Islam's Sacred Stone of Mecca...

by Lennard James

26 May, 2009

"A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set
apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices, which unite into one single moral community called a Church,
all those who adhere to them". -- Emile Durkheim

The Black Stone is a Muslim object of reverence,

which according to Islamic traditions dates back to
the time of Adam and Eve. Many consider it to be
a Tektite. It is the eastern cornerstone of the
Kaaba, the ancient Sacred Stone towards which
Muslims pray in the center of the Grand Mosque in
Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is covered with an
elaborately gold-threaded embroidered Quranic
verses on a black-draped cloth. As any non-
Muslim in the temple would be slain on sight, and
photography is generally prohibited, this stone is
shrouded in mystery? However, if you do succeed
in tracking down the three accounts of the pilgrimage of Hajj to Mecca you might be considered a
lucky one!

What these views reveal, is a polished black stone of which less than two feet is visible… This stone
is set in large solid silver mountings. The whole resembles, quite deliberately, for reasons which will
emerge, „the vulva of the goddess‟! There is severe damage to the stone, as it was taken away by
the sacrilegious Qarmatians in 930 CE and broken into a number of pieces before returning the
pieces for a great price. The Stone pieces are held together by a silver frame, which is fastened by
silver nails to the Stone. The Stone is roughly 30 cm (12 in.) in diameter, and 1.5 meters (5 ft.) above
the ground. When pilgrims circle the Kaaba as part of the Tawaf ritual of the Hajj, many of them try, if
possible, to stop and kiss the Black Stone, „emulating the kiss that it received from Prophet
Muhammad.‟ If they cannot reach it, then they are to point to it on each of their seven circuits around
the Kaaba.

The Black Stone of Kaaba in Mecca is called Al-hajar Al-aswad in Arabic. The word Kaaba (also
Ka'ba, or Ka'bah) means „The Cube‟. That Muslims now refer to it as the „Hand of Allah‟, which does
not diminish the urge for all those, who complete the pilgrimage to Mecca to touch or kiss this sacred
Islamic object! :-)

The Black Stone's Origin

'A principal sacred object in Pagan Arabian religion was the stone... Such stones were thought to be
the residence of a god; hence the term applied to them by the Byzantine Christian writers of the fifth
and sixth centuries: 'baetyl', from bet'el, 'the house of god'.' [1]

'In north Arabian temples the image of the deity sometimes stood in the open air or it could be
sheltered in a qubbah, a vaulted niche... Not to be confused with the qubbah is the word for ka'bah,
for a cube-shaped walled structure which... served as a shelter for the sacred stones.' [2]

Camphausen, in his article [3], reveals that the misogynic Muslim religion has its origins in the
worship of goddess. Allah is a revamped version of the ancient goddess Al'Lat, and it was her
shrine, which has since continued with little change, as the Kaaba. The known history of Mohammed
reveals that he was born around 570 CE into a tribe of the Koreishe (Quraysh), who not only
worshipped the goddess Q're, but were the sworn guardians of her shrine. By 622, Mohammed was
preaching the ways of his god, Allah, and was driven out by his own tribe as a result. There are also
various opinions as to what the Black Stone actually is… The Muslims say that the Stone was found
by Abraham (Ibrahim) and his son Ishmael (Ismail) when they were searching for stones with which
to build the Kaaba (House of God). They recognized its worth and made it one of the building's
cornerstones.

The Kaaba at Mecca describes the shape of the

black stone structure on a marble base, which
stands in the centre court of the Great
Mosque, Masjidul Haram, at the centre of Mecca.
It stands about 50 feet high by about 35 feet wide.
Set into the eastern corner is the sacred stone.
This Kaaba is a cubed shaped temple (according
to Islam) rebuilt by Abraham and his son Ishmael.
Reverently draped in black cloth throughout the
year, it beckons to every Muslim of the world to
come to its sacred ground and perform the ritual of
Hajj.

The Kaaba is the canonical center of the Islamic

world; every pious act, particularly prayer, is
directed towards it. Once a year it plays host to the
greatest convention of Muslim believers, and
stands ready to sanctify the Umrah travelers
through rest of the year.

The official starting point of the walk around the

Kaaba, that forms the core of the holy pilgrimage (hajj). During the Tawaf, the pilgrims kiss or touch
the black stone as they circumambulate the Kaaba.
 Some Muslims are more willing to believe that the
Stone itself has some supernatural powers. They
believe that this „stone fell from the sky during the
time of Adam and Eve, and that it has the power to
cleanse worshippers of their sins by absorbing
them into itself‟. They say that the Black Stone was
once a pure and dazzling white, and it has turned
black because of the sins it has absorbed over the
ages.

It is remarkable, however, that even though the

temple contained 360 idols worshipped before
Muhammad's prophethood, the Black Stone was
never kissed or made an idol of worship by the
pagan Arabs. In fact, the Kaaba was never
worshipped by the idolaters prior to Muhammad's
Prophethood. The building contained idols of worship but the building itself was never an object of
worship.

The fact that the Kaaba was rebuilt by Abraham is not an historical fact! Since the stone has been
there ever since, the pagans found it lying in the sands of Arabia; it stands to reason that Abraham
placed the stone in the Kaaba? The Black Stone is in fact not the cornerstone of the Kaaba, and
there never was an emblem of the progeny of Abraham that was rejected by the Israelites. It was
Muhammad, who made it the corner stone of the Kingdom of Allah.

The Black Stone, therefore, passes for the mithaq (primordial covenant between the Creator and His
created). And in the whole world there is only this unhewn stone, cut out of the mountains without
hands, and that is the corner-stone of a building, which in point of importance, stands unique in the
world...???

Touching or kissing the stone has a profound impact on the faithful, as it is supposed to count in
their favor on the Islamic Judgment Day. [Judgment Day is a metaphor for the return to balance with
the duality of the reality of man.]

Ibn Jubayr (1145-1217), the great Muslim traveler from Valencia, describes the emotion he felt on
touching the stone, “The stone, when one kisses it, has a softness and freshness, which delights the
mouth; so much so that he who places his lips upon it wishes never to remove them”. It suffices,
moreover, that the Prophet said that it is the „Right Hand of God on Earth‟ so Allah has a „Stoned
Hand‟ also?

The single most important reason for kissing the stone is that Prophet Muhammad did so! No
devotional significance, whatsoever, is attached to the stone by the pre-Islamic pagans, who
worshipped it. Kissing or touching the Black Stone is a reverential act of acknowledgment that
Allah's hand directed its placement and in its construction. That Abraham and Muhammad, Allah's
blessing upon them, had touched and kissed the stone, and an acknowledgment that Allah had
entrusted the 'corner stone' of His religious central focus for man upon that hallowed, sacred place.

Researchers have noted that the Kaaba is accurately aligned on two heavenly phenomena: the
cycles of the moon and the rising of Canopus, the brightest star after Sirius. There are various other
opinions as to what the Black Stone actually symbolizes. Many Muslims regard the Stone as 'just a
stone'. When Umar ibn al-Khattab (second Caliph) came to kiss the stone, he said, in front of all
assembled:

"No doubt, I know that you are a stone and can neither harm anyone nor benefit anyone. Had I not
seen Allah's Messenger kissing you, I would not have kissed you".

Muslims, therefore, pay their respect to the Black Stone in a spirit of trust in Muhammad, not with
any belief in the Black Stone itself.

The Triple Goddesses

Pre-Islamic worship of the goddess seems to be primarily associated with Al'Lat, which simply
means 'goddess'. She is a triple goddess, similar to the Greek lunar deity Kore/Demeter/Hecate.
Each aspect of this trinity corresponds to a phase of the moon. In the same way Al'Lat has three
names known to the initiate: Q're, the crescent moon or the maiden; Al'Uzza, literally 'the strong
one', who is the full moon and the mother aspect; then Al'Manat, the waning but wise goddess of
fate, prophecy and divination. Islamic traditions continue to recognize these three, but labels them
'daughters of Allah'.

According to Edward Rice [4] “Al'Uzza was especially worshipped at the Kaaba where she was
served by seven priestesses. Her worshippers circled the holy stone seven times - once for each of
the ancient seven planets, and did so in total nudity.

Near the Kaaba is the ever-flowing well, Zamzam, which cools the throats of the countless millions of
pilgrims. In an oasis of always-flowing water, the Black Stone in its mount became an unmatched
image of the goddess as giver of life. Only in the Indian continent do such physical symbols for the
male and female generative powers, the lingam and yoni, continue to be worshipped with their
original fervour.

It is easy to imagine that in pre-Muslim times, the goddess's temple at Mecca was preeminent,
whether to celebrate life, ask protection, pray for offspring. Legend tells how Abraham, unable to
produce children by his wife Sarah, came here to make love to his slave Hagar. Later on, when
Hagar came back to give birth, she could find no water and Abraham created the holy well of
Zamzam to save the life of his first son.

When Mohammed wanted to supplant Al‟Lat with Allah, this was the one Temple he must conquer.
Although Mohammed did conquer the Kaaba, little else changed. The faithful still circle the Holy
Kaaba seven times, (nowadays the pilgrims only wear a white linen cloth to cover their genitals and
not fully clothed)? The priests of the sacred shrine are still known as Beni Shaybah or 'Sons of the
Old Woman', Shaybah being, of course, the famous Queen Sheba of Solomon's time. Sheba
appears under the guise of Lilith in the Near East, and as Hagar ('the Egyptian') in the Hebrew
mythology of the Old Testament. So, rewriting the legend given above, Abraham begot his son,
Ishmael—the ancestor of the Arabs—by the goddess on the Black Stone of the Kaaba.

While we are tracing names, Q're (or Qure), the maiden aspect of Al'Lat, seems certain to be the
origin of the Greek Kore. Camphausen suggests that the holy Koran is the 'Word of Qure'. Even
Muslims admit that the work existed before the time of Mohammed. Legend has it that it was copied
from a divine prototype that appeared in heaven at the beginning of time, or the Mother of the Book
[5]. Al'Uzza, the mother aspect of Al'Lat, may give us the pre-dynastic Egyptian snake goddess Ua
Zit [Uadjet], who develops into Isis.

Secular historians point to the history of stone worship, and especially meteorite worship, in pre-
Islamic Arabia, and say that „it is likely that the Stone is a meteorite‟. There is no way to test this
hypothesis without removing and examining the Stone, which would not be permitted by its
guardians. There is no indication as to where this stone originated, but since it predates the
revelation of the Holy Quran and Muhammad's prophethood, and even being kissed, it must stem
from the time of Abraham since the Hajj traditions are traceable to the patriarch of monotheism by
the pre-islamic pagans.

Other Cultures and Deities

The earliest reference we have to a goddess worshipped as a cube-shaped stone is from Neolithic
Anatolia. Alternatively, 'Kubaba' may mean a hollow vessel or cave, which would still be a supreme
image of the goddess. The ideograms for Kubaba in the Hittite alphabet are a lozenge or cube, a
double-headed axe, a dove, a vase and a door or gate—all images of the goddess in Neolithic
Europe.

Deities of other cultures known to have been associated with black stones include Aphrodite at
Paphos, Cybele at Pessinus and later Rome, Astarte at Byblos and the famous Artemis/Diana of
Ephesus. The latter's most ancient sculpture was, it is said, carved from a black meteorite.

The earliest form of Cybele's name may have been Kubaba or Kumbaba, which suggests Humbaba,
who was the guardian of the forest in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest recorded myth from
Assyria of circa 2500 BCE of the „Sumerites Literature‟ and as scholars reveal more of the text as
the source of most of the major mythological themes of later civilizations [6].

The origin of Kubaba may have been kube or kuba meaning 'cube'. The earliest reference we have
to a goddess worshipped as a cube-shaped stone is from Neolithic Anatolia [7].

The stone associated with Cybele's worship was, originally, probably at Pessinus but perhaps at
Pergamum or on Mount Ida. What is certain is that in 204 BCE, it was taken to Rome, where Cybele
became 'Mother' to the Romans. The ecstatic rites of her worship were alien to the Roman
temperament, but nevertheless animated the streets of their city during the annual procession of the
goddess's statue. Alongside Isis (god of the Egyptians), Cybele retained prominence in the heart of
the Empire until the fifth century BCE, when the stone was then lost. Her cult prospered throughout
the Empire and it is said that every town or village remained true to the worship of Cybele [8].
Various Classical writers describe the rituals, which went on her in her honor, in which a tapering
black stone, the object of veneration at her temple, was used.

At Mecca, the Goddess was „Shaybah‟ or‟ Sheba‟, the Old Woman, which was worshipped as a
black aniconic stone like the Goddess of the Scythian Amazons. The sacred Black Stone that now
enshrines in the Kaaba was her feminine symbol, marked by the sign of the yoni (vagina), and
covered like the ancient Mother by a veil. No one seems to know exactly what it is supposed to
represent today?

The Black Stone rests in the Haram, "Sanctuary", cognate of "harem," which used to mean a Temple
of Women, in Babylon, a shrine of the Goddess Har, mother of harlots! Hereditary guardians of the
Haram were the Koreshites, "children of Kore", Mohammed‟s own tribe. The holy office was
originally held by women, before it was taken over by male priests calling themselves „Beni Shayban‟
("Sons of the Old Woman").

More Black Stones

The home of Aphrodite was at Paphos on Cyprus. Various Classical writers describe the rituals
which went on her in her honour - these seem to include the practice which is now known by the
disdainful term of 'sacred prostitution'. In any event, the tapering black stone which was the object of
veneration at this Temple still survives, even if it now placed inside the site museum [9].

Also in Cyprus is another highly venerated Islamic site, the third most important after Mecca and
Medina, the Hala Sultan Tekke. This, too, has a black rock, said to have fallen as a meteorite as
part of the tritholon over the shrine. The shrine is dedicated to a woman, the aunt and foster mother
of Prophet Mohammed [10]. Could this, like Mecca, have been originally a goddess shrine?
Unfortunately no other clues are forthcoming.

Another site stated to have a Black Stone was at Petra, but I have been unable to discover where
this was or who was worshipped there (any clue from readers?)!

To add a little local flavour, numerous standing stones in the British Isles are reputed to have fallen
from the stars. The now-lost Star Stone marked the meeting of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and
Lincolnshire; an also-vanished stone at Grimston, Leicestershire, was also said to have such an
origin. Whether or not such stones were ever associated with goddess worship, we will never know.

It would take far too long to discuss to what extent the cult of the goddess's Black Stone may have
been perpetrated as Solomon's bride in the Song of Songs, who is 'black but beautiful' or to come to
terms with the black images of Demeter, Artemis and Isis, who have their direct continuation in the
Black Virgins of Europe—patrons of the troubadours, the Gnostics and the alchemists, as well as the
present Pope. Those, who wish to follow such ideas, would do well to read „The myth of the
goddess‟ [11], which, in a sober but inspirational manner, reevaluates how the feminine deity has
remained with us throughout history.
Goddess of the Black Stone
Alby Stone
Bob Trubshaw's article on the Black Stone of Mecca was of great interest to myself, as I had
already seen Rufus Camphausen's original article on The Ka'bah at Mecca, and already had
something of an interest in the subject. Camphausen, and now Bob Trubshaw, have done us all
a great service by bringing this material to our attention in an accessible form, and presenting
what is basically a strong and coherent case for the original pagan context of the Black Stone;
but it is also apparent that there is a good deal more that could be said on the subject. Indeed,
there are a number of points that really must be made, particularly with regard to the
goddess Al'Lat, whose identity - and those of her old Meccan companions,Al'Uzza and Manat -
is perhaps not as clear-cut as Rufus Camphausen has asserted, and as Bob Trubshaw has
reported. There are more connections to be made, and these show the goddess of the Black
Stone in a rather different light.

Of especial interest is the explanation of the Beni Shaybah, the imams who attend the
sacred structure, as 'Sons of the Old Woman', the old lady in question supposedly being
the Queen of Sheba. Any connection with an authentic, historical Queen of Sheba is
debatable, but in view of the tradition it is worth pointing out that the Hebrew sheba' can
mean either 'seven' or 'oath'. The Biblical place-name Beer-sheba is literally 'the well of
seven', the well in question being dug by Abraham and where he made a peace-treaty
with Abimelech. Abraham gave seven ewe-lambs to seal the pact, and the place was
named to commemorate the event. The well is said to have been reopened by Isaac,
who renamed it Shibah, which just happens to be the feminine form of the
numeralsheba'. Interestingly, the site is now said to have seven wells. The name given
by Abraham thus seems to have been a play on the Hebrew words for 'seven' and
'oath'. The sacred complex at Mecca has the holy well Zamzam, of course.

That the Semitic tribes associated oath-taking with the number seven is confirmed by
Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BCE, who reports that Arabs solemnised oaths
between two men by enlisting the services of a third, who 'stands between them and
with a sharp stone cuts the palms of their hands...then he takes a little tuft of wool from
their clothes, dips it in the blood and smears the blood on seven stones which lie
between them, invoking as he does so, the names of Dionysus and Urania'. Herodotus
identifies the latter as Alilat, who is undoubtedly the same goddess formerly venerated
at Mecca as Al'Lat [1].

It seems relevant that the sanctity of treaties made at theKa'bah is stressed in

the Koran [9:6], where even covenants made with infidels are to be honoured: 'God and
His apostle repose no trust in idolaters, save those with whom you have made treaties
at the Sacred Mosque. So long as they keep faith with you, keep faith with them. God
loves the righteous.'

There were, in pagan times, seven priestesses at site of the Black Stone, who circled it
seven times, naked. Today, the tawaf, the sevenfold counterclockwise circuit of
the Ka'bah, is a memory of that ancient practice. But the older practice is itself a strong
echo of the descent of the Sumerian goddess Inanna (and her Babylonian equivalent
Ishtar) through the seven gates of the underworld, the gatekeepers demanding the
removal of a garment at each gate until she stands naked before her elder sister
Ereshkigal, 'Queen of the Great Earth', the goddess of death and the underworld.
Another name for Ereshkigal isAllatu, 'the goddess', which is clearly an earlier form
ofAl'Lat/Alilat.

This suggests that, far from being a moon-goddess, Al'Latis actually the goddess of the
underworld, who could indeed be fittingly described as the 'Old Woman'. I do not myself
subscribe to the idea of three-phase moon goddesses of the maiden-mother-hag model
popularised by the likes of Robert Graves [2], but in the case of Al'Latand her sisters
there is a definite argument against it - although the reported evidence is contradictory
and confusing. In his introduction to the Penguin edition of theKoran, translator N.J.
Dawood says that Al'Lat, Al'Uzza, and Manat 'represented the Sun, Venus, and Fortune
respectively' [3] - but I have also seen Allat described as a representation of Venus [4],
and she once had a temple in the precinct devoted to the sun-god Shamash in Hatra,
Iraq [5]. In early Mesopotamian art, the only heavenly bodies regularly shown as a
group were the triad of Sun, Moon, and Venus, the three most important celestial lights;
and in Sumer and early Babylon the sun and moon were represented mainly by a male
divinity, though elsewhere in the Semitic world the moon was usually regarded as
feminine.

Al'Uzza and Manat are less easily traced to a more archaic source. Their names - 'the
Strong' and 'Destiny' respectively - suggest abstract forces rather than natural objects. If
the three 'daughters of Allah' [6] are personifications of any natural phenomena, then
one is surely the Earth (Al'Lat = Allatu = Ereshkigal); the others are of uncertain
pedigree. But there is also a strong chance that their form and function were influenced
by thebanat, the three daughters of Baal, the supreme deity of the Canaanites. They
symbolised light, rain, and earth [7].

At Petra, the Nabataeans venerated a four-sided stone named after Allat [8], whose son
Dusura (in their system) is a version of Tammuz/Dumuzi/Du'uzi, the vegetation god
characterised by a seasonal death and resurrection, who dwells in the underworld for
half the year. His full name in Sumerian is Dumu-zi-abzu, 'faithful son of the abyssal
waters' - a rough but appropriate rendering of abzu, which denotes the spaces below
the earth as well as the primal waters. Dumuzi/Tammuz, of course, was the reason for
Inanna/Ishtar descending to Allatu's realm in the first place, according to nearly every
version of the myth. Once there, the Mesopotamian Venus lies about the reason for her
visit, so breaking the 'law of the underworld which must be fulfilled', and is sentenced to
death by theAnunnaki, the seven judges of the underworld. Abzu(later:Apsu), was the
natural home of the Sebettu, the seven sages associated by Babylonians with the
foundation of culture and the seven major cities of the region.

All this fits in well with Islamic and pagan Arab traditions concerning the Black Stone
and its precincts. By word-play, the Beni Shaybah are at once the Sons of the Old
Woman, the Sons of the Seven, and the Sons of the Oath; they are also the successors
of the seven sky-clad servitors of Al'Lat, whose Babylonian predecessor ruled the
sevenfold palace of the underworld; and of the sevenAnunnaki. Like many examples of
the axis mundi, the Black Stone has a sacred well nearby, and is associated with oath-
taking. The Queen of Sheba, bearing in mind the lore associated with Beer-sheba,
takes on further significance: tradition has it that she was black, and ofdjinn ancestry - in
other words, she was a divine being in her own right, possibly even a hypostasis
of Al'Lat herself.

As for Q're: the identification with Kore (a title of Persephone) is a familiar notion, but
one that is almost certainly mistaken. In Greek, kore can denote a girl, andkoros a boy;
the word actually comes from the same Indo-European stem as a number of other
words meaning 'to grow', and denotes more or less the same thing - an increase in size.
Any phonetic similarity between Q're andKore is coincidental, but oddly fortuitous if the
former is an aspect or title of Al'Lat: Persephone, 'bringer of destruction', is Queen of the
Underworld in Greek myth, daughter of Demeter, who represents the earth as mother.
Persephone's son is Triptolemos, who resembles Tammuz/Dumuzi. Essentially,
Demeter and Persephone are effectively twin aspects of the earth - mother and grave of
all - and have no real connection with the moon whatsoever. Hekate, who figures in
their myth, cas indeed be seen as a representation of the moon, but is in herself a triad
of maleficent, nocturnal entities; she is quite separate from Persephone and Demeter.
The supposed triad of Kore, Demeter, and Hekate is a relatively modern invention, with
no real foundation in ancient Greek myth or iconography.

Little of this affects Bob Trubshaw's reading of Camphausen's analysis, other than to
suggest that worship of the moon is probably not as dominant in the pre-Islamic Meccan
schema as Camphausen thinks. There is always a chance that Al'Lat did become linked
with a lunar cult at some point, but little evidence to suggest that she or her sisters were
moon-goddesses. On the whole, the pattern presented here suggests that Al'Latis
essentially a chthonic mother-goddess, a deity of the underworld also associated with
fidelity and covenants - a later form of Ereshkigal, who has retained many of her older
attributes, albeit in a slightly distorted form.

After Mecca and Medina, the third most holy site of Islam is surely the Dome of the
Rock on Temple Mount in Jerusalem. One reason for this is undoubtedly the influence
of Judaic and Christian monotheism upon Mohammed's early teachings [9]; but another
major reason for it is probably the fact that in the Dome of the Rock is the Eben
Shetiyyah, a flat, yellow-brown, asymmetrical rock believed by many Jews to be, as its
name implies, the 'Stone of Foundation', around which God built the world, and which
was used as the pedestal of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, as is well known, was a
symbol of the Hebrews' communal pact with God; it was also used as a weapon in the
destruction of Jericho, an event replete with sevens; and it contained the two stone
tablets engraved with the Law - which have been roundly equated with baetyls by a
number of Biblical scholars, and sometimes presumed to have been of meteoric origin.
Beneath the Eben Shetiyyah is a deep hollow known to Muslims as Bir-el-Arweh, the
Well of Souls. In Jewish lore, the Eben Shetiyyah rests upon and keeps in place the
waters of the Abyss (that is, abzu).

One Jewish tradition has it that David dug the foundations of the Temple at Jerusalem,
and discovered the Eben Shetiyyah during his excavations. When he tried to remove
the stone, the waters of the Abyss began to well up. This parallels the Islamic tradition
that has Mohammed casting down an idol that stood in the sacred complex at Mecca.
According to the tradition, this idol was blocking a well inside the Ka'bah, and the waters
began to flow from that moment. Supposedly, the idol represented a deity named Hubal,
which seems to be a version of the name of the goddess who was known elsewhere
as Kybele, and who was venerated in Phrygia in the form of a stone, a black aerolite
that was presented to Rome in 204 BCE by King Attalus [10]. Knowing that the Arabs
habitually worshipped stones as representations of their divinities, it seems probable
that the idol Hubal was a stone, perhaps of celestial provenance. Interestingly, the
goddess Na'ila - one of a veritable host of divinities venerated at the Meccan site -
supposedly appeared in the form of a black woman at the time Mohammed destroyed
the idols, and ran screaming from the sacred place.

References
1: Herodotus, trans. A.R Burn (2nd ed., Harmondsworth, 1972) The Histories, pp. 205-6.
2: A. Stone (1990), 'Robert Graves and the Triple Goddess: A Modern Myth', in Talking Stick 2.
3: N.J. Dawood, trans. (5th ed., Harmondsworth, 1990),The Koran, p. 1.
4: P. Masson-Oursel and Louise Morin, 'Mythology of Ancient Persia', in New Larousse
Encyclopedia of Mythology (2nd ed., London, 1968), p. 323.
5: Georges Roux (3rd ed., Harmondsworth, 1992), Ancient Iraq, p. 420.
6: Islamic oral tradition (al-Hadith: 'the Talk') has it that Mohammed's original revelation
endorsed the idea that the three were goddesses, but he later disowned this as a false teaching
inspired by Satan. See Mircea Eliade (Chicago, 1985), A History of Religious Ideas, vol. 3, p.
68.
7: Cyrus H. Gordon (1961), 'Canaanite Mythology', in S.N. Kramer (ed.), Mythologies of the
Ancient World, pp. 196-7.
8: Arthur Cotterell (London, 1979), A Dictionary of World Mythology, p. 24.
9: Jerusalem was chosen as the first qiblah or point of orientation for Islamic prayer, replaced by
Mecca following a new revelation in 624 CE. The Prophet also claimed that Abraham and
Ishmael had built the Ka'bah, which was thus a Temple more ancient than that of Jerusalem
(Koran, 2:122, 142, 144). The new qiblah and foundation-legend effectively constituted a
restructuring of Islamic cosmology, a formal break with the Judaic tradition that had influenced
Mohammed's monotheism, and a revision of the traditions of Arab paganism.
10: Franz Cumont (London, 1911), Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, pp. 46-7.

Originally published in Mercian Mysteries No.15 May 1993.

The Black Stone - the Omphalos of the Goddess
Bob Trubshaw

Long-suffering readers of Mercian Mysteries will know of my obsession with 'omphali' -

the sacred centres which each civilisation seems to create or adopt. Many of these
involve stones - the Lia F il (Stone of Destiny) at Tara or the various 'king stones' (such
as Kingston upon Thames) where medieval English kings were crowned. Our monarchs
still sit on, or at least above, the Stone of Scone for their coronation. But some of these
sacred stones have special interest - they are (or are said to be) black. Such Black
Stones also tend to have the legend that they have fallen from the stars. Clearly,
meteorites the size of these large boulders would explode into tiny fragments on impact,
and also leave a substantial crater. The literal truth is not important; rather the
symbolism of such stones being a link between this world and the heavens is an integral
aspect of the Cosmic Axis which is invoked by all sacred centres.

Perhaps the best-known Black Stone, and now by far the most revered, is the Ka'bah at
Mecca. Ka'bah means 'cube' and this describes the shape of the black stone structure
on a marble base which stands in the centre court of the Great Mosque, Masjidul
Haram, at the centre of Mecca. It stands about 50 feet high by about 35 feet wide. Set
into the eastern corner is the sacred stone, covered by an elaborately embroidered
black drape. As any non-moslem in the temple would be slain on sight, and
photography is generally prohibited, this stone is shrouded is mystery. However, Rufus
Camphausen has succeeded in tracking down three accounts of the pilgrimage to
Mecca, two of which do contain photographs [1-3]. What these reveal is a polished
black stone of which less than two feet is visible, set in a large, solid silver mount. The
whole resembles - quite deliberately, for reasons which will emerge - the vulva of the
goddess. That moslems now refer to it as the Hand of Allah does not diminish the urge
for all those who complete the pilgrimage to Mecca to touch or kiss this sacred object.

The Black Stone has long since been broken and the silver band holds together the
fragments. Tradition holds that it was a meteorite and the stone was white in colour
when it first landed and then blackened. The faithful attribute this change in colour to the
belief that the stone absorbs the sins of the pilgrims, but it is consistent with known
meteorites which are white at first but oxidise over a period of time.

'A principal sacred object in Arabian religion was the stone. . . . Such stones were
thought to be the residence of a god hence the term applied to them by Byzantine
Christian writers of the fifth and sixth centuries: 'baetyl', from bet'el, 'the house of god'.'
[4]

'In north Arabian temples the image of the deity sometimes stood in the open air or
could be sheltered in aqubbah, a vaulted niche. . . . Not to be confused with
thequbbah is the word ka'bah, for a cube-shaped walled structure which . . . served as a
shelter for the sacred stones.' [5]
Camphausen, in his article [6], reveals that the misogynic moslem religion has its origins
in goddess worship. Allah is a revamped version of the ancient goddess Al'Lat, and it
was her shrine which has continued - little changed - as the Ka'bah. The known history
of Mohammed reveals that he was born around 570 CE into a tribe of the Quraysh, who
not only worshipped the goddess Q're but were the sworn guardians of her shrine. By
622 Mohammed was preaching the ways of his god, Allah, and was driven out by his
own tribe as a result.

The triple goddess

Pre-islamic worship of the goddess seems to be primarily associated with Al'Lat, which simply
means 'goddess'. She is a triple goddess, similar to the Greek lunar deity Kore/Demeter/Hecate.
Each aspect of this trinity corresponds to a phase of the moon. In the same wayAl'Lat has three
names known to the initiate: Q're, the crescent moon or the maiden; Al'Uzza, literally 'the strong
one' who is the full moon and the mother aspect; thenAl'Menat, the waning but wise goddess of
fate, prophecy and divination. Islamic tradition continue to recognise these three but labels them
'daughters of Allah'.

According to Edward Rice [7] Al'Uzza was especially worshipped at the Ka'bah where
she was served by seven priestesses. Her worshippers circled the holy stone seven
times - once for each of the ancient seven planets - and did so in total nudity. Near
the Ka'bah is the ever-flowing well, Zamzam, which cools the throats of the countless
millions of pilgrims.

In an oasis of always-flowing water, the Black Stone in its mount became an unmatched
image of the goddess as giver of life. Only in the Indian continent do such physical
symbols for the male and female generative powers - thelingam and yoni - continue to
be worshipped with their original fervour.

It is easy to imagine that in pre-moslem times the goddess's temple at Mecca was pre-
eminent - whether to celebrate life, ask protection, pray for offspring. Legend tells how
Abraham, unable to produce children by his wife Sarah, came here to make love to his
slave Hagar. Later, when Hagar came back to give birth, she could find no water and
Abraham created the holy well of Zamzam to save the life of his first son.

When Mohammed wanted to surplant Al'Lut with Allah, this was the one Temple he
must conquer. Although Mohammed did conquer the Ka'bah, little else changed. The
faithful still circle the Holy of Holies seven times (although, I hasten to add, now fully
clothed). The priests of the sacred shrine are still known as Beni Shaybah or 'Sons of
the Old Woman' - Shaybah being, of course, the famous Queen Sheeba of Solomon's
times.

Sheeba appears under the guise of Lilith in the Near East and as Hagar ('the Egyptian')
in the Hebrew mythology of the Old Testament. So, rewriting the legend given above,
Abraham begot his son, Ishmael - the ancestor of all Arab peoples - by the goddess on
the Black Stone of theKa'bah.
While we are tracing names, Q're (or Qure), the maiden aspect of Al'Lut, seems certain
to be the origin of the Greek Kore. Camphausen suggests that the holy Koran (qur'an in
Arabic) is the 'Word of Qure'. Even moslems admit that the work existed before the time
of Mohammed. Legend said it was copied form a divine prototype that appeared in
heaven at the beginning of time, or the Mother of the Book [8]. Al'Uzza, the mother
aspect of Al'Lut, may give us the pre-dynastic Egyptian snake goddess Ua Zit, who
develops into Isis.

Archaeo-astronomy
Returning to the geomantic significance of the Ka'bah, Professor Hawkins has argued that it is
exceedingly accurately aligned on two heavenly phenomena. These are the cycles of the moon
and the rising of Canopus, the brightest star after Sirius. In a thirteenth-century Arabic
manuscript by Mohammed ibn Abi Bakr Al Farisi it is stated that the alignment is set up for the
setting crescent moon - an ancient symbol of the virgin-goddess which still appears in the
national flags of many islamic nations. In some flags - Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia and Turkey -
the crescent is accompanied by a star, perhaps representing Canopus.

The Egyptian city known as Canopus seems also have been a goddess temple, as the
Greek historian Strabo (63BCE-21CE) considered the place to be notorious for wild
sexual activities. Such references typically refer to temples where sacred 'prostitution' or
ritual promiscuity were part of the worship; invariably sacred objects depicting the
genitals of either god and/or goddess were venerated. Such sacred promiscuity
continued to be part of the Pilgrimage to Mecca, at least for some moslems. The Shi'ites
from Persia were allowed to form temporary 'marriages' for the period of the pilgrimage.
Any children born as a result were regarded as divine or as saints - a custom with
worldwide parallels (English surnames such as Goodman, Jackson or Robinson
perhaps derive from similar sacred unions with god in the form of Green Men characters
such as Jack o'the Green or Robin Greenwood; I would also suggest that the original
sense of 'godparent' and 'godchild' has similar origins.)
Aniconic black stone once venerated at the Temple of Aphrodite, near Paphos,
Cyprus. From photograph by Bob Trubshaw.

More Black Stones

Deities of other cultures known to have been associated with stones include Aphrodite at
Paphos, Cybele at Pessinus and later Rome, Astarte at Byblos and the famous Artemis/Diana
of Ephesus. The latter's most ancient sculpture was, it is said, carved from a black meteorite.

The earliest form of Cybele's name may have been Kubaba or Kumbaba which
suggests Humbaba, who was the guardian of the forest in the Epic of Gilgamesh (the
world's oldest recorded myth from Assyria of c.2500BCE and, as scholars reveal more
of the text, increasingly the source of most of the major mythological themes of later
civilisations [9]) [10]. The origin of Kubaba may have been kube orkuba meaning (guess
what) - 'cube'. The earliest reference we have to a goddess worshipped as a cube-
shaped stone is from neolithic Anatolia [11]. Alternatively, 'Kubaba' may mean a hollow
vessel or cave - which would still be a supreme image of the goddess. The ideograms
for Kubaba in the Hittite alphabet are a lozenge or cube, a double-headed axe, a dove,
a vase and a door or gate - all images of the goddess in neolithic Europe.

The stone associated with Cybele's worship was, originally, probably at Pessinus but
perhaps at Pergamum or on Mount Ida. What is certain is that in 204 BCE it was taken
to Rome, where Cybele became 'Mother' to the Romans. The ecstatic rites of her
worship were alien to the Roman temperament, but nevertheless animated the streets
of their city during the annual procession of the goddess's statue. Alongside Isis, Cybele
retained prominence in the heart of the Empire until the fifth century CE; the stone was
then lost. Her cult prospered throughout the Empire and it is said that every town or
village remained true to the worship of Cybele [12].

The home of Aphrodite was at Paphos on Cyprus. Various Classical writers describe
the rituals which went on her in her honour - these seem to include the practice which is
now known by the disdainful term of 'sacred prostitution'. In any event, the tapering
black stone which was the object of verneration at this Temple still survives, even if it
now placed inside the site musuem [13].

Also on Cyprus is another highly venerated islamic site - the third most important after
Mecca and Medina - the Hala Sultan Tekke. This, too, has a black rock, said to have
fallen as a meteorite as part of the tritholon over the shrine. The shrine is to a woman -
the aunt and foster mother of Prophet Mohammed [14]. Could this, like Mecca, have
been originally a goddess shrine? Unfortunately no other clues are forthcoming.

Another site stated to have a Black Stone was at Petra, but I have been unable to
discover where this was or who was worshipped there - could any readers who know
please write in!

To add a little local flavour, numerous standing stones in the British Isles are reputed to
have fallen from the stars. The now-lost Star Stone marked the meeting of
Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire; an also-vanished stone at Grimston,
Leicestershire, was also said to have such an origin. However, whether or not such
stones were ever associated with goddess worship we will never know.

It would take far too long to discuss to what extent the cult of the goddess's Black Stone
may have been perpetrated as Solomon's bride in the Song of Songs, who is 'black but
beautiful' or to come to terms with the black images of Demeter, Artemis and Isis who
have their direct continuation in the Black Virgins of Europe - patrons of the
troubadours, the gnostics and the alchemists, as well as the present Pope. Those who
wish to follow such ideas would do well to read The myth of the goddess [15] which, in a
sober but inspirational manner, re-evaluates how the feminine deity has remained with
us throughout history.

Further information on these topics appears in a follow-up article by Alby

Stone Goddess of the Black Stone.

References
[1] Richard Burton, A personal narrative of a pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah, London
1856.
[2] Hussein Yoshio Hirashima, The road to holy Mecca, Kodansha (Japan), 1972.
[3] Anon., Pilgrimage to Mecca, Sud-Editions (Tunis) 1978 and East-West Publications (London)
1980.
[4] Encyclopedia Brittanica.
[5] ibid.
[6] Rufus C. Camphausen, 'The Ka'bah at Mecca', Bres(Holland) No.139, 1989. My thanks to
Rufus for bringing this article to my attention; this article of mine is in large part a synopsis of his
longer work. See also 'From behind a veil', Flora Green, in The cauldron No.61 (reprinted
fromThe Merrymount messenger Winter 1991).
[7] E. Rice, Easter definitions, Doubleday, 1978 (cited in Camphausen).
[8] Barbara G. Walker, The crone, Harper & Row, 1985 (cited in Camphausen).
[9] See Robert Temple's recent translation He who saw everything, Rider, 1991.
[10] Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, The myth of the goddess, Penguin, 1991.
[11] Maarten J. Vermaseren, Cybele and Attis, trans. A.M.H. Lemmers, Thames and Hudson,
1977 (cited in Baring and Cashford, op. cit.).
[12] ibid.
[13] 'Aphrodite's island', Penny Drayton, Wood & water, Vol.2, No.41, Jan 1993.
[14] ibid.
[15] Baring and Cashford, op. cit.

Originally published in Mercian Mysteries No.14 February 1993.

On a return trip from an archaeological dig in Saudi I visited Petra. This was in 1982. By
chance on a hike noticed a small white mosque on hill or mountain top. Investigated to
find what was Aaron's mosque with his tomb allegedly below. A Bedouin guard dressed
arabic dress with a bandellero, gun and dagger let us in to a small room (after a small
donation) with a couple of tapestries some candles and a little furniture. There was also
a black rock set into a wall covered by a green cloth. This rock was about a foot oblong
black and looked like obsidian, having some depth to its appearance. As it was set into
the wall I don't know the thickness. He would not let us down the stairs into the actual
tomb. The gentleman said in what we could communicate with limited language skills
that it was a shard from the stone of Mecca – one of two (the other being somewhere in
the east?). Don't know if that is true.

Billy Dickinson April 2010