"I
Swear By The Mosque" - "I Swear By The Kaaba," Are Ejaculations Constantly
Used By The Mekkawys To Impose Upon Strangers; But To Swear By Abou
Taleb Is A More Serious Imprecation, And Is Seldom Heard Upon Such
Occasions.
Opposite to the ruined tomb stands a public fountain,
consisting of a trough built of stone, fifty or sixty feet in length,
which is daily filled with water from the aqueduct.
Near it grow a few
trees.
No buildings are seen beyond the fountain, till we come to a large
palace of the Sherif, which is surrounded by high walls flanked with
towers, and contains within the inclosure a spacious court-yard. In the
time of the Sherif it was well garrisoned, and during his wars with the
Wahabys he often resided here, as he could set out from hence upon a
[p.130] secret attack or expedition, without its becoming immediately
known in the city. The building now serves as a barrack for the Turkish
soldiers.
To the north of this palace lies the quarter or suburb called Moabede,
which consists partly of low and ill-built stone houses, and partly of
huts constructed of brushwood; it is wholly inhabited by Bedouins, who
have become settlers here, for the purpose of carrying on a traffic,
principally in corn, dates, and cattle, between the town and their
native tribes. I have seen among them Arabs of the tribes of Koreysh,
Thekyf, Hodheyl, and Ateybe; and it was said that, in time of peace,
individuals of all the great tribes of the Desert, and of Nedjed, are
occasionally found here. They live, as I have already observed in
speaking of those who occupy another part of Mekka, much in the same
manner as they would do in the Desert. Their houses contain no furniture
but such as is to be found under the tent of a wealthy Bedouin. Being at
a distance from the great mosque, they have en-closed a square space
with low walls, where such of them as pretend to any regularity in their
devotions (which seldom happens among Bedouins), recite their prayers
upon the sand, according to the custom of the Desert.
The Turkish governor of Mekka has not thought proper to place here any
of his soldiers, for which the suburb is much indebted to him. The
Moabede is, by its situation, and the pursuits of its inhabitants, so
much separated from the city, that a woman here had not entered the town
for the last three years, as she herself assured me; although the
Bedouin females walk about the valley with freedom.
The valley of Mekka has here two outlets: on the north side is a narrow
passage, defended by two watch-towers: it leads to Wady Fatme. At the
eastern extremity, the Moabede is terminated by a garden and pleasure-
house of the Sherif, where Ghaleb used frequently to pass the hours of
noon. The garden is enclosed by high walls and towers, and forms a
fortified post in advance of the town.
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