Meteorite worship was common long ago in the Mediterranean area and in Africa, India, Japan, and Mexico. This practice still persists in some regions even in modern times. The Black Stone of the Kaaba, for example, has been sacred to all Mohammedans from about 700 A.D. right up to the present. It is said to be a meteorite although this fact has never been verified, because strict religious taboos connected with the stone prevent any scientific examination or study of it. On the contrary, the Andhâra, India, meteorite is known to be a genuine one. The story of the fall and preservation of this meteorite provides a fairly modern example of practices rooted in the ritual and custom of far more ancient times. At about 4:00 in the afternoon of December 2, 1880, the people of Andhâra heard a noise like that made by a gun. Some of the villagers saw a “dark ball” come to earth in a field near them. This falling object sent up a small cloud of dust as it struck the ground. After the stone had been recovered from the field and the dust had been washed from its surface, two Brahmin priests took charge of it and began to collect money for the erection of a temple in which the holy object could be properly displayed. The scientist who promptly investigated the Andhâra fall reported that throngs of worshippers were crowding into the as yet unfinished brick temple to make offerings of flowers, sweetmeats, milk, rice, water, bel leaves, and of course money. The stone had been named Adbhuta-Nâth, “the miraculous god.” It was shaped like a round loaf of blackish bread and weighed an estimated 6 pounds. The scientist was not allowed to touch it, but he got close enough to verify that the stone was a meteorite covered with a typical blackish fusion crust. Not only has man worshipped meteorites, but during a period extending from approximately 300 B.C. to 300 A.D., emperors and self-governing cities frequently marked the fall of meteorites by minting special coins or medals known as _betyls_.[10] One of these is the betyl of Emisa, Syria, made by Antonius Pius (138-161 A.D.). The historian, Herodotus, accurately described the object honored by this betyl as: “A large stone, which on the lower side is round, and above runs gradually to a point. It has nearly the form of a cone, and is of a black color. _People say of it in earnest that it fell from Heaven._” The stone is shown on the coin as carried on a quadriga (a carriage drawn by four horses) under a canopy of four sunshades. [Illustration: COURTESY OF AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Drawing of multiple fireball, over Athens, October 18, 1863. J. F. J. Schmidt, the celebrated pioneer fireball observer, described it as a mass of dazzling light “bringing into view land and sea, with the Acropolis and the Parthenon a mile away across the city.”]