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MEDINA-DEL-CAMPO. 



MEDITERRANEAN SEA. 



760 



oolonnade, several of ita pillars being included within it ; it is an 

 iron railing painted green, about two-thirds of the height of the 

 columns. The railing is of good workmanship in imitation of filigree, 

 and is decorated with open-worked inscriptions in yellow bronze. It 

 is of so close a texture that no view can be gained into the interior 

 except by several small windows, about 6 inches square, which are 

 placed in the four sides of the railiuz, about a feet above the ground. 

 The inclosure is entered by four gates, three of which are constantly 

 kept shut, and one only is opened eveiy morning and evening to admit 

 the eunuchs, whose office it is to clean the floor and light the lamps. 

 The inclosure is calle<] El Hedjra. Permission to enter it is granted 

 gratis to people of rank, and may be purchased by other people, from 

 the principal eunuchs, for about twelve or fifteen dollars ; but on 

 entering the inclosure nothing more is to be seen than what may be 

 obaerred when peeping^ in at the windows of the railing. At the 

 distance of a few [laces from the railing a curtain of rich brocade is 

 carried all round, equal in height to the railing. Nu persons what- 

 ever arc permitted to enter within the ciu^n, except the chief 

 eunuchs, who take care of it, and who put on during the night the 

 new curtain sent from Constantinople, whenever the old one is 

 decayed, or when a new sultan ascends the throne. The old curtains 

 are sent to Constantinople, and serve to cover the tombs of the sultans 

 and princes. 



According to the historians of Medina the curtain covers a square 

 building of black stone supported by two pillars, in the interior of 

 which are the tombs of Mohammed and his two earliest friends and 

 Buocesaon, Abu Beker and Omar. These tombs ar>) deep holes, in 

 which the coffins are deposited ; that of iluUammed is cased in silver. 

 The floor between the curtain and the railings i* inlaid with variously 

 coloured marble in mosaic ; glass lamps are suspended all round the 

 curtains, which are lighted every evening and reuiaiu burning all 

 night. The whole of the inclosure is covered with a fine lofty dome 

 rising far above the domes which form the roof of the colonnades, 

 and is visible at a great distance from the town. As soon as pilgrims 

 to Medina catch sight of it they repeat some prayen. 



Near the curtain, and within tiie railings, is ihe tomb of Setna 

 Fatme, the daughter of Mohammed and wife of Ali ; it consists of a 

 catafalque forming a cube, covered with a richly embroidered black 

 brocade, and without any otlier ornament. 



Four gates lead to the interior of the mosque ; a few steps are to be 

 ascended from the neighbouring streets up to the gates, the area of 

 the mosque being at a somewhat higher level, contrary to what is the 

 caae at Mecca. About three hours after sunset the gates are shut by 

 means of folding doors coated with iron, and not opened till about 

 an hour before dawn ; but those who wish to pray all night in the 

 moiqae can easily obtain permission from the eunuch on guard, who 

 sleeps near the Uedjra. During Itamadhan the mosque is kept open 

 the whole night. 



The inhabitants of Medina, like those of Mecca, are not Beduius, 

 but straugtTS, who have come to the place as pilgrims and afterwards 

 settled there, or they are descendant* of such strangers. Medina is 

 not so great a place of commerce aa Mecoa, and the merchants are 

 not so rich, but it has the advantage of having a considerable tract 

 around which is fit for cultivation, and there are many wealthy laud- 

 owoen in the town, who let out their possessions to poorer people. 

 Wheat and barley are cultivated, but the chief profit arises from the 

 plantations of date-trees, the fruit of which is held in greater 

 estimation than the dates of Egypt. 

 (Burckbardt, Travdt in Arabia.) 



MEDINA-UEL-CAMPO, and DE RIO SECO. [Leon.] 

 MEDITKKUANEAN SEA, the name of the sea that washes the 

 coasts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, between the Sti-ait of Oibraltar 

 on the west and Syria on the east. This sea was anciently called 

 The Sea, or the Great Sea, by the Jews. The Greeks do nut seem to 

 have ha<l any geueraj name for the Mediterranean : Herodotus calls it 

 ' this sea' (i. Ib5) ; and Strabo calls it ' the sea within the columns,' 

 that is, within the Strait of GibralUr (121, 491, Casaub.). Mela calls 

 the whole sea by the name ' our sea ' (nostrum mare), and observes 

 that different parts have their several names. Pliny appears to have 

 no general name for it. The term Mediterranean is nut applied to 

 this sea by any classical latin writer. It wiis called ' bahr-roum,' or 

 the Sea of Home, by the Arabs. 



The Mediterranean Sea is comprised between the parallels of 30^ 15' 

 and 47° N., and the meridians of 6° 30' W. ami 40' E. The distance 

 from Gibraltar to tlie farthest shore of Syria is about 2300 miles, and 

 the narrowest part, between Sicily and Afi'ica, is 7U miles acrom. The 

 Mediterranean, including the islauils, occupies an area of 784,000 

 square miles. The surface of country of which it receives the drain- 

 age is very difficult to estimate, but may be assumed to exceed this 

 quantity. 



On the const of Africa the Mediterranean forms a few large bays but 

 no inlets of any msfjuitude. Into the European continent, on the 

 other hand, it sends large inlcta, connected with each other or with 

 the main portion of this tea by narrow straits. Such are the Adriatic, 

 which separat fi Italy from Austria and Turkey, and is joined to the 

 Ionian Sea by tlie htrait of Otrauto; the yEgeiui Sea, or Archipelago, 

 stretching northward from Crete, between Greece and Asia Minor, 

 embracing the numerous Greek islands, cutting up the mainland on 



each side, with numerous bays, gulfs, inlets, and harbours, and washing 

 at its northern extremity the coast of European Turkey ; the Sea of 

 Marmora, extending nearly east and west, between European Turkey 

 and Asia Minor, from tUe Strait of the Hellespont, or Dardanelles, 

 which connects it with the .lEgean on the south-west, to the Bosporus, 

 or Strait of Constantinople, "U the north ; the Black Sea, a vast gulf 

 which washes Asia Minor on the south, Anuenia and Circassia on the 

 east, the Crimea and Russia on the north, and European Tui'key on the 

 west ; the Sea of Azof, which separates the peninsula of the Crimea from 

 Russiau-Circassia, and is connected with the Black Sea by the Strait 

 of Yenikaleh, or Kertsch, the ancient Cimmerian Bosporus ; end the 

 Si wash More, or Putrid Sea, which indents with its innumerable sh.illow 

 bays and inlets the north-eastern coast of the Crimea and the coast 

 of a part of the Russian province of Taurida, being separated from 

 the Sea of Azof on the west by an extremely long and remarkably 

 narrow tongue of land called Kosa Ai-abatskaia. To the north of 

 the Kosa Anibatskaia is a very narrow strait which forms the only 

 commimication between the Sea of Azof and the Putrid Sea. West- 

 ward the Putrid Sea extends to the isthmus of Perekop, which is 

 only 6 miles wide. As all these seas have been noticed in separata 

 articles, .•VunHTic, Abchipelaqo, Azof, Black Sea, MAitjioitA, &c., 

 it remains here to notice the great connected mass of the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea. 



Tho Mediterranean Sea extends in an eastern direction from the 

 Strait of Gibraltar which connects it with the Atlantic (5° 30' W. long.), 

 a distance of about 2300 miles ; its most eastern part, the harbour of 

 Iskenderun, on the coast of Syria, being in about 36" 10' E. long. It 

 is divided into tiitP parts by the projection of the Italian peninsula, 

 the island of Sicily, and Cape Sou on the north coast of Africa, 

 between which and the most western part of Sicily the wiilth of the 

 sea is only 7!) miles. Tho c last of Africa eastward from Ceuta to 

 Cape Bon is bold and hi^h with few exceptions, and deviates but 

 little from a straight line, the indentations being smaU. The principal 

 bays and harbours in this iuterval are the Bay of Melillah (east of 

 which is the low marshy flat at the mouth of the Mtilwia), the bays 

 Gran, Algier, Bonah (east of which is the bank celebrated for its coral 

 fisheries), and Carthage. 



This part of the basin of the Mediterranean extends no gieat 

 distance southward, the most southern point being the source of the 

 Mulwia, about 32° N. lat. The rivers which are of inconsiderable mag- 

 nitude are the Mulwia (ancient Mulucha), near the boundary between 

 Marocco and Algdric, the Wady-el-K.ebir (ancient Ampsaga), tlie 

 Wady-Serbous, and the Wady-Magerdah (Dagradas), all of which 

 flow from the Atlas Mountains and their eastern continuation through 

 Alg^rie. 



From Gibraltar the sea gradually trends towards the north-cast 

 along the south and east coast of Spain, where are the port« of 

 Malaga, Cartbagena, Valencia, and Bai-celona, and the Bay of Kosas. 

 A Uttle north of the Bay of Rosas tho coast ruus first north and then 

 east, forming the Gulf of Lyon off the south of France, where tho 

 coast is fur the most part low, and fringed with numerous shallow 

 shore-lakes or lagoons. The chief harbours in the Gulf of Lyon are 

 Cette and Marseille. Eastward from Marseille the coast is high, the 

 lower offsets of the Maritime Alps reaching down to the shore. In 

 one of the indentations of this part of the coast is the French naval 

 harbour and station of Toulon. The most northern part of this 

 western division of the Mediterranean is the Gulf of Genoa, which is 

 bounded to landward by a bold coast formed by the declivities of the 

 Ligurian Apennines. From the Gulf of Geuoa tho coast of Italy 

 takes a direction of south-south-east to the Strait of Messina, which 

 separates that peninsula from the island of Sicily. The coasts of 

 Tuscany, tlie States of the Church, and a great part of tho kingdom 

 of Naples ore low, marshy, and unhealthy. [Mauemme.] The chief 

 IM>rt8 are Leghorn [LlvouKo], Civita Vecchla, and Naples ; the prin- 

 cipal gulfs are those of Gaota, Naples, Salerno, Policastro, and Santa 

 Eufemia, between which and Sicily are the Lipari Isles. 



The largest rivers that flow into the western division of tho Mediter- 

 ranean are the Ebro and the Rhdne. Its basin is bounded by tho 

 Apennines, the Algw, the Cevennes, the Pyrenees, the Sierra de Oca, 

 Sierra de Deza, Sierra do Alcaraa, Sierra Segura, the SieiTa Nevada, 

 and Sierra de Ronda. The widest part of the sea is between Geuoa 

 and Bonah, about 500 miles. In this iuterval lie the islands of 

 Corsica and Sardinia. Between Cette and Algiers the distance is about 

 450 miles. Off the coast of Spain lie the Balearic islands. Tho 

 distance between Carthagena in Spain and Oran in Algerie is hardly 

 130 miles. Farther west the sea narrows to about 100 miles. In tho 

 strait itself, which is about 10 miles wide at its narrowest part, are 

 the harbour of Tangier on the African side, and the bay and harbour of 

 Algeciras west of tho rock of Gibraltar. The rocks of Ceuta aud 

 Giliraltar at the eastern extremity of the Strait are U^a ancient Abyla 

 and Calpe ; these are the Pillars of Hercules, whence the strait was 

 named Fretum Herculeum, or Strait of Hercules. The western 

 entrance of the Strait is formed by capes Trafalgar aud Spartol. In 

 tlio middle uf the Strait there is a constant current from the Atlantic 

 into the MeiUterranean, and a counter current along cacli of the 

 coasts. It is said that there is an undercurrent into the Atlantic 

 thruugh the Sti-ait The length of the western part of the Mediter- 

 ranean from Cape Spartel to Capo Bon is about 1400 miles, 



