Chapter 45
chapter forty five of carpenter's geographical reader asia by frank carpenter this librivox recording is in the public domain recording by betty b in an arabian village mecca and medina to-day we shall see something of the cities and villages of arabia the cities are small most of them small settlements along the coastal plain of the red sea and in oman at the southeastern end of the peninsula by far the largest are mecca and medina in western arabia these two cities were the homes and chief preaching places of the prophet mohammed and for that reason are considered so holy by the mohammedans all over the world that they go there to worship in crowds every year we shall first visit the villages they are to be found in such places as contain considerable tracts of cultivable land they are everywhere of much the same character the houses are seldom of more than two stories and the most of them of but one story only they are built of mud bricks or of stones put together with mortar they have flat roofs and are often surrounded by walls each village is cut up by winding streets and it has a market-place in the centre about which are the shops where the people come together to trade
the shops are often kept by women and but little else than food is sold in them but suppose we pay a visit to a high-class arab his house is exceedingly rude although it is somewhat better than that of the average native there are no windows facing the street and the door is so low that we must stoop to go in entering we come into the gentlemen's parlor where all male guests are received if we should stay over night we may sleep in this room on the floor our host is well to do and his home has some furniture The floor is covered with rugs, and there are cushions here and there, upon which we sit in oriental fashion with our legs crossed. At one end of the room is the fireplace, where a brass coffee pot steams. As soon as we are seated, our host claps his hands, and a servant offers each
of us a cup no larger than half an eggshell. It is filled with a brown fluid so thick that it looks more like molasses than coffee. The steam rises as the coffee is poured from the pot, and we blow it a little to cool it. We then sip it slowly, enjoying the delicious aroma. This country is one of the homes of the coffee plant, and the famed mocha, which is considered about the best of all coffee on earth, comes from a city of that name in Yemen, Arabia. We find our friends hospitable
and remain with them until evening. As the night approaches, dinner is served, and we sit down around the meal on the floor. The food consists of thin wheat cakes, baked to a crisp in an oven, and a stew of camel's flesh. At great feasts a sheep or lamb may be roasted, and this is brought in whole to the guests. We eat with our fingers, picking the meat out of the stew with pieces of cake, which we double up for the purpose. When we have finished the stew, dates and other fruits
and sweets are brought in, and after that a basin of water is passed round, and everyone washes his hands. Now a boy brings a covered bowl in which incense burns. He sways this about each guest, in order that he may perfume his face, hands, and clothes. We have no wine at the meal. The Arabs are Mohammedans, and they do not believe it is right to drink anything which intoxicates. As we go on with our travels, stopping at one village after another, visiting with the people in their
tents and houses, we come to like them very much. They are cleanly as to their persons. They bathe often and take such care of their teeth that they shine out like rows of ivory, made whiter by the darkness of their complexions. We observe that the men and boys shave their heads and that they wear fez caps or large turbans. The Arabs have bright minds, although the schools are few, and not many of the people can read or write. The teaching is mostly confined to the Quran, or Mohammedan Bible,
and the sheikhs or the priests are the teachers. Nevertheless, a long time ago, the Arabs were among the most learned men of the world. They had the best doctors and were famous as astronomers and mathematicians. It was they who introduced the study of algebra into Western Europe, and for a long time they were noted for their geographical knowledge. But suppose we take a look at Mecca, where Muhammad was born. Arabia, as we have already
learned, is altogether a Mohammedan country. It was long the seed of the Mohammedan religion, and Mecca, as the birthplace of their prophet, is still holy to the many millions of that faith. They consider it so sacred that whenever they say their prayers, they kneel down with their faces towards it, and this is so whether they be in Java, China, India, Africa, or in any other part of the world. Indeed, Mecca is considered so holy that strangers are not allowed to visit it,
and it is only through those who have gone there in disguise and described it that we know much about it it is a town of fifty thousand or more lying in the interior of the country almost seventy-five miles east of the red sea one way of reaching it is by the port of jidda from where the people go in by camels or on foot and another is by a railroad which the mohammedans have recently built from damascus down through the desert by the way of medina the great site at mecca is the sacred mosque which contains the kaaba a little building in its center which is supposed to be especially holy and also a black stone which according to their tradition fell down from paradise when adam was thrust out of the garden of eden the muhammadans believe that when they kiss this stone their sins pass away as their lips touch the rock they tell us that when the stone fell to earth it was whiter than snow but that having been kissed by the people through so many generations their sins have gone into it and turned it jet black The character of the stone shows it to be of meteoric origin, and we know that there are
similar ones in other parts of the world. Medina, where Mohammed was buried, is much less than Mecca in size, and is not considered so sacred. It is surrounded by a wall forty feet high, but the streets are narrow and dirty, and the houses are flat-roofed and of two stories only. The tomb of the prophet lies inside a great mosque which covers a space of almost three acres. End of chapter 45
