A full and just account of the present state of the Ottoman Empire in all its branches; with the government, and policy, religion, customs, and way of living of the Turks in general ... from a serious observation, taken in many years travesl thro' those countries / [Aaron Hill].

  • Hill, Aaron, 1685-1750.
Date:
1710
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A full and just account of the present state of the Ottoman Empire in all its branches; with the government, and policy, religion, customs, and way of living of the Turks in general ... from a serious observation, taken in many years travesl thro' those countries / [Aaron Hill]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    \ his Head, before it is permitted him, the heavy Load of his own Sms, which he had juft before made fhift to leave behind him, does not only overtake him in an Infant, but returns, enrich’d with Intereji upon lnteref, by the Black Addition of two other Peoples. I'. , 'i iJfjOi^ ' 'j 1 ■ >(Jf. CAREFUL therefore, to prevent fo Burthenfome a Mifchief, on Their Cere- they march with joyful Hearts to the Remainder of their 'Journey, and a- ™g°hTofMa- bout the middle of the third Days Progrefs, gain a Profpeft of the MoJ’que A. at Mecca, • when they all alight, as if half mad, with noify Extafles, and pro- fixating themfelves upon the Ground, thrice kifs the glowing Surface of the Sand, they Travel on, and thrice Proclaim with Univerfal Clamour, Allah- lllah-llallah, Muhamed Reful Allah. God is God, the only God, and Mahomet, of that Jole God, the only Prophet. How they En- ARRIV’D at Mecca, they Encamp upon the Plains, without the camp at Met. ^y, as by far too numerous to find Con veniencies within the Walls, for a Commodious Entertainment of Themfelves and Camels: But I fhould have told you, that they often turn afide, and pals thro’ Giddah, the Port-Town to Mec- The Tomb of ca, to pay Reverence to the Graven where Eve was Buried ; for fhe Arabs Eve. there pretend to fhow all 7 ravellers her Sepulchre, and wou’d perfwade us to believe, our Father Adam had a very Formidable Conjort, it we are allow’d to guels her Strength by the Proportion, which they give her ; for, from the Stone, now handing at the Head, to that, which hands at the broad Bottom of the Grave, the Dihance is full Five and Twenty Tards of Engltjh Mea- fure: Sure a Man, if any now is Blefs’d with fuch a Wife, wou’d fcarce lament her want of Stature. Defcription Of Mecca. MECCA is about Three Miles in Compafs, Rich and Stately in a great degree, and her Inhabitants PofTelTors of a Rolling Plenty, hill continue to encreafe their Affluence, by Annual Profits, rifing from the Concourfe of fuch mighty Numbers, drawn by Zj^al to Travel thither. B U T, as I only mention it, becaufe the Birth-Place of that Vilelmpoflor whofe fuccefsful Impofuions drew fuch Numbers to profefs his Docfnne I will heie enlai ge no lui tbei, than is requifite to give a jufi Defcription of »vhy the Turks the Holy Houfe of God, as they prefume to call it, which is look’d upon fo turVthei^Fa-^acie<^ ^ie Turks, that in whatever Part of the wide Vniverfe they are, cestothe Eajt. they never Pray, but with their Faces to the Eaft, in Honour to this Houfe wherein they lay, that Mahomet was Born, and in refpeft to which, they yearly undertake 1b dangerous a Pilgrimage. 1 S,Ha°sUthe°y T H I S Houfe, which they diftinguifh by the Name of Kjabee Betulla, call it. . Rands directly in the middle of the City, not furpaffing Thirteen Foot in Breadth, in Length Eighteen or thereabouts, and near Ten Yards in Height Flat-Roof’d, and quite furrounded by a lfately Court, Wall’d in, and Orna¬ mented by Three feveral Rows of Marble Pillars, clofe within the Wall fupporting Arches, of a GracefulFabrick, upon either Square, divided into Four Apartments, kept by Prtefls, of the Four moll noted Softs, among the Turks who Pray continually with an inceffant Fervour, for the Boundlefs Propagation of their own Religion, and the Downfal of ChnJHanity. 6 TO (Lengthen, as it were, the Ancient Building, which 1 think confifis ofWGold.°PS of s4uare Roughf tones (tho’ it is almoft impoffible to fee them, being cover d on the lnfide and the Out, by fuch ineftimable heaps of Riches ; the Houfe is Circled round, by twoprodigious Hoops, of Beaten Gold, at leal! ap¬ pearing fo to be ; and of that valuable Metal are the Drains and Spouts, whichcarry oil the Water, falling on the Place in Rainy Weather.