MEDINA. 265 



lead, and has on the top a globe of considerable size 

 and a crescent, both glittering with gold. 



In the immediate neighbourhood are the tombs of 

 Fatima and other Mohammedan saints. Tradition 

 even alleges, that, when the last trumpet shall sound, 

 the Saviour of the Christians, after having an- 

 nounced the great day of judgment, will die, and 

 be buried by the side of the Arabian Apostle ; and 

 that, when the dead are raised from their graves, they 

 shall both ascend to heaven together. These and 

 other fables have been invented merely to confer an 

 ideal importance on the city and tomb of the Pro- 

 phet. The same may be said of the exaggerated 

 accounts of its wonders and riches, which have been 

 long propagated among strangers. It was in this 

 sanctuary, indeed, that the treasures of Hejaz were 

 formerly kept, either suspended on silken ropes 

 drawn across the interior of the building, or placed 

 in large chests on the ground. The whole must have 

 formed a collection of considerable value, though far 

 from being to that immense extent which many 

 have pretended. Next to the hejra, the most holy 

 place in the mosque is the rodha, where the pulpit 

 is placed, and the two mehrabs. On the sides of 

 the former and of both the mehrabs huge wax- 

 candles are fixed, twelve feet high and as thick as 

 a man's body, which are lighted every evening with 

 the aid of a ladder kept for the purpose. 



The ceremonies required of the hajjis are here 

 much easier and shorter than at Mecca. On enter- 

 ing the mosque he must pass his right foot first over 

 the threshold ; while reciting certain supplications he 

 steps forward into the rodha, where he is enjoined 

 to repeat two short chapters of the Koran, and a brief 



