[9] For details as to the ancient quarters of Mecca, where the several families or septs lived apart, see Azraqi, 455 pp. seq., and compare Ya'qubi, ed. Juynboll, p. 100. The minor sacred places are described at length by Azraqi and Ibn Jubair. They are either connected with genuine memories of the Prophet and his times, or have spurious legends to conceal the fact that they were originally holy stones, wells, or the like, of heathen sanctity. [10] Baladhuri, in his chapter on the floods of Mecca (pp. 53 seq.), says that 'Omar built two dams. [11] The aqueduct is the successor of an older one associated with the names of Zobaida, wife of Harun al-Rashid, and other benefactors. But the old aqueduct was frequently out of repair, and seems to have played but a secondary part in the medieval water supply. Even the new aqueduct gave no adequate supply in Burckhardt's time. [12] In Ibn Jubair's time large supplies were brought from the Yemen mountains. [13] The corruption of manners in Mecca is no new thing. See the letter of the caliph Mahdi on the subject; Wüstenfeld, _Chron. Mek._, iv. 168. [14] The exact measurements (which, however, vary according to different authorities) are stated to be: sides 37 ft. 2 in. and 38 ft. 4 in.; ends 31 ft. 7 in. and 29 ft.; height 35 ft. [15] The Ka'ba of Mahomet's time was the successor of an older building, said to have been destroyed by fire. It was constructed in the still usual rude style of Arabic masonry, with string courses of timber between the stones (like Solomon's Temple). The roof rested on six pillars; the door was raised above the ground and approached by a stair (probably on account of the floods which often swept the valley); and worshippers left their shoes under the stair before entering. During the first siege of Mecca (A.D. 683), the building was burned down, the Ibn Zubair reconstructed it on an enlarged scale and in better style of solid ashlar-work. After his death his most glaring innovations (the introduction of two doors on a level with the ground, and the extension of the building lengthwise to include the Hijr) were corrected by Hajjaj, under orders from the caliph, but the building retained its more solid structure. The roof now rested on three pillars, and the height was raised one-half. The Ka'ba was again entirely rebuilt after the flood of A.D. 1626, but since Hajjaj there seem to have been no structural changes. [16] Hobal was set up within the Temple over the pit that contained the sacred treasures. His chief function was connected with the sacred lot to which the Meccans were accustomed to betake themselves in all matters of difficulty.