Roman Mosaics; Or, Studies in Rome and Its NeighbourhoodMacmillan, Hugh
Philosophy
Roman Mosaics; Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood
Macmillan, Hugh
Rome (Italy) -- Description and travel
In the Kaaba, the most ancient and remarkable building of the great
Mosque at Mecca, is preserved a miraculous stone with the print of
Abraham's feet impressed upon it. It is said, by Mohammedan
tradition, to be the identical stone which served the patriarch as a
scaffold when he helped Ishmael to rebuild the Kaaba, which had been
originally constructed by Seth, and was afterwards destroyed by the
Deluge. While Abraham stood upon this stone, it rose and sank with him
as he built the walls of the sacred edifice. The relic is said to be a
fragment of the same gray Mecca stone of which the whole building is
constructed,--in this respect differing from the famous black stone
brought to Abraham and Ishmael by the angel Gabriel, and built into
the north-east corner of the exterior wall of the Kaaba, which is said
by scientific men to be either a meteorite or fragment of volcanic
basalt. It is popularly supposed to have been originally a jacinth of
dazzling whiteness, but to have been made black as ink by the touch of
sinful man, and that it can only recover its original purity and
brilliancy at the day of judgment. The millions of kisses and touches
impressed by the faithful have worn the surface considerably; but in
addition to this, traces of cup-shaped hollows have been observed on
it. There can be no doubt that both these relics associated with
Abraham are of high antiquity, and may have belonged to the
prehistoric worship which marked Mecca as a sacred site, long before
the followers of the Prophet had set up their shrine there. In the
sacred Mosque of Hebron, built over the cave of Machpelah, is pointed
out a footprint of the ordinary size on a slab of stone, variously
called that of Adam or of Mohammed. It is said to have been brought
from Mecca some six hundred years ago, and is enclosed in a recess at
the back of the shrine of Abraham, where it is placed on a sort of
shelf about three feet above the floor. On the margin of the tank, in
the court of the ruined mosque at Baalbec, there are shown four giant
footmarks, which are supposed to have been impressed by some patriarch
or prophet, but are more likely to have been connected with the
ancient religion of Canaan, which lingered here to the latest days of
Roman paganism. In the great Druse shrine of Neby Schaib near Hattin
there is a square block of limestone in the centre of which is a piece
of alabaster containing the imprint of a human foot of natural size,
with the toes very clearly defined. The Druses reverently kiss this
impression, asserting that the rock exudes moisture, and that it is
never dry. There is a split in the rock across the centre of the
footprint, which they account for by saying that when the prophet
stepped here he split the rock with his tread. In Damascus there was
at one time a sacred building called the Mosque of the Holy Foot, in
which there was a stone having upon it the print of the feet of Moses.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account