There Is No Doubt That The
Whole Formed A. Collection Of Considerable Value, But Far From Being
Inestimable, As The People Are Inclined To Fancy.
Sherif Ghaleb
estimated that part of it which he bought, at one hundred thousand
dollars.
The chiefs of the town are said to have carried. off about one
hundred weight of golden vessels, at most worth forty or fifty thousand
dollars; and what Saoud took with him is said to have consisted chiefly
in pearls and corals, and was certainly not worth more than Ghaleb's
purchase. The total value, therefore, might have amounted to about three
hundred thousand dollars. Money never appears to have been deposited
here; for whatever presents were made to the mosque in cash, were
immediately distributed among its attendants. There is good reason for
supposing, however, that the donations of the faithful, which
accumulated here for ages, amounted to a much greater sun than what
[p.335] is stated above; but it would be strange if the governors of
Medina, who were often independent, or the guardians of the tomb
themselves, should not have made occasional draughts upon this treasure,
in the same manner as the olemas of Mekka, about three hundred years
since, stole the golden lamps of the Kaaba, and carried them out of the
temple, hid under their wide sleeves, according to Kotobeddyn the
historian.
Tousoun Pasha, on his arrival at Medina, made search for the golden
vessels, which had been re-sold by the chiefs of the town to some other
of the inhabitants, and not yet melted.
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