El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-26

a mass of carvings and mosaics. The
mosaic is made up Of bits Of gold and
glass, the latter of many colorS, all so
delicately put together that they form
beautiful paintings Each hit is as big
as the head of nail, or smaller. and
thousands of them are required 10
make each of the pictures. The col
umns which uphold the roof are Of
marble and the floor is of marble, car
peted with old rugs from Turkey and
Persia
Right in the center of the mosque is
the huge rock upon which Abra hal
built his altar for Isaac, and upon it,
the Mohammedans say, the angel Ga
briel will stand when he blows the last
trump calling the people to judgment
At that time, according to them, the
souls of the human race will rush to
the spot and present themselves before
Mohammed and Christ who will pass
on their virtues and sins. After that
all must go to the pillar of judgment
and cross wire rope to the Mount or
Olives and thence up to heaven or.
down into hell. The wicked will fall in
the crossing. According to another
Mohammedan story, the Moslems will
be turned into fleas, and Mohammed
himself into sheep. in which shape he
will ascend to heaven with the Moham-
.medan fleas in his wool
The rock is esteemed sacred by every
Mohammedan. 1t is surrounded by an
iron stockade, which none is allowed TO
enter The rock is about 40 feet long
and 60 fet wide and it rises about six
feet out of the floor. 1t fills the whole
Enclosure and comes so close to the
fence that one can touch it, or, If de-
Vout. as most Of the worshipers l saw
in the mosque were, can put his mouth
through the bars and Impress a kiss
on it.
How i Saved the World
As we walk about the fence eXamin-
ing the rock our turbaned guide
shows us its wonders Here, says he,
sides, ''is the mark of Mohamnied's
heel. 1t was from that spot that the
holy prophet assembled to heaven, and
as he rose the rock started to go up
with him holding fast to his heel The
Angel Gabriel had to put his hand up
on it to keep 1t down, and here, point
ing to five curious marks, ARE the
places where GabrierS fingers rested
when he did So
A little further on the guide tells US
that this rock is the center of the
earth and that some believe it to be
also the gate of hell. He shows us a
plate of jasper as big as a checker
beard, in which are three golden nails,
saying that the plate. originally con-
tanned 10 nails which Mohammed had
driven into it. One nail drops out at
the end of each age, and when the last
nail is gone the end of the world will
occur. The guide Offered to let me
pull out the last three nails for dol
lar apiece, but I have no desire to
hasten the judgment day, and, there
fore, refused. In that way, perhaps,
I saved the world.
The devil got at this plate one
day. so our consular's kavass tells |
me, and was jerking out the nails at |
a great rate when the Angel Gabriel |
caught him and pulled him away.
These stories are silly, but they are !
a few of many which are told US when |
we are inside the mosque. Neverthe !
less the average Mohammedan of this !
side of the world believes them, and !
We see gray bearded, long gowned |
turbaned men and white sheeted veil |
ed women praying over these holy /
places. They kiss the marks of Mo- |
hammeds footprints and run their 1
handkerchiefs and beads over the |
rock. They pray as they do so, for |
said that one prayer here /
is worth a thousand uttered anywhere /
else, and he prayed here himself.
SOIOmOn's Temple.
The greatest interest of Mount Mo-
riah, however, is connected with the |
fact that we know this was the ac-
tual site Of Solomon's temple as we'll |
as that of the two other temples which |
succeeded it. The first house of God
erected by the Israelites was the |
This was constructed at
the direction of Moses in the Desert |
Of Sinai just after he had received the
1t is said to have
been just about half the size of the
temple of Solomon, although there are
passag es in the scriptures which lead
IS to think the temple must have been
very much larger The tabernacle
was a movable building. 1t was about |
30 feet long and 16 or II feet wide
The roof and walls were formed of !
curtains made of linen or wool beauti-
July sewed and fastened in places
With gold buckles There were also |
curtains of goats hair and of rams
# the tabernacle to have been flat,
md others that it was ridged like
ent, with a cube inside about 16 feet
square, which was the holy of holes. J
n the latter was the ark of the COW
.nant and the table of the law.
How Built.
Solomon's temple was planned by
David, and it is said that he collected
much of the material. As to Solomon
imself he made a bargain with Hi
am, king of Tyre to aid him in sup
lying the timber and certain classes
# the mechanics. Hiram was a Phoe-