At the grand convent built by Núrshirván, every year forty or fifty thousand Infidels assemble from all countries of Christianity, to witness the solemnity of an old carpet being spread on the top of the mountain. They collect all useful and medical herbs growing on these mountains, and throw them into a boiling kettle which stands upon this carpet; these herbs remain boiling more than an hour in the kettle on the carpet, which receives no harm, to the great astonishment of many thousand spectators. The herbs are then distributed amongst the people, some of whom carry them to their own countries, others eat them on the spot. I talked with the monks about this, who assured me that the carpet was the same on which Jesus fell when issuing from Mary’s womb; when shut up in a cave with his twelve disciples for fear of the Israelites, they cooked their herbs on this carpet, which to witness the miraculous power of Jesus, restored a dead man to life. It is the same carpet on which Jesus gave a dinner to the Israelites. The carpet then passed into the hands of Núrshirván, who when building the Convent gave it to it as an endowment. When Sultán Súleimán went to the siege of Eriván he performed a double prayer on this carpet. It is neither cotton nor silk, but of variegated colours and very heavy. I, poor Evliyá, am of opinion that it is of asbestos, a stone which is found in the island of Cyprus, and worked into linen and paper, handkerchiefs, shirts, &c., which are brought as presents to the great men of Constantinople. Sultán Murád said to his sister Kia Sultán (Kia signifies rock) the Lady of my gracious Lord, Melek Ahmed Páshá. “Lady Rockby! as your name is rocky, I’ll give you a shirt of stone,” and really gave her a shirt, which, when dirty, was cleansed by throwing it into the fire. Great men have abundance of asbestos linen; Captain Hassám-zadeh gave me such a handkerchief, which having become dirty, in the presence of Melek Páshá, I threw into the fire, when it became as pure as a white rose. God knows whether this carpet is not also made of this Cyprian stone. We left Uch Kilisse and passed towards the east through cultivated fields and populous villages, so that we did not see a cubit of ground which was not productive or cultivated, and arrived after eight hours march at a well cultivated village on the border of Mount Sokún, like a small town. We counted no less than eleven minarehs, but as I was indisposed I did not examine it well. _Pilgrimage to Mohammed Sháh’s Tomb._