CD....
Other scholars also shares a similar view. This of
course explain why rabbi Saadia Gaon has mentioned Mecca
and Medina in Genesis 10:30. This is not only his
paraphrase concluded from the context as some might
think, because if you go to the Hebrew text you will
notice there such word as
באכה (baka)
which was translated as “as thou goest” !
ויהי מושׁבם ממשׁא באכה ספרה
הר הקדם
On that occasion it must be stressed that the Hebrew
משׁא (Mesha),
that preceds
באכה,
does not stand here for Mecca as some of you would
suppose. Lexicons says that this word is of foreign
derivation, and there is no consensus as to whether it
refers to a place somewhere in Arabia, or to a region,
or to a north Arabian tribe. In any case, we have to
concentrate on
באכה (bakah),
and it would be quite preferable to remember this word
in its exact Hebrew form for the next portion of
information’s.
The second proof which Allah Almighty let me to discover
comes from a rare book called
The
Asatir: The Samaritan Book of the Secrets of Moses which
was translated and published by Dr. Moses Gaster in
1927. This ancient document according to Dr. Moses is
much older than Josephus or the Palestinian Targum, and
after comparing it with the other manuscripts assumes
that this book could not have been compiled later than
between
250-200
B.C. In Chapter VIII of this book we read:
No comment… you have a crystal clear proof! But let’s
read what Dr. Moses have said in his commentary to the
last fragment “Built Mecca” of the verse 3:
Reference: The
Asatir: The Samaritan Book of the Secrets of Moses,
together with the Pitron or Samaritan commentary and the
Samaritan story of the death of Moses,
introduction, translation and notes by M. Gaster, Ph.D.
(London: The Royal Asiatic Society, 1927), p. 262.
Notice the same word
באכה (Baka)
which can be found in the Hebrew text of Genesis 10:30 !
Mecca was mentioned among others biblical places, and so
in the first and oldest book of the Torah. On the other
hand, Ptolemy’s Makoraba - or most probably Makkorabba
as some scholars suggested – is also an intriguing
issue, and it seems that this word consist of two
separable segments, namely:
1. Makko = Mekka = Bakka
2. Rabba = from rabb which means in arabic "The Lord"
Based on this, it can be translated literally as “Mekka
of the Lord” or “the Lord of Mekka”. Such interpretation
is reinforced by discovering an inscription which was
engraved in one of the corners of the foundation of the
Kaaba during its renovation in 605 A.D. by the people of
Quraysh. The mysterious writing was composed in Syriac
as relates Ibn Ishaq, and they could not understand it
until some Jew read it for them. The text goes as
follows:
“I
am Allah, the
Lord of Bakka, I created it on the day
that I created heaven and earth and formed the sun and
moon, and I surrounded it with seven pious angels. It
will stand while its two mountains stand, a blessing to
its people with milk and water.” [Ibn
Ishaq,
Sirat
Rasul Allah, trans. A. Guillaume, (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 2004), pp. 85-86.]
Ibn Ishaq immediately after citing this amazing
inscription have said:
“I
was told that they found in the maqam a
writing: ‘Mecca is
God’s holy house…”
I believe this is the answer, because if Ptolemy by
saying Makorabba has in mind a temple rather than a city
it would make sense in relation to what we have just
read, i.e. that Mecca according to the writing on
maqam was
called a “holy house of God”, and in result this
perfectly fits the conception about Ptolemy’s Makkorabba
as “The Lord of Mekka”. Some scholars also have proposed
the translation “The Temple of the Lord” which again
leads to the same point.
Anyway, in conclusion we have at least two strong proofs
directly from an ancient source showing that Mecca is a
historical location and indeed existed long before
Christian era, and as it is testified by ancient
versions of Torah. The Christians of course will try to
deny their authority as usually.
Take care, and salam
Ahmed (Poland, Warsaw)
