I lived here during the last days of Ramadhan, in September,
1814, when I first arrived at Mekka from Tayf.
This street, as it proceeds, adopts the name of Haret Souk el Leyl,
which comprises an extensive quarter on the East, where the Moled e'
Nebby, or Prophet's birth-place, is shown, and which adjoins the
Moamele, or establishment of the potteries. The by-streets close to the
Moled are denominated Shab el Moled, or "Rocks of the Moled," the ground
which rises here being covered with stones.
The Moamele lies on the side of Djebel Kobeys, and comprises about a
dozen furnaces, of which the chief productions are jars, especially
[p.124] those used in carrying the water of the celebrated well Zemzem.
These Moamele jars, although prettily wrought, are too heavy, dif-fering
in this respect from the beautiful pottery of Upper Egypt and Baghdad,
which are so slight that an empty jar may be thrown down by a mere puff
of wind. The Moamele alone supplies all the Hedjaz, at present, with
these water-vessels; and few hadjys return to their homes without some
jars, as specimens of Mekkawy ingenuity.
Farther on, the Souk el Leyl takes the name of El Ghazze, and so are
called both sides of the main street, which still forms a continuation
of the Geshashye.
