which included paving the area around Zamzam with marble.

[17] Beginning in the years 833–855, during the rule of al-Muʿtasim, a civil servant called ʿUmar ibn Faraǧ ar-Ruḫḫaǧī began a series of construction projects related to the well, all marked by their intricate use of mosaics.

They were briefly led in 931 by a Persian, al-Isfahani, whom they believed to be God incarnate who unsuccessfully attempted to convert the Qarmatian state to Zoroastrianism.

[19][20][21] Following the Abbasid relinquishment of the management of the well a quasi-guild called Zamzamis emerged and remained in place at least until the end of the 19th century.

In 19th century practice however a pilgrim would be assigned a Zamzami upon his arrival and would have been obliged to pay him a small initial sum of $1 for a jug to bear his name.

[25] Following the Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate and their assumption of power in Mecca, Suleiman the Magnificent funded many construction and renovation works in the city.

[27] Following their conquest of Mecca in 1803, during the reign of Selim III, the Wahhabis, led by Abdulaziz bin Muhammad Al Saud, destroyed the dome covering the well.

These latter containers come in several variants, chilled and unchilled, as well as being either stationary or worn as a backpack by employees of the complexes with disposable plastic cups provided in any case.

The upper half of the well is in the sandy alluvium of the valley, lined with stone masonry except for the top metre (3 ft) which has a concrete "collar".

The Saudi Geological Survey has a "Zamzam Studies and Research Centre" which analyses the technical properties of the well in detail.

These samples are then examined at the King Abdullah Zamzam Water Distribution Center in Mecca, which is equipped with advanced facilities.

The project involved cleaning of the areas around the Zamzam well by removing the debris of concrete and steel used in the old cellar of the Grand Mosque.

The conference however identified British steam-ships transporting Indian Muslims to the Hajj as mainly responsible for the globalisation of cholera.

Britain tried to undermine this system in the coming decades fearing public backlash in India and restrictions on its ability to engage in free trade.

Arguing that due to human waste being simply buried in the ground in Mecca, the groundwater had become highly contaminated and a source of cholera.

Mehmed Şakir Bey, an epidemiologist, was so outraged that he consulted Bonkowski Paşa, the Sultan's head chemist, and Ahmet Efendi, professor of chemistry at the Ottoman War College, for further scientific inquiry.

Britain's intellectuals ended up rejecting Robert Koch's (presently widely accepted) findings of cholera being caused by bacteria.

Concurrently Ottoman authorities continued to invest into persistent and successful efforts seeking to maintain and improve water quality throughout Arabia.

An official from the Saudi Arabian embassy in London stated 'water from the Zamzam well is not contaminated and is fit for human consumption.

[34] The BBC article concentrated on bottled water supplied by individuals rather than the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques' Affairs, according to Fahd Turkistani, advisor to the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection.

They also stated that it was unknown whether the water being sold in the UK was genuine and that people should not buy it and should report the sellers to the Trading Standards if they saw it for sale.