Travels in Arabia; comprehending an account of those territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans regard as sacredBurckhardt, John Lewis
Islamic
Travels in Arabia; comprehending an account of those territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans regard as sacred
Burckhardt, John Lewis
Arabian Peninsula -- Description and travel
I have now described all the buildings within the enclosure of the
Temple. [The ground-plan of the Temple given by Aly Bey el Abbassi is
perfectly correct. This cannot be said of his plan of Mekka, nor of his
different views in the Hedjaz: a comparison of my description with his
work will show in what points I differ from him, as well in regard to
the temple, as to the town and its inhabitants. His travels came to my
hands after I had returned from Arabia. The view of the mosque given by
dOhsson, in his valuable work, is tolerably correct, except that the
Kaaba is too large in proportion to the rest of the building. The view
of the town of Mekka, on the contrary, is very unfaithful. That in
Niebuhr, which was copied from an ancient Arabic drawing, is less
accurate than dOhssons. The original seems to have been taken before
the last alterations made in the buildings of the Temple.]
The gravel-ground, and part of the adjoining outer pavement of the
Kaaba, is covered, at the time of evening prayers, with carpets of from
sixty to eighty feet in length, and four feet in breadth, of Egyptian
manufacture, which are rolled up after prayers. The greater part of the
hadjys bring their own carpets with them. The more distant parts of the
area, and the floor under the colonnade, are spread with mats, brought
from Souakin; the latter situation being the usual place for the
performance of the mid-day and afternoon prayers. Many of these mats are
presented to the mosque by the hadjys, for which they have in return the
satisfaction of seeing their names inscribed on them in large
characters.
At sun-set, great numbers assemble for the first evening prayer: they
form themselves into several wide circles, sometimes as many as
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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