DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5625#0422
Forerunners of the Nations of Modern Etirope 385
Moslems, meaning " the reconciled." By us they are often
called Mohammedans, after their prophet. After Mohammed's
death the Moslem leaders gathered together his teachings, till
Fig. 125. A Bird's-eye View of Mecca and its Mosque
Mecca is one of the few towns in the barren Arabian peninsula; for by
far the great majority of the Arabs live as roving shepherds (§ 91)
and not in towns. Mecca had been a sacred place long before the time
of Mohammed, and the people had been accustomed to come there as
pilgrims, to do homage to a sacred black stone called the Kaaba.
Mohammed did not interfere with these customs. After his death the
Moslems built a large court modeled on a colonnaded Greek market
place (Fig. 94, M), around the Kaaba. Such a structure was the sim-
plest form of a mosque. Over the Kaaba they erected a square shelter,
which we see in the middle of the mosque court. To this place the
Moslem believers still come in great numbers as pilgrims every year.
Our sketch shows an exaggerated representation of the procession of
pilgrims. In his later years Mohammed lived at Medina, over 200 miles
north of Mecca, and the pilgrims also visit his tomb there
then uncollected, and copied them to form a book called the
Koran (Fig. 126), now the Bible of the Moslems.
The Moslem leaders who inherited Mohammed's power were 782. Rise of
called caliphs, a word meaning " substitute." As rulers, they Empire'of1
proved to be men of the greatest ability. They organized the the Moslems
untamed desert nomads, who now added a burning religious
Moslems, meaning " the reconciled." By us they are often
called Mohammedans, after their prophet. After Mohammed's
death the Moslem leaders gathered together his teachings, till
Fig. 125. A Bird's-eye View of Mecca and its Mosque
Mecca is one of the few towns in the barren Arabian peninsula; for by
far the great majority of the Arabs live as roving shepherds (§ 91)
and not in towns. Mecca had been a sacred place long before the time
of Mohammed, and the people had been accustomed to come there as
pilgrims, to do homage to a sacred black stone called the Kaaba.
Mohammed did not interfere with these customs. After his death the
Moslems built a large court modeled on a colonnaded Greek market
place (Fig. 94, M), around the Kaaba. Such a structure was the sim-
plest form of a mosque. Over the Kaaba they erected a square shelter,
which we see in the middle of the mosque court. To this place the
Moslem believers still come in great numbers as pilgrims every year.
Our sketch shows an exaggerated representation of the procession of
pilgrims. In his later years Mohammed lived at Medina, over 200 miles
north of Mecca, and the pilgrims also visit his tomb there
then uncollected, and copied them to form a book called the
Koran (Fig. 126), now the Bible of the Moslems.
The Moslem leaders who inherited Mohammed's power were 782. Rise of
called caliphs, a word meaning " substitute." As rulers, they Empire'of1
proved to be men of the greatest ability. They organized the the Moslems
untamed desert nomads, who now added a burning religious