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Caaba, stone is of considerable antiquity, and was even held 

 v in great veneration by the Pagan Arabs. Towards 

 the south-east is the well Zem-zem, remarkable for the 

 excellence and medicinal quality of its waters, as well 

 as for its miraculous origin. It is affirmed to be 

 the same spring which, miraculously bursting out of 

 the ground, supplied Ishmael and his mother Hagar, 

 when overcome with thirst in the wilderness of Beer- 

 sheba ; and is celebrated by the Mahometans, not only 

 for curing many bodily diseases, but also, if taken 

 copiously, for healing all spiritual disorders, and pro- 

 curino- an absolute remission of sins. The well is 

 protected by a dome or cupola, and its water is drank 

 with much devotion by the pilgrims, and conveyed 

 in bottles to the most distant quarters of the Maho- 

 metan dominions. But the most singular relic, and 

 which is regarded with extreme veneration, is the fa- 

 mous black stone, which the Mahometans pretend 

 was one of the precious stones of Paradise, and was 

 brought down from heaven by the ang-1 Gabriel. 

 According to the received tradition, derived from 

 Mahomet himself, it was originally of such a bright 

 white colour as to dazzle the eyes at the distance of 

 four days journey, but that it wept so long and so 

 abundantly for the sins of mankind, that it became 

 at length opaque, and at last absolutely black. 

 When the Carmathians took Mecca, they pillaged 

 the Caaba, and carried off the black stone in triumph 

 to their capital. The Meccaus made every effort to 

 recover it, both by entreaties and the offer of 5000 

 pieces of gold, but without effect. The Carmathi- 

 ans, however, after having kept it 22 years, sent it 

 back of their own accord. It is now set in silver, 

 and fixed in the south-east corner of the Caaba, 

 looking towards Basra, about 3^ feet from the ground. 

 It is called by the Mahometans " the right hand of 

 God," and is kissed by the pilgrims with great de- 

 votion. 



The Caaba is almost surrounded with a circular 

 inclosure of pillars, connected at the top by bars of 

 silver, and towards the bottom by a low ballustrade. 

 Without this enclosure, on the south, north, and west, 

 are three oratories, where three of the Mahometan 

 sects assemble to perform their devotions. The whole 

 is enclosed at a considerable distance by a square co- 

 lonnade, or great piazza, covered with small cupolas, 

 and consisting of 448 pillars, from which hang nu- 

 merous lamps, and 38 gates ; and from each corner 

 rises a minaret or steeple, adorned with a gilded spire 

 and crescent. This enclosure was built by the caliph 

 Omar, to prevent the court of the Caaba from be- 

 ing encroached upon by private buildings. It was at 

 first merely a low wall, but has since been raised by 

 the liberality of succeeding princes to its present mag- 

 nificent state. The whole structure of the Caaba is in 

 a peculiar manner styled Al Masjad AlHaram, " the 

 sacred or inviolable place;" which appellation, how- 

 ever, is sometimes extended to the whole territory of 

 Mecca. 



According to the command of Mahomet, every 

 Mussulman must, once in his life, visit the Caaba, 

 and perform the customary acts of devotion in the 

 sacred places. But could the prophet have foreseen 

 into what distant regions his religion was to be intro- 

 duced by the arms of his followers, he would soon 

 1 



have perceived the absurdity of such an injunction. 

 Few, in comparison with the immense numbers who 

 have embraced the doctrines of Islam, can be sup- 

 posed able to discharge this duty ; and we may pre- 

 sume, that it is only such as are more than ordinarily 

 devout that are ever induced to visit the Caaba from 

 religious motives. Many pilgrims, however, annu- 

 ally resort to the city of Mecca, but commercial 

 ideas mingle with those of devotion ; and the arcades 

 of the temple are often filled with the richest mer- 

 chandize from every quarter of the world. This 

 duty may be discharged by proxy, but the pilgrim, 

 in this character, can act only for one person at one 

 time ; and to prevent all imposture, he must carry- 

 back with him a certificate from the Imam of Mecca, 

 of his having actually performed all the devotional 

 exercises or ceremonies appointed by the law, in the 

 name of his principal. These ceremonies consist 

 chiefly in performing seven circuits round the Caaba, 

 and kissing the black stone; in running seven times 

 between the mountains of Safa and Al Merwa ; in 

 making the station on Mount Arafat ; in sacrificing 

 the victims in the valley of Mina ; and in burying 

 their hair and nails in the consecrated ground. The 

 same ceremonies were observed by the Pagan Arabs 

 many years before the appearance of Mahomet, but 

 they were confirmed by the command of the prophet, 

 with this alteration, that his followers should be 

 clothed when they compassed the Caaba, whereas, 

 their ancestors performed their devotions naked. See 

 ARABIA, vol. ii. p. 273. ; see also Niebuhr's Travels 

 through Arabia, vol. ii. p. 26 ; Gibbon's It owe, vol. 

 ix. p. 216, 12mo. ; Mod. Un. Hist. vol. i. p. 207; 

 Reland de Religioiie Mahommcdica, p. 113. ; and 

 Sale's Koran, p. 114. (p) 



CABAL MINISTRY. See BRITAIN, p. 601. 

 CABALLERIA, a genus of plants of the class 

 Polygamia, and order Dicecia. See BOTANY, p. 347. 

 CABBALA, among the Jews, means those oral 

 traditions respecting the interpretation of the law, 

 which they pretend were originally communicated by 

 revelation, and handed down from father to son, with- 

 out interruption, alteration, or omission. By means 

 of this mystical science, they pretended to be able to 

 explain all the appearances of nature, as well as the 

 revealed and written law of God. It appears, indeed, 

 that the Jews preferred the cabbalistical traditions 

 to the acknowledged scriptures, whose meaning they 

 had almost entirely subverted. It was not without 

 reason that our Lord charged the Jews with having 

 made the law of God of no effect by their traditions; 

 and he specifies several instances which already sub- 

 stantiate the charge. 



Maimonides, in the preface to the Mishnah, gives 

 the following account of the origin of the Cabbala. 

 It was revealed to Adam by an angel, who brought 

 him a book containing the mysteries of this recon- 

 dite science. This book was lost at the fall, and re- 

 stored again in consequence of the earnest prayers of 

 Adam ; and being again lost amidst the corruption 

 which preceded the flood, it was afterwards restored 

 to Abraham. But a particular revelation was given 

 on this subject to Moses, on Mount Sinai, who re- 

 ceived a mystical and traditionary, as well as a writ- 

 ten and perceptive law. Thre traditionary law was 



Cabal 



