OBJECTS OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIAL 77 



besides the covered place of worship proper, an open cloistered court 

 with a tank in its center for ablutions. Outside, over a comer of the 

 mosque, rises the slender minaret, surrounded by an open gallery, 

 from which the muezzin calls to prayer at stated hours. Some 

 mosques have from two to six minarets, are preceded by open courts 

 with galleries and colonnades, and have libraries, colleges, theological 

 seminaries, hospitals, almhouses and kitchens for the poor attached. 

 Inside the mosque is the most essential feature, the mihrah, a niche 

 or indentation, sometimes a mere tablet, inserted in the center of the 

 wall facing Mecca, which indicates the direction of the caaha in the 

 Mosque of Mecca toward which prayers must be addressed. To 

 the right of the mihrab is the pulpit, or mimhar, from which the 

 imam, or the "leader" of the public worship, preaches on Friday, 

 the Mohammedan Sabbath, the sermon or Tcuibah. The chief decora- 

 tion of the interior is found in numerous hanging lamps, arabesques, 

 and tablets artistically inscribed with the names of God, the prophet, 

 and of the first four caliphs, and with passages from the Koran, no 

 picture whatsoever of human beings or animals being allowed. None 

 may enter the mosque save with unshod feet. The two sexes do not 

 worship together, and a few mosques are reserved for women. 



The larger mosques have two imams. One, called Tchatih, preaches 

 the sermon on Friday; the other, the ratih, reads the Koran and 

 recites the five daUy prayers, standing close to the mihrab and leading 

 the congregation who repeat the prayers with him and closely follow 

 his postures. The imams do not form a priestly class; they generally 

 have other occupations. They have no religious authority and may 

 be dismissed from their office. 



1. The Mosque of Mecca. — Model of wood, painted. Mecca is 

 the capital of the Hedjaz in Arabia, situated in a sandy valley 70 

 miles from the Red Sea. It is the holy city of the Mohammedan 

 world. In the Koran (Sura vi, 92 and xlii, 5) it is called (under the 

 variant of Bakka) "the mother of cities," and in popular literature, 

 the navel of the earth. Its principal building is the great mosque, 

 called Masjidu al Haram, the Holy Mosque, and Baitu illah, the 

 house of God. The Haram is a spacious courtyard, oblong m design, 

 257 paces long and 210 paces broad, surrounded on all sides by colon- 

 nades or cloisters. The columns, each above 20 feet high, are three 

 deep and united by pointed arches, every four of which support a 

 small white dome. There are counted 550 pillars, surmounted by 

 150 domes, and the open courtyard is said to be capable of holding 

 35,000 worshipers. Access to it is gained through 19 gates. In 

 the center of the Haram is the Kaaba, the palladium of Islam. The 

 name is connected with the cube-like appearance of the building at 

 the first impression; in reality the plan is of an irregular rectangle. 

 The wall facing northeast, in which the door is (the front of the 



