The Greater Part Of Them Fled After The Sherif's
Capture; And The Huts Now Form Barracks For About Two Hundred Arab
Soldiers, In The Service Of His Successor, Sherif Yahya.
In turning from hence towards the mosque, on the right hand, we come to
a small quarter, built on the declivity of the mountain, in which are
many half-ruined houses:
It is called Haret el Djyad, and is inhabited
by poor people, and several of the lower servants of the Sherif's
household. Asamy says that it derives its name from having been the post
occupied by the horsemen who accompanied Toba, King of Yemen, in his
expedition against Mekka; an event celebrated among the Moslim writers,
for the miraculous destruction of the army. This is certainly one of the
most ancient quarters of the town.
[p.116] Close by the mosque, on either side of the entrance to the
above-mentioned plain, stands a palace of the Sherif; the northern
consists of two stately houses, connected together, which are occupied
by Sherif Yahya: his women reside in the opposite southern building,
which was erected by Sherif Ghaleb, who in this favourite residence
spent the greater part of his time, induced by its vicinity to the
mosque, its central situation, and the large open space which it
commands.
Continuing from this place, in a northern direction, parallel with the
mosque, we enter the long street called Mesaa. The small by-streets to
the right, in approaching the Mesaa, form the quarter of El Szafa, which
takes its name from the holy place Szafa, already de-scribed.
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