MECCA. 187 



parts are strengthened with broad iron hoops or 

 bands, as in many other buildings in the East.* 



The arches that front the great court are all 

 crowned with small conical domes, plastered and 

 whitened on the outside ; beyond these is a second 

 row of low spherical cupolas, amounting in all to 

 152 ; and above them rise seven minarets or steeples, 

 from the summits of which a beautiful view is ob- 

 tained of the busy crowd below. These are irregu- 

 arly distributed, one being at each angle, and the 

 rest at different parts of the mosque. Some parts 

 of the walls and arches, as well as the minarets, are 

 gaudily painted in stripes of yellow, red, or blue. 

 Around the whole colonnade lamps are suspended 

 from the arches, part of which are lighted every 

 night. The floors of the piazza are paved Avith large 

 stones, badly cemented. The area of the court is 

 below the level of the street, and surromided by a 

 flight of stairs eight or ten steps in descent. From 

 the colonnades seven paved footpaths lead towards 

 the centre, elevated about nine inches above the 

 ground, and of sufficient breadth to admit four or 

 five persons to walk abreast. The intermediate 

 spaces are covered with fine gravel or sand. 



* The annexed engraving of Mecca and the Temple is from 

 the splendid work of D'Ohsson (Tableau de I'Emp. Ottoman). 

 The appearance of the town has altered materially since the 

 ravages committed by the Wahabees in the present century ; 



ut the view of the temple Burckhardt has pronounced to be 

 tolerably accurate, only the Kaaba is somewhat large in propor- 



ion to the rest of the building. The view given in Niebuhr, 

 copied from an ancient Arabic drawing, is less accurate than 

 that by D'Ohsson. The ground-plan of the mosque in Ali Bey 

 is perfectly correct ; but his views in Mecca and the Hejaz are 

 not faithful. The view of Medina (vol. i. p. 262) is also from 

 D'Ohsson. That city has also been altered in its appearance 

 by the fate of war. The suburbs are entirely omitted by the 

 latter writer ; and the mosque of the Prophet, being copied from 

 an old Arabic drawing, differs in several particulars from the 

 modern structure. It is to be regretted that Burckhardt was 

 prevented by severe illness from giving a correct plan of it 



