HEJAZ. 191 



CHAPTER V. 



Hejaz, or Holy Land of the Moslem. 



Government of Hejaz Succession and Power of the Sheriffs 

 Reign of Ghaleb Sheriff Families at Mecca Cities and Towns 

 in Hejaz Jidda Yembo Ta'if Mecca Description of the 

 Beitullah or Grand Temple The Court and Colonnades The 

 Kaaba The Black Stone The Tob or Covering of the Kaaba 

 The Zemzem Well Servants and Revenues of the Mosque 

 Inhabitants of Mecca Their Character, Domestic Manners, 

 and Employments Low State of Arts and Learning in Hejaz. 



THE government of Hejaz, which includes the terri- 

 tories of Medina, Jidda, Yembo, Taif, and Gonfode, 

 belongs to the Sheriff of Mecca. The honour attached 

 even to a nominal authority over the holy cities had 

 led, in former times, to frequent disputes between 

 the caliphs of Bagdad, the sultans of Egypt, and 

 the imams of Yemen; although the possession of 

 that dignity, instead of increasing their income, 

 obliged them to incur great expenses. The sole be- 

 nefit they derived was the right of clothing the 

 Kaaba, and of having their names inserted in the 

 prayers of the mosque. The supremacy of Egypt 

 over Mecca, so firmly established from the beginning 

 of the fifteenth century, was transferred by Selim I. 

 to the sultans of Constantinople ; in whose hands, 

 with the interruption of a few years, it has since 

 continued. The sheriff was invested annually with a 

 pelisse from the grand seignior, from whom he held 

 his office ; and in the Turkish ceremonial he was 



