There Are Two Places In The Interior Of Mekka Where The Aqueduct Runs
Above Ground; There The Water Is Let Off Into Small Channels Or
Fountains, At Which Some Slaves Of The Sherif Are Stationed, To Exact A
Toll From Persons Filling Their Water-Skins.
In the time of the Hadj,
these fountains are surrounded day and night by crowds of people
quarrelling and fighting for access to the water.
During the late siege
the Wahabys cut off the supply of water from the aqueduct; and it was
not till some time after, that the injury which this structure then
received, was partially repaired.
The history of this aqueduct, a work of vast labour and magnitude, is
given by the Arabian historians at great length. Zebeyda, the wife of
Haroun-er'-Rashid, first carried the spring, called Ayn Noman, from its
source in Djebel Kora to the town. The spring of Ayn Arf from the foot
of Djebel Shamekh to the north of Djebel Kora, which watered the fertile
valley called Wady Honeyn, was next brought to join the Ayn Noman; and,
finally, four other sources were added to the aqueduct - El Beroud,
Zafaran, Meymoun, and Ayn Meshash.
[p.108] Subsequently it seems to have been obstructed; but in A.H. 643
it was repaired by Kokeboury, King of Arbela; again in 762, by order of
Sultan Sayd Khadanbede; and a third time, but not completely, in 811, by
the SheriL Hassan Ibn Adjelan, then reigning. Kaiabey, Sultan of Egypt,
expended a large sum upon it in 879; and in 916, Kansoue el Ghoury, one
of the last of the Zirkassian kings of Egypt, contributed to its repair:
but the aqueduct was still often obstructed; and whenever that happened,
the Mekkawys and Hadjys were ex-posed to great privations. In 931,
Sultan Soleyman attempted to construct it anew; but the design was not
completed. At last, his son, Selym Ibn Soleyman, or Selim II., after
many years labour, and at enormous expense, excavated a passage through
the rocks behind Arafat, and formed a new conduit, which alone now
subsists. He succeeded in bringing water very abundantly to the town, in
A.H. 979. The whole length of the aqueduct is seven or eight hours.
There is a small spring which oozes from under the rocks behind the
great palace of the Sherif, called Beit el Sad; it is said to afford the
best water in this country, but the supply is very scanty. The spring is
inclosed, and appropriated wholly to the Sherif's family.
Beggars, and infirm or indigent hadjys, often intreat the passengers in
the streets of Mekka for a draught of sweet water; they particularly
surround the water-stands, which are seen in every corner, and where,
for two paras in the time of the Hadj, and for one para, at other times,
as much water may be obtained as will fill a jar.
I shall now proceed to describe the different quarters of Mekka,
reserving an account of the great mosque to the last; and then add some
notices respecting the inhabitants and government.
[p.109] QUARTERS OF MEKKA.
AT the entrance from the side of Djidda, in turning round the angle of a
sandy and gravelly valley, the traveller sees two round watch-towers.
They were constructed by the Sherif Ghaleb for the defence of his
capital. Similar towers are seen at the other entrances of the town, and
they are sufficiently spacious to contain about twenty men. As the hills
approach very closely at the en-trance of the city, these towers command
the passage. Here, it appears, was formerly a gate, the threshold of
which only is now remaining, close to a small building, where the
officers of the Sherif collected the duties on merchandize, &c. carried
into the town. Here, also, is a row of shops, and low, ruined dwelling-
houses, known by the appellation of Hareh, or the quarter El Djerouel.
It comprises an encampment to the right, in which the Bedouins live who
carry on the transport trade between Mekka and Djidda; they belong to
the tribes of Harb, Metrefy, and Lahawy.
Beyond the Djerouel, the name of the street changes to that of Haret el
Bab. This is a broad street, with several good houses, and leads into
the quarter of El Shebeyka, which extends principally to the right, and
is so called because the followers of Mohammed, in their wars with the
Koreysh, were here attacked and closely pressed by their enemies. There
are many good houses in Shebeyka, which is one of the cleanest and
airiest quarters in the town. Many of the people of Djidda reside in it;
and here also the Sherif Ghaleb has a good house, where his family,
consisting of several young children
[p.110] and a grown-up daughter, continued to dwell after his
deposition. The main street is lined with coffee-shops, from which the
post sets out every evening, on asses, with the letters for Djidda. This
is the only post for letters that I have seen in the East, besides that
esta-blished among the Europeans at Cairo, between that city and
Alex-andria; but the delivery of letters is there much less regular than
it is at Mekka, where it is duly performed, and at the trifling expense
of two paras upon each letter, and as much more for the person who
distributes the letters received from Djidda.
In the coffee-shops just mentioned, live also the caravan-brokers,
through whose agency the Bedouins let out their camels for the journey
to Djidda and Medina.
On the western side of the Shebeyka, towards the mountain, is a large
burying-ground, in which are dispersed huts and tents of Bedouins, and
some miserable dwellings of the lowest class of public women: this is
called El Khandaryse. Although tradition says that great numbers of the
friends and adherents of Mohammed lie buried here, yet it has become
unfashionable to deposit the dead in it; and all of the first and second
classes of Mekkawys use the extensive cemeteries lying on the north of
the town.
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