etc. (the Good, Sweet, etc.), and mentioned by Ptolemy as Juthrippa : the holiest city of Moliammedan coun- tries, next to IMecca, and the second capital of Hejaz in Western Arabia, is situated about 270 miles north of Mecca, and 140 north by east of the port of Jembo, on the Bed Sea, and contains about 16,000 inhabitants (Burton). Medinaisabout half the size of Mecca. The streets, between fifty and sixty in number, are deep and narrow, paved only in a few places. The houses are flat-roofed and double-storied, and are built of a basaltic scoria, burned brick, and palm-wood. Very few public buildings of any importance are to be noticed besides the great mosque Al-Haram (the Sacred), supposed to be erected on the spot where IMohammed died, and to enclo.se his tomb. It is of smaller dimensions than that of Mecca, being a parallelogram, 420 feet long and 340 feet broad, with a spacious central area, called El-Sahn, which is surrounded by a peristyle, with numerous rows of pillars. The Mausoleum, or Hujrah, itself is an irreg- ular square, 50-55 feet in extent, situated in the south- east corner of the building, and separated from the walls of the mosque by a passage about 26 feet broad. A large gilt crescent above the '• Green Dome," springing from a series of globes, surmounts the Hujrah, a glimpse into which is only attainable through a little opening, called the Prophet's Window; but nothing more is vis- ible to the profane eye than costly carpets or hangings, with three inscriptions in large gold letters, stating that behind them lie the bodies of the Prophet of Allah and the two caliphs — which curtains, changed whenever worn out, or when a new siUtan ascends the throne, are supposed to cover a square edifice of black marble, in the midst of which stands IMohammed's tomb. Its ex- act place is indicated by a long pearly rosary (Kaukab al-Durri) — still seen — suspended to the curtain. The Prophet's bodj^ is supposed to lie (undecayed) stretched at full length on the right side, with the right palm supporting the right cheek, the face directed towards Mecca. Close behind him is placed, in the same po- sition, Abubekr, and behind him Omar. The fact, however, is that when the mos(iuc, which had been struck by lightning, was rebuilt in 892, three deep graves were found in the interior, filled only with rub- bish. Many other reasons, besides, make it more than problematic whether the particular spot at jMedina really contains the Prophet's remains. That his cofhn, said to be covered with a marble slab, and cased with silver (no European has ever seen it), rests suspended in the air, is a stupid story, invented by Christians, and long exploded. Of the fabulous treasures which this sane— tuarj' once contained, little now remains. As in Mecca, a great number of ecclesiastical oflicials are attached iu some capacily or other to the Great Mosque, as ulemas, mudarisin, imaums, khatibs, etc.; and not only they, but the townspeople themselves live to a great extent only on the pilgrims' alms. There are few other note- worthy spots to be mentioned in IMedina, save the minor mosques of Abubekr, Ali, Omar, Balal, etc.— Chambers, Cyclop, s. V,
Mediolanum. See Milan.
Mediocres, or Second Gk.vde, an epithet of that class of monks, from the age of twenly-four to forty, who were exempted from being taper-bearers, from the reading of the epistle, gospel, marlyrology, collation in chapter, parva cantaria, and chanting the ollices. See Walcott, Sacred A rchwology, s. v.
Mediterranean Sea, a later name (Solin. xxii, 18; see I'orbigcr. Handb. de alt. (ieogr. ii, 13 st].) for the usual Ponian title {Mare Internum) of that immense body of water between Europe, Asia, and Africa, styled by the Hebrews " the Great Sea" (^"ili'fl C^l^, Numb. xxxiv, 6 sq. ; Josh, i, 4; Ezek. xlvii, 10, etc.; likewise in the Talmud, X3"l ^"C^ ; so >) fteyaXt] BdXaffaa, He- cat. Frugm. p. 349), or "the hinder (i. c. Western) sea" ('(iinxn C^n, Dcut. xii, 24; in distinction from "the
MEDLER
41
MEEKNESS
forward [i. e. Eastern] sea," i. e. the Dead Sea, Zech. xiv, 8, etc.), "sea of the Philistines" (DipiabQil D^, Exod. xxiii, 31), and also simply " the Sea" (Josh, xix, 8G ; as likewise in the Greek, ?'/ SrdXaaffa, 1 Mace, xiv, 34; XV, 11; Acts x, 6, 32), and bounding Palestine on the west. It has, from Tyre to Ptolemais, a high and rocky shore, which farther south becomes low and sandy (Strabo, xvi, 758 sq. ; comp. Josephus, Ant. xv, 9, 6 ; \Var, i, 21, 5 ; see Scholz, Beise, p. 130) ; it makes at Mount Carmel a great bay (that of Accho or Ptolemais), but elsewhere it affords very few good harbors (chiefly those of Ca3sarea, Joppa, and Gaza), Its surface lies higher than that of the Dead Sea. The ebb and flow of the tide in the Jlediterranean is irregular, and no- ticeable only in particular localities, and unimportant on the coast of Palestine (see Michaelis, Eiiileif. ins A . T. i, 7-1, anm.). The current of the sea is regularly from south to north, and i§ doubly strong at the time of the Nile freshet, so as to carry the deposit of mud and sand against the southern (Philistian) shore, which accord- ingly is continually pushing farther and farther into the sea (see Hitter, ErdJc. ii, 460, 462). Under the wa- ter there are found at the coast from Gaza to Jaffa large coral reefs (Volney, Voyage, ii, 246) ; and the sea abounds in fish. Commerce finds on it a great sphere ; but the Phoenicians and Egj'ptians had nearly a monopoly of this, as the Mosaic legislation was unfavorable even to coast trading. Particular portions of this vast body of water were designated by special names, but of these only the Adriatic (o 'Ao^uiag) is distinctively named in the Bible (Acts xxvii, 27). SeeAoRiA. Vague mention, however, is made likewise of the ^gajan Sea, the mod- ern Archipelago (Acts xvii, 14, 18), the sound between Cilicia and Cyprus (Acts xxvii, 5), and the Syrtis of the Lybian Sea (Acts xxvii, 17). See generally Bachiene, I'aldst, I, i, 87 sq. ; Hamesveld, Bibl. Geogr. i. 440 sq. — Winer, ii, 70. See Sea. The whole of the coast, from the Nile to Mount Carmel, was- anciently called the Plain of the Mediterranean Sea. The tract between Gaza and Joppa was simply called the Plain; in this stood the five principal cities of the Philistine satrapies — Ascalon, Gath, Gaza, Ekron or Accaron, and Azotus or Ashdod. The countries bordering on the Mediterra- nean were unquestionably the cradle of civilization, and they have in all ages been the scene of mighty changes and events, the investigation of which belongs to the general historian; all, however, that has relation to scriptural subjects will be found stated under the heads Cykene, Egypt, Greece, Syria, etc., and therefore to enter into the detail here would be superfluous, as would any lengthened notice of the sea itself, the Hebrews having never been a maritime people. See Smith, Diet, of Class. Geogr. a. v. Internum Mare ; M'Culloch, Diet, of Geogr. s. v. See Palestine.