Ka'bah

KA'BAH. - A building of gray stone, situated in the middle of the sacred enclosure of Mecca, having the form of a cube (k. = "die"). Two walls are 12 m. long, the other two about 10; height 15 m. A door opens in the northeast wall. The building rests on a marble base 25 cm. high and projecting outward 30 cm.

Inside there are three wooden columns supporting the roof. In the east corner, 1.50 m. from the ground, is fixed a black stone of lava or basalt, measuring about 30 cm. in diameter. The walls of the k. are covered with a cloth of black brocade (kisswah), with inscriptions embroidered in silver and gold; it is replaced during the annual pilgrimage with a white cloth, which hangs down to 2 m. from the ground.

A building of pagan worship before islām, many other idols and fetishes were venerated there. In the year 2 of the hegira, Muhammad (v.) adapted the veneration of the k. to islām, declaring it the first sanctuary erected by Abraham and Ishmael (Qur'an, 2, 121) and ordering that prayer be directed toward it (ibid., 2, 139). At the conquest of Mecca (year 8 of the hegira), he purified it of idols and fetishes, except the black stone.

The k., like the surrounding buildings, is at the center of the pilgrimage rite (v. ISLĀM).

Sabatino Moscati