At A Short Distance From Hence, The
Tomb Of Umna, The Mother Of Mohammed, Is Shown.
It was covered with a
slab of fine marble, bearing a Cufic inscription, in an older character
than the former.
The Wahabys broke it, and removed the two pieces, to
show their indignation at the visits paid to the receptacles of the
bones of mortals, which was, in their estimation, a species of idolatry.
Even at these tombs I found women, to whom permission was granted to
spread their handkerchiefs, and ask alms of every visitor.
In walking about these extensive cemeteries, I found many other tomb-
stones with Cufic inscriptions, but not in a very ancient character. I
could decipher no date prior to the sixth century of the Hedjra (the
twelfth of our era); but the greater part of them contain mere prayers,
without either the name of the deceased, or a date. The tombs, in
general, are formed of four large stones placed in an oblong square,
with a broad stone set upright at one end, bearing the inscription. I
saw no massive tomb or turban cut in stone, or any such ornament as is
used in other parts of Asia. A few small buildings have been raised by
the first families of Mekka, to enclose the tombs of their relations;
they are paved inside, but have no roof, and are of the most simple
construction. In two or three of them I found trees planted, which are
irrigated from cisterns built within the enclosure for the reception of
rain-water: here, the families to whom they belong sometimes pass the
day. Of several buildings, surmounted with domes, in which men
celebrated for their learning had been interred, the domes were
invariably broken down by the Wahabys: these fanatics, however, never
touched the tombs themselves, and every where respected the remains of
the dead. Among the tombs are those of several Pashas of Syria and of
Egypt, constructed with little ornament.
At the extremity of almost every tomb, opposite to the epitaph, I found
the low shrub saber, a species of aloe, planted in the ground: it is an
evergreen, and requires very little water, as its Arabic name, saber,
(patience) implies: it is chosen for this purpose from an allusion to
the patience necessary in waiting for the resurrection. On the whole,
this burial-ground is in a state of ruin, caused, it is said, by the
devastations
[p.174] of the Wahabys; but, I believe, still more by the little care
which the Mekkawys take of the graves containing the bodies of their
relations and friends.
The places visited out of the town are: -
Djebel Abou Kobeys. This mountain is one of the highest in the immediate
neighbourhood of the town, and commands it from the east. Muselman
tradition says that it was the first mountain created upon earth; its
name is found in almost every Arabic historian and poet. Two different
spots upon its summit are visited by the pilgrims.
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