Between The Two The Space Of Wall Is Called Al-Multazem (In Burckhardt, By A Clerical Error, “Al-Metzem,” Vol.

I. p. 173).

It derives its name, the “attached-to,” because here the circumambulator should apply his bosom, and beg pardon for his sins. Al-Multazem, according to M. de Perceval, following d’Ohsson, was formerly “le lieu des engagements,” whence, according to him, its name[.] “Le Moltezem,” says M. Galland (Rits et Ceremonies du Pelerinage de la Mecque), “qui est entre la pierre noire et la porte, est l’endroit ou Mahomet se reconcilia avec ses dix compagnons, qui disaient qu’il n’etait pas veritablement Prophete.” [FN#17] From the Bab al-Ziyadah, or gate in the northern colonnade, you descend by two flights of steps, in all about twenty-five. This depression manifestly arises from the level of the town having been raised, like Rome, by successive layers of ruins; the most populous and substantial quarters (as the Shamiyah to the north) would, we might expect, be the highest, and this is actually the case. But I am unable to account satisfactorily for the second hollow within the temple, and immediately around the house of Allah, where the door, according to all historians, formerly on a level with the pavement, and now about seven feet above it, shows the exact amount of depression, which cannot be accounted for simply by calcation. Some chroniclers assert, that when the Kuraysh rebuilt the house they raised the door to prevent devotees entering without their permission.

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