The Kaaba and the Black Stone of Mecca

Photoraph of the Courtyard of the Great Mosque in Mecca, the Kaaba to the Right

Measuring about 12 inches in diameter, this sacred stone if probably a meteorite, though no scientific tests have ever been done on it. When they walk around the Kaaba, Muslim pilgrims often try to reach out and touch or kiss the Black Stone. Today it is worn and cracked from centuries of pilgrimages and is only held together by a wide silver band. Muslims insist that the Black Stone is not an idol: prayers are directed to God alone.