Slructwe. — It stands now on a base about two feet in v.— A
height, which is a sharp inclined plane ; and, as the roof is fiat, the buililing becomes an irregular cube, the sides of which vary from forty to fifty feet in height, and eighteen by fourteen paces in extent. It is inclosed by a wall some two hundred and fifty paces on two sides, and two hundred paces on the others.
The Kaaba has but one door, which is raised some four or five feet from the ground, and is reached hv a ladder. It is allowed to be entered only two or three times a year, though it is reputed to be susceptible of a money influence, and to be opened clandestinely much more frequently. The door is wholly coated with sil- ver, and has gilt ornaments. Wax candles are Ijurned before it nightly, together with perfuming-pans contain- ing musk, aloes, etc., and other odorous substances.
The Kaaba at Mecca.
Black Stone. — The most important feature of the Ka- aba is the " Black Stone," which is inserted in the north-
KAABA
KADESH
east comer oi the building, at the height of four or five feet from the ground. It is in shape an irregular oval, about seven inches in diameter. Tliere are various opinions as to the nature of this stone. Burckhardt supposes it to be a " lava" stone. Others suggest that it is an aerolite. Muir calls it " a fragment of volcanic salts sprinkled with colored crj^stals, and varied red feldspatli upon a dark black ground like a coal, one pro- tuberance being reddish." IJurckhardt thinks it looks as if it had been broken into several pieces and cement- ed. He says, howe\'er, that it is difficult to determine the quality of it, because it is so worn by the millions of kisses and touches of the pilgrims. Muir says it is worn '• until it is uneven, and has a muscular appear- ance." It is bordered all round with a large plate of silver about a foot broad. The part or angle exposed is semicircular. So much of the merit of the Kaaba de- pends on this stone that at the time of the rebuilding of the edifice by Mohammed a great contest arose be- tween the families of the Koreish for the honor of plac- ing it in the new structure. Mohammed settled this dispute by placing it on his own mantle, and causing a chief of each tribe to lift it, and then put it himself in its position in the Kaaba. See Kokeish. Pilgrims, on arrival at IVIecca, proceeding to the Kaaba and mak- ing the circuit of it, start at the corner where the black stone is inserted.
Fabulous stories abound relative to the black stone, such as that it was originally white, but became black because of the silent and unseen tears which it wept on account of the sins ofwien. This, however, only affect- ed its exterior. Others attribute its change of color to the innum(*rable touches and kisses of the pilgrims. It is one of the precious stones of Paradise, which came to earth with Adam, and was miraculously preserved diu-- ing the flood, and brought back to INIecca by the angel Gabriel, and given to Abraham to build originally in the Kaaba. It was taken at one time by the Karma- thians (q. v.), who refused to release it for five thousand pieces of gold, but they finally restored it.
Veilinrj. — There is a custom, very remote in its origin, of covering the outside of the Kaaba with a veil, which has at various times been made of Yemen cloth, of Egyptian linen, of red brocade, and of black silk. To supply it became at one time a sign of royalty, and it was accordingly furnished by the caliph of Egypt, and later by the Turkish sultan. There seems to be some conflict of authorities about some things pertaining to the custom of veiling. About one third from the top of the veil is a band about two feet in width, embroi- dered with texts from the Koran in gilt letters (see Muir, ii, 32 ; Burton, iii, 295, 300).
Admission. — Since the ninth year of the Hegira an order has obtained that none but Islamites shall be ad- mitted to the Kaaba. Formerly the General Assembly of Ocadh convened at Mecca. In it poets contested for a. whole month for prizes, and those poems to which prizes were from time to time a^\'arded were by public order written in letters of gold on Egj^itian silk, and hung up in the Kaaba (Sale, p. 20).
Other Fetiinres. — In the south-east corner of the Ka- aba is a smaller stone, less venerated than the above, being touched only, and not kissed, by those walking round the Kaaba. On the north side of the Kaaba is a slight hollow, large enough to admit three persons, where it is specially meritorious to pray, it being the place where Abraham and Ishmael kneaded chalk and mud for tlie original structure. From the west side of the Kaaba a water-spout carries rain from the roof and pours it on the reputed grave of Ishmael, and pilgrims are not unfrequently seen " fighting to catch it." This water-spout is said to be of i)ure gold, and is four feet in length and about six inches in width. It is declared to have lieen taken to the Kaaba A.II. 981. The pave- ment round the Kaaba is a mosaic of many colored stones, and was laid in A.H. ^ii\. Tliere is on one side of tlie Kaaba a semicircidar wall, which is scarcely less sacred