Mecca is at the intersection of latitude 21
to 25 degree north and longitude 39 to 49 degree east. It is set in a rugged
landscape consisting mostly of solid granite, with rocks sometimes reaching
300 meters (1,000 feet) above sea level.
Makkah is enclosed by the Valley of Abraham,
which is surrounded by two nearby mountain ranges to the east, west and south.
The northern range comprises the Al-Falaq and Qu'aqi'an mountains, while
the southern range consists of Abu Hudaidah mountain to the west, Kuday to
the south and Abu Qubais and Khindimah to the south-east.
There are three main entrances to Makkah:
Al-Mu'allat (also known as
Al-Hujûn), Al-Musfalah, and Al-Shubaikah.
Kaaba & Mecca In
History
Edward Gibbon writes about the Ka'bah and its
existence before the Christian era in his book:
..... of blind mythology of barbarians - of the local
deities, of the stars, the air, and the earth, of their sex or titles, their
attributes or subordination. Each tribe, each family, each independent worrier,
created and changed the rites and the object of this fantastic worship; but
the nation, in every age, has bowed to the religion as well as to the language
of Mecca. The genuine antiquity of Caaba ascends beyond the Christian
era: in describing the coast of the Red sea the Greek historian Diodorus
has remarked, between the Thamudites and the Sabeans, a famous temple, whose
superior sanctity was revered by all the Arabians; the linen of silken
veil, which is annually renewed by the Turkish emperor, was first offered
by the Homerites, who reigned seven hundred years before the time of
Mohammad.[2]
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian of 1st
century BC who wrote Bibliotheca
Historica, a book describing various
parts of the discovered world. The following lines are the English translation
of Greek quoted by Gibbon from the book of Diodorus Siculus (Diodorus of
Sicily) describing the 'temple' considered to be the the holiest in the whole
of Arabia.
And a temple has been set-up there, which is very holy
and exceedingly revered by all
Arabians.[3]
It is interesting to know that Claudius Ptolemy
of Alexandria, mathematician and astronomer, flourishing about a century
after Pliny, undertook to make an atlas of the habitable world. He was not
a descriptive geographer, and his book was intended to be no more than a
commentary on his maps. He enumerated some hundred and fourteen cities or
villages in Arabia Felix.
For example, Dumaetha, placed by Ptolemy just
outside the northern boundary of Arabia Felix, must be the mediaeval Arabian
Daumet, which is today the chief village of the great oasis of Jauf.
Hejr, famous in the "times of ignorance" as the seat of a kingdom,
and now Medayin Salih, is Ptolemy's Egra. His Thaim is
Teima, now known for its inscriptions to have had temples and some
sort of civilization as far back as 500 BC. It is the Tema of Job.
In Lathrippa, placed inland from Iambia (Yambo), we recognize the
Iathrippa of Stephan of Byzantium, the Yathrib of the early
Arab traditions, now honoured as El Medina, the City of
Cities.[4]
Apart from this a place called Macoraba
is also shown which is identified as Mecca (please refer to the map
facing page 17 of reference [3]). G E von Grunebaum says:
Mecca is mentioned by Ptolemy, and the name
he gives it allows us to identify it as a South Arabian foundation created
around a
sanctuary.[5]
Makkah In The Scriptures
The Qur'ân talks about Bakkah (the
older name of Makkah) being the first house of worship appointed for mankind.
It also addresses this place as Umm
ul-Qurâ i.e., Mother of the Settlements.
"The most important shrine established for the
people is the one in Becca; a blessed beacon for all the people.
In it are clear signs: the station of Abraham. Anyone who enters it shall
be granted safe passage. The people owe it to GOD that they shall observe
Hajj to this shrine, when they can afford it. As for those who disbelieve,
GOD does not need
anyone."
[Quran; 3:96-97]
_____________________________________________________________________
*3:96 Sura 3 is an M-initialed sura, and this peculiar spelling of "Mecca"
as "Becca" causes the occurrence of "M" to conform to the Quran's mathematical
code. The normal spelling "Mecca" would have increased the frequency of
occurrence of "M". See
the Mathematical Miracle of the Quran, (Appendix 1).
The Bible also mentions about the valley of
Baca in connection with the pilgrimage. Below is the quote from Psalms
84 (NIV):
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my
flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young-- a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts
on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob.
9 Look upon our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather
be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.
The interpretation of the valley of Baca
in the The Jewish
Encylopedia is quite interesting, though
it does not provide a complete evidence and leaves the reader with a suggestion.
Below is the full quote.
Baca, The Valley Of: A valley mentioned in Psalms
LXXXIV:7. Since it is there said that pilgrims transform the valley into
a land of wells, an old translators gave to Baca, the meaning of a
"valley of weeping"; but it signifies rather any valley lacking water. Support
for this latter view is to be found in II Samuel V:23 et seq.; I
Chronicles XIV:14 et seq., in which the plural form of the same word
designates a tree similar to the balsam tree; and it was supposed that a
dry valley could be named after this tree. Konig takes Baca from the
Arabian Baka'a, and translates it "lack of streams". The Psalmist
apparently has in mind a particular valley whose natural condition led him
to adopt its
name.[6]
The translation of Arabian Baka'a as
"lack of stream" seems to throw some light on the nature of the valley before
the appearance of the stream of Zam-Zam near Ka'bah which was
a dry place with no vegetation whatsoever.
The Anchor Bible
Dictionary does not throw any light on
it, albeit, there are some suggestions in it too like the The Jewish
Encylopedia. Below is the full
quote.
Baca, The Valley Of (PLACE): [Hebrew 'emeq
habakka'], The valley of Baca (Psalms 84:1) is either a historical
place name or a symbolical expression for "deep sorrow". The first part of
Psalms 84:6 seems to mean that by "passing through the experience of deep
sorrow, righteous ones can make it the source of life." The Septuagint translated
the phrase into Greek as "the valley of weeping". The word 'emeq "valley"
has the root meaning of "deep", so the expression may mean "deep
sorrow".
However, some have considered it as the "valley of
the balsam tree" from the same word in plural form found in 2 Samuel 5:24.
This is based on the assumption that baka may be a "gum-exuding [weeping]
tree". Another possibility is that the word beka'im (plural of
baka) may mean "weeping wall-rocks" in the valley of Rephaim on whose
tops David and his troops were waiting for the coming of the Philistine army
passing through the valley below (2 Samuel 5:24). It seems safe to seek the
meaning of baka in relation to the dripping water, since we often
find this word in the names related to rivers and wadis, such as Wadi al-Baka
in the Sinaitic district and Baca on the wadi in the central Galilee area,
W of Meroth. It is also possible to understand beka'im as the place
of "weepings" of the Philistine army for their defeat by David. After all
these considerations, the expression of "valley of baka" can best be taken
as a symbolic expression "weeping" or "deep sorrow" which fits well in the
context of Psalms
84:6.[7]
The interpretation of the valley of Baca
as a "the valley of weeping" makes sense because of the distress which
Hagar(P) underwent when she was left with
Ishmael(P) in the barren desert with no means of living.
The two interpretations of Baca, viz.,
"lack of stream" and "the valley of weeping" appears to fit in the context
of pilgrimage to Bakkah, the older name of Makkah where the
Ka'bah is situated. Ka'bah has been a place of reverence by
all Arabians before the Christian era as we have seen earlier.
References
[1] M S M
Saifullah, Ka'bah As A Place Of Worship In The History
[2] Edward Gibbon (Introduction by Christopher
Dawson), Gibbon's Decline
And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Volume
V, Everyman's Library, London, pp. 223-224.
[2] Translated by C H Oldfather, Diodorus Of
Sicily, Volume II, William Heinemann
Ltd., London & Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, MCMXXXV,
p. 217.
[4] D G Hogarth, The Penetration Of
Arabia, Alston Rivers Limited, London,
1905, p. 18.
[5] G E Von Grunebaum, Classical Islam: A History
600-1258, George Allen & Unwin Limited,
1970, p. 19.
[6] The Jewish
Encylopedia, Volume II, Funk & Wagnalls
Company, MDCCCCII, p. 415.
[7] David Noel Freedman (Editor-in-Chief), The Anchor Bible
Dictionary, Volume I, Doubleday, p.
566.
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