I Need Not
Remind The Reader That Zemzem Is Supposed To Be The Spring Found In The
Wilderness By Hagar, At The Moment When Her Infant Son Ismayl Was Dying
Of Thirst.
It seems probable that the town of Mekka owes its origin to
this well; for many miles round, no sweet water is found, nor is there
in any part of the adjacent country so copious a supply.
On the north-east side of Zemzem stand two small buildings, one behind
the other, called El Kobbateyn; they are covered by domes painted in the
same manner as the mosque, and in them are kept water jars, lamps,
carpets, mats, brooms, and other articles used in the very mosque. These
two ugly buildings are injurious to the interior appearance of the
building, their heavy forms and structure being disadvantageously
contrasted with the light and airy shape of the Makams. I heard some
hadjys from Greece, men of better taste than the Arabs, express their
regret that the Kobbateyn should be allowed to disfigure the mosque.
Their contents might be deposited in some of the buildings adjoining the
mosque, of which they form no essential part, no religious importance
being attached to them. They were built by Khoshgeldy, governor of
Djidda, A.H. 947: one is called
[p.146] Kobbet el Abbas, from having been placed on the site of a small
tank said to have been formed by Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed.
A few paces west of Zemzem, and directly opposite to the door of the
Kaaba, stands a ladder or staircase, which is moved up to the wall of
the Kaaba, on the days when that building is opened, and by which the
visitors ascend to the door:
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