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It is the location where Muslims start their circumambulation of the Kaaba, known as the tawaf. The entrance is a door set 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) above the ground on the north-eastern wall of the Kaaba, called the Bāb ar-Raḥmah (Arabic: باب الرحمة, romanized: Bāb ar-Raḥmah, lit. 'Door of Mercy'), that also acts as the façade. [4]
Islamic tradition identifies Bakkah as the ancient name for the site of Mecca. [1] [6] [7] [8] An Arabic word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure.[3]One meaning ascribed to it is "narrow", seen as descriptive of the area in which the valley of the holy places and the city of Mecca are located, pressed in upon as they are by mountains. [6]
A typical Kaaba building is shaped like a cube or block and functions as a place for the devotees of a particular god or goddess to worship in. [1] [2] The name "Kaaba" was used by ancient Arabians to describe and label these sites because of their resemblance to the Kaaba at Mecca and the purpose of doing pilgrimage to them.
According to tradition, the Kaaba was a cube-like, originally roofless structure housing a black stone revered as a relic. [121] The sanctuary was dedicated to Hubal (Arabic: هبل), who, according to some sources, was worshiped as the greatest of the 360 idols the Kaaba contained, which probably represented the days of the year. [122]
While a number of biblical place names like Jerusalem, Athens, Damascus, Alexandria, Babylon and Rome have been used for centuries, some have changed over the years. Many place names in the Land of Israel, Holy Land and Palestine are Arabised forms of ancient Hebrew and Canaanite place-names used during biblical times [1] [2] [3] or later Aramaic or Greek formations.
Upon Muhammad's victorious return to Mecca in 630 CE, Ali broke the idols in and around the Kaaba, [25] similar to what, according to the Quran, Abraham did in his homeland. Thus ended polytheistic use of the Kaaba, and began monotheistic rule over it and its sanctuary. [26] [27] [28] [29]
Bani Shaiba gatekeeper, c.1880 Key to the Ka'ba at the time of Sultan Barquq of Egypt. The Bani Shaiba (Arabic: بني شيبه, lit. ' the sons of Shaiba ') are an Arab clan belonging to the Banu Abd al-Dar sub-clan, that are part of the larger erstwhile Quraysh tribal confederation in the Hejaz region of modern Saudi Arabia.
The structure containing the Maqām. The Maqām Ibrāhīm (Arabic: مَقَام إِبْرَاهِيْم, lit. 'Station of Abraham') [1] [2] is a small square stone [3] associated with Ibrahim (), Ismail and their building of the Kaaba in what is now the Great Mosque of Mecca in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia.