Azraky, however, places the Djebel
Keykaan more to the north, and says that the name is derived from the
cries and the clashing of arms of the Mekkawy army, which was stationed
there, when the Yemen army, under Toba, had taken possession of the hill
of Djyad. Between the two castle-hills, the space is filled with poor,
half-ruined houses, which are principally inha-bited by the lowest class
of Indians established at Mekka.
In turning eastward from the Garara, and passing the quarter called
Rekoube, which, in point of building, nearly equals the Garara, although
it is not reckoned so genteel a residence, we arrive at the great street
called Modaa, which is a continuation of the Mesaa, and then retrace our
steps through the latter to the vicinity of El Szafa, that we may survey
the eastern quarters of the town.
Near the Szafa branches off a broad street, running almost parallel with
the Modaa, to the east of it, called Geshashye. Here, among many smaller
dwellings, are several well-built, and a few lofty edifices; a number of
coffee-houses; several gunsmiths' shops; and a bath. Here resides the
Hakem, or superintendant of the police, who is the first officer under
the Sherif at Mekka. Part of the street is built on the lower declivity
of the eastern mountain, called Djebel Kobeys, to which narrow, dirty,
and steep lanes lead up on that side. The Geshashye is a favourite
quarter of the pilgrims, being broad, airy, and open to the northerly
winds. 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.
![Travels In Arabia By John Lewis Burckhardt
- This mountain is also called by
the
[p.123] present Mekkawys Djebel Keykaan - an appellation more ancient
probably than that - Page 90](../images/travel.jpg)
