Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-12-02
THE TOMB OF MAHOMEr.

DuoKHARpT, in his Interesting iraSeis' h'e'
the following description of the Tomb OF Ma
home,, in the grea, Mosque, which pears Tue
nam. Of " FL Uarem." on account OF its invio-
liability, and Moved en- Neby." the Temple OIL
the Prophet. Many marvellous stories nave
been circulated, and greedily caught up, con-
corning Mahomet's Tomb, and our readers
may no, be unin,eres,ed in seeing on accurate
description Of it. There is no foundation Tor
the old tale abou, he coffin being suspended IN
air by loads!ohe.
Ne,, ,he southeast corner stands the famous
.omb. SO detached from ,he walls OF the mosque
"a 10 i.ave between il and the south wall
sp,ce OF abou: twenty FIVE feet, and fifteen be-
tween il and the east wal; the enclosure when
defends the tomb from the 100 near approach
Of visitors forms an irregular square OF about
twenty PAGES in the mids, OF the colorado, sew
eral of its pillars being included within 1t; tis
an iron railing painted green ab"nl two thirds
the height Of the columns, filling up the in'rr>
walls between them, so as 10 leave their upper
part projecting above il entirely he rai!lns
is of good workma oship, in mi'ation oil MA
gree. and is interviewer with open worked IN
scrip,ions of yellow bronze, supposed oy the
vulgar 10 he gold, snd Of so close texture
thai no view can he ganrd into the in'enor'
exec ., by several small widows about SIX inch.
cs square, whit h are placed in he four sides oil
he railing. abou, fiv, fee, from the ground -
On the south side Of he railing where are the
,uo principal Of these windows, briore which
the visitors stand when praying, trc raiiing Is
,hinly plated over with silver, and he nften re-
NJ s,ed inscription Of La lilaha u Allah al max
al Mobvn" (rhere is no God Out tiod. he
evident ruih) is carried il silver letters across
The railing, all round these windows; TINS encla'
sure is enclosed BIZ four gates. 'hree OF which
are constantly kept shu, and one only IS oP'n
ed every morning and evening, to admit ne
eunuchs, whose nffice il is 10 clean The ho"r
and light The lamps. Eoch Of rbe,r crates has
lis nee ulia, Fame: Bah en- NeLv. Bod Err ahme,
Babet Touba, Bad setpa Tame. The permis'
sion To enter into this Enclosure, which Il Cal.
lad IL Hedjra, il granted graft, 10 people Of
rank. as Pashas or Chiefs vt he HadI cara, ans
and may be purchased by othec17Titttt or about
,..s n .xpRuGhss,- arsbu'ed in presen
among them; but few visitors avail hemsIvss
Of this privilege, Dec ause they we'll kuo" that
on entering the nclosure nothing more is to Le
seen than what falls under their observation
| when peeping in at the windows OF the railing
which are cons,a ntly kept open; and was my.
self not inclined 10 attract general notice ny
thus satisfying my curiosity. What appears
OF the interior is cur ain, carried round which
'akes up almost the whole space. having be-
tween il and the railing an open wax OF few pa.
ces only in breadth; the curtain !. equal 10
height to the railing. bu, could no, dis,in
guish, from below, whether, like the latter, il
is open at the top; there is a covering as The
he IF Tho INV IF
The cur ain is made; this rich silk bror ade,
Of various colours, in erwovrn with silver ho~
ers md arabe sques, with band OF Inscriptions
IN golden characters, running across the midst
Of il, like that OF the covering Of The Ko'aa.-
This curtain i, at least thirty feet high;'t has
small gate 10 he north, which is always shut,
no person whatever being permitted ~ enter
~i'hin its holy precincts rxcrp, the chief ~
nuchs, who TAKE care of il. and who put on,
during the night, the new curtain SEM from
Cohstan,inople whenever the cid one is decay
&c. or when q new Sultan ascends the throne;
The old curtains s:e sent 10 Constantinople. anc
serve 10 cover the tombs oil the Sultans and
Princes.
According TO the historian Of Medina, the
curtain covers square building OF blsok stones.
supported bv tw. pillars, 10 the interior Of
which are ,h- .onbs Of Mohsmmed, and his
Two earliest friends and immediate sue, essors,
Abou Beker, and Omer. As far as ! could
learn here, these tombs are also covered with
precious s,uffs and in shape Of ca afaiques,
like that Of lbrahIm in the great Mosque of
Mecca; the largest being that OF Mahome',
and the one above it, Ahou B ker's. The his,
torian says hat these tomh> are deep holes, and
that The coffin which con aims the dust OF Ma
homet is cased in silver, and has on the top OF
i, a marble slab, inscribed "'Bis n'i2d hi .Aha
huma Sally alsy!" lin he name Of God bes,ow
mercy upon hIm3 The stories once prevalent
in Europe, Of the Prophets tomb being sus-
pended in the air, are unknown in the Hadjas.
nor have ever heard IF them 10 other parts Of
the Eas. Burekhardt's TaueG
A case OF considerable importance was tried