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seventeen feet from the Makam Ibrahim, nearly oppo- 
site to that part of it which faces the Kaaba. 
It is constructed of hewn stone, and terminates in a 
point; is fifteen feet six inches high, and nineteen feet 
six inches broad, including the bases of the arch. 
It is, as I have already said, reckoned a good omen, 
and the sign of particular favour, to pass under it the 
first time they come to make the tour of the Kaaba. 
El Monbar, or The Tribune of the Priest of Fri- 
days, is on one side of the Makam Ibrahim, at fourteen 
feet distance, and in front of the northern angle of the 
Kaaba. It is a very fine white marble, and is the high- 
est finished and the most precious monument of the 
temple. 
Its form is that of a staircase, the top of which is 
terminated by a hollow space, that is surmounted by 
a fine octangular pyramidical cupola, which appeared 
to me of gilt bronze, and is supported by four small 
columns united by arches, the former of which resem- 
ble the Corinthian order; but they do not properly 
belong to any of the five orders of architecture. 
The ^exterior sides, the railing, the door, and the 
base, are of beautiful workmanship. The entrance at 
the foot of the staircase is shut by a bronze gate. 
The staircase is about three feet wide. Here, as well 
as in all the mosques, the Imam does not ascend to 
the top of the tribune, but remains always upon the 
last step but one, v/ith his back turned towards the 
Kaaba. 
There is one particular circumstance that I observed 
no where else, which is, that when the Imam arrives 
to deliver his sermon, and to repeat the Friday prayer, 
he comes dressed in a costume especially adapted for 
that purpose. It is a large caiFtan of white wool tissue, 
