C A A 



him with a copy of verfes in Ins praife ; upon vvl.icl. be w.vs 

 pardnnod and received into favonr Tlic importor confcn-ed 

 on him the honour of l>is mantle which was altcr^vnrds jiur- 



rcat price by the cahph Moavias from Ins luirf. 



U. have had a larfi;e fliare in ttie compofition of 



Henii-a, 



on 



chaftd at a V, 



Caab i'! faid L. 



the Koran. He died in the firll year of the 



62:. D'Herbehit. , , r-M, 



CAAB-\, a fciuare ftone edihce in the temple ot Mecca, 

 fuppofed to have b:-e:. t«'.ilt by Ahraliam and his fou Kh- 

 ma-l • being tlie part principally reverenced bv the Mahome- 

 tans, and to which they always direil themfelves m prayir. 



See KFBtA. , , , , . . 



The wor.l i» Arabic, caala, and caaUi, a denomination 

 which fome will have «'»'■" 1° «''"=* building, on account of 

 its height, which fur{)afl"e3 that of the otlKr buildings in 

 Mecca; but others, with more probability, derive the name 

 from the quadrangular form of this ilru(51urc. ... r 



This edifice is indifpuiably fo ancient, that its orifrmal nle 

 and the name of its builder are loft in a cloud of idie tradi- 

 tions. The Mahometans afHrm, that it is almoft coeval with 

 the world, and thev pretend, that Adam, after his cxpul- 

 fion from paradife,' fvipp' cated divine pcrmifTion to creft a 

 building like what he had fccn there, called " Beit al Ma- 

 inar," or the frequented houfe, and " Al Dorah," towards 

 .which he might direft his prayers, and which he might com- 

 pafs, as the' angels do the celellial one. Upon which God 

 let down a rcprcfentation of that lioufe in curtains of light, 

 and fet in Mecca, perpendicularly under its original, ordcr- 



C A A 



pretend, that it was one of the prec!( 113 (lones of Pcirndife, 

 and that it fell down to the earth with Ad.im, and being 

 taken up again, or otherwife prcfervcd at the deluge, tlie 

 an<Tel Gabriel afterwards brought it back to Abraliam, when 

 he°was building the Caaba. It was at iirll whiter tliaii milk, 

 but became black by the fins of mankind, or rather by the 

 touches and kid'cs of fo many people ; the furface only be- 

 ing black, and the interior parts remaining ttill white. The 

 Hindoos, (fee Afiatic Refeaichcs, vol. iv. p. 371.) maintain, 

 that this black ftone was no other than the '' linga," or 

 " phallus" of Maha-deva, an ancient divinity ; and that when 

 the Caaba wa.--. rebuilt by Maliomet (as they affirm it to have 

 been,) it was placed in the wall, out of contempt ; but the 

 newlv converted pilgrims could not give up the worfhip of 

 the black-ftone ; and finiftrous portents forced the miniliers 

 of the new religion to connive at it. Indeed, ftones were 

 worfliipped not only in Arabia, particularly at M;.cca, but 

 vi'ere diftmguifhed by the appellation of /Szi-kak, (fee B.^- 

 TYLOs,) in Syria and Greece. It is alfo affirmed, that tlie 

 black-lione was the objeft of an idolatrous worfhip from the 

 nioft remote times. However this be, the black ftone is 

 held in very high eftimation by the Mahometans, and is 

 kified by the pilgrims with great devotion, being called by 

 fome " the right-hand of God on earth." When the Kar- 

 matians profaned the temple of Mecca, and took away 

 this ftone, neither love nor money would induce them to re- 

 ftore il, though the inhabitants of Mecca offered no lefs than 

 5C00 pieces of gold for it. However, after having kept it 

 22 years, and finding that they could not prevail witli tliepil- 



'onie coD- 

 In the temple 



I 



ine the patriarch to tu'rn towjids it when he prayed, and to , u ' r . . i i -.u r 



compafs it by way of devotion. After Adam's death, they gnms to abandon Mecca they fent it back, with f< 



fav. his fon Seth built a houfe in the fame fo^m, of ftones temptuous expreffions, of their own accord. In th 



and clay, which, b.ring deftroyed by the delu.re, was rebuilt of Mecca is alfo the ftone in Abraham s place, on which 



by Abraham and Khmael, at the command of GoJ, in the they pretend he ftood when he built the C.aba, and bearing 



place where the former had ftood, and after the fame model; the traces of h.s footfteps ; this is enclofed in .an iron chell, 



direaions for this purpofe having been given them by reve- and the Koran enjoins prayers to_ be ottered before it. On 



lation. 



Independently of thefe fabulous traditions, it is not the eaft fide of the Caaba is the well Zemzem, which is cover- 



imp'robable, that it was erefted by fome of the patriarchs de- ed with a fmall building or cupola, ard the water of which 



fcended from Khmael ; but whether it was built as a place of bears the reputation of curing many bodily difeafes, and 



divine worfhip, as a fortrefs, as a fepulchre, or as a monument even of waftiing away moral pollution and guilt. This water 



- • • ■ "■ "• r ^ , ■ , -, r _- ig much reverenced, as it is fuppofcd to ill lie from the fpring- 



of the treaty between the old poficfTors of Arabia and the fons 

 of Kedar, it is impoffible to alcerlain. Reland fuppofeb that 

 it was the manfion of fome ancient patriarch, and on that 

 account revered bv his poilerity. -A.t length it came to be 

 conCdered as a building appropriated to the fervicc of the 

 Pagan Arab divinities ; but that it was not originally a 

 temple feems to appear from thefe ciicuraftances, that the 

 door was not placed in the middle of the ftrufture, and that, 

 for many ages, there was no divine worP.iip performed in it, 



which fupplicd lilimael when bis mother Hagar wandered 

 with him in the defart, and is not only drank by the pilgrims 

 on the fpot, but conveyed in bottles to moft parts of the Maho- 

 metan dominions. Tliere is alfo a whi^e ftone, faid to be the 

 fepulchre of Iftimael, which is very ancient, and which was held 

 in confiderable repute among the Pagan Arabs. It is fituated 

 on the north fide of the Caaba, within a femicircular enclofure, 

 50 cubits long, and receives the rain-water that falls off 

 though the Pagan Arabs fiequently went in proceffion round the Caaba by a fpout, form.erly of wood, but now- of 

 it. It is moft probable, however^ that the Caaba was pri- gold. The Caaba has a double roof, fupported within by 

 marily defigned for religious purpofes; and it is certain, that three octangular pillars of aloes wood, between which are 

 it was held in the higheft veneration long before the birth of fufpended, on a bar of iron, fome filver lamps. The outfide 

 Mahomet. Having undergone feveral reparations, it was, is covered with rich black damaflc, adorned with an tmbroi- 

 a few years after his birth, rebuilt by the tribe of Koreifii, dered band of gold, vvhicli is changed every year, and which 

 who had acquired the cuftody of it cither by fraud or force, is provided by the Turkifli emperors. At fome diftance the 

 on the fame foundation; afterwards repaired by Abdullah Caaba is furrounded, but not entirely, by a circular inclo- 

 Ebn Zobeir, the caliph of Mecca, and again rebuilt by Yu- fure of pillars joined towards the bottom by alow balluttrade, 

 fof, furnamed Al Hejiij, in the 74th year of the Hegira, and towards the top by bars of fiber. Without this inner en- 

 with fome alterations, in the form in which it now remains. dofure, on the fouth, north, and weft fide of the Caaba, are 

 The length of the Caaba, from north to fouth, is 24 cu- three buildings, which are the oratories, or places where 

 bits, its breadth, from eaft to weft, 23 cubits, and its height three of the orthodox fefts aflemble to perform their devo- 

 27 cubits. The door, which is on the eaft fide, is raifed tion ; and towards the fouth-eaft ftand the edifice which 

 about 4 cubits from the ground, and the floor is level with covers the well Zemzem, the treafury, and the cupola of 

 the bottom of the door. In the corner next this door is the Al Abbas. All thefe buildings are enclofed, at a confider- 

 •' black ftone" fo celebrated amongft the Mahometans. This able diftance by a magnificent piazza, or fquare colonnade, 

 ftone is fet in filver, and fixed in the fouth-eaft corner of the refembhng the Royal Exchange of London, but much 

 building, or that which looks towards Bafra, about 2 cubits larger, covered with fmall domes and cupolas, from the four 

 and one thiciJ, or fevcn fpans, from the grouad. The Modems coroers of which rife as many minarets or fteeples, with double 



a galleries, 



