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So let us try a variant, 1’.  There was no attempt to orientate the oldest mosques towards Mecca, because they did not have the ability to do so.  Which raises the question, what were they trying to do?
So let us try a variant, 1’.  There was no attempt to orientate the oldest mosques towards Mecca, because they did not have the ability to do so.  Which raises the question, what were they trying to do?


As a first approximation, hypotheses 2 and 3 can be taken as equivalent. But what would be the point of such a convention?  It might be thought that what would be achieved is that worshippers would be facing in the same direction as those at Mecca.  But there are two problems with this idea.  It is a considerable stretch to interpret ‘facing’ as ‘facing in the same direction’, however ‘direction’ may be interpreted.  More seriously, worshippers at Mecca can be facing in any direction, depending which side of the Kaaba they are on.
As a first approximation, hypotheses 2 and 3 can be taken as equivalent. But what would be the point of such a convention?  It might be thought that what would be achieved is that worshippers would be facing in the same direction as those at Mecca.  But there are two problems with this idea.  It is a considerable stretch to interpret ‘facing’ as 'facing in the same direction as you would if you were at the Ka’bah’, however ‘direction’ may be interpreted.  More seriously, worshippers at Mecca can be facing in any direction, depending which side of the Kaaba they are on.


Which suggests hypothesis 4 - The oldest mosques were orientated so the prayer direction was the same as that at Mecca or Petra.  This is consistent with Gibson’s data on ‘parallel’ mosques.  Towards the end of the seventh century the prayer direction of  mosques he describes as ‘Western Umayyad’ became parallel to a line between Petra and Mecca.  This does not however solve the problem about the earliest mosques, or tell us whether the target was Mecca or Petra.
Which suggests hypothesis 4 - The oldest mosques were orientated so the prayer direction was the same as that at Mecca or Petra.  This is consistent with Gibson’s data on ‘parallel’ mosques.  Towards the end of the seventh century the prayer direction of  mosques he describes as ‘Western Umayyad’ became parallel to a line between Petra and Mecca.  This does not however solve the problem about the earliest mosques, or tell us whether the target was Mecca or Petra.
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Another possible line of criticism is to question whether Gibson has correctly identified the prayer wall on the buildings he has included in his survey, not all of which are obviously mosques, and in any case early mosques did not have a mihrab to identify the prayer wall.  However, Gibson does take care to justify his identification of prayer walls, so unless further data is obtained on site, there is no reason to question his judgement.
Another possible line of criticism is to question whether Gibson has correctly identified the prayer wall on the buildings he has included in his survey, not all of which are obviously mosques, and in any case early mosques did not have a mihrab to identify the prayer wall.  However, Gibson does take care to justify his identification of prayer walls, so unless further data is obtained on site, there is no reason to question his judgement.


If the early mosque builders were not trying to face Mecca, what were they trying to do?  The accepted interpretation of the Quran is that Muslims must face it when praying, so it is generally assumed that mosques are built to indicate the required direction.  It is an implication of King’s theory that some early builders interpreted the word translated as ‘face’ to mean ‘facing in the same direction as you would if you were at the Ka’bah’.  Which is a bit of a stretch.  It is possible that at certain times and places the builders had no way of determining the direction of the Ka’bah, so they did the best they could by giving their mosques the same orientation to the fixed stars. But it is impossible to test this hypothesis without an explanation of what they understood by orientation, and how they thought it could be measured.
It is also relevant to point out that modern Muslims have no doubt about how to interpret the order to face the Ka’bah.  (And have accepted the need to abandon [[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth#Direct%20references%20to%20a%20flat%20Earth%20in%20the%20Qur'an|the flat Earth geography of the Quran]], and come to terms with the complications of spherical geometry<ref><nowiki>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qibla</nowiki> ‘Calculations with spherical trigonometry’ and ‘North America’.</ref>.) Why should early Muslims have interpreted the Quran any differently?  
 
It is also relevant to point out that modern Muslims have no doubt about how to interpret the order to face the Ka’bah.  (And have accepted the need to abandon [[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth#Direct%20references%20to%20a%20flat%20Earth%20in%20the%20Qur'an|the flat Earth geography of the Quran]], and come to terms with the complications of spherical geometry<ref><nowiki>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qibla</nowiki> ‘Calculations with spherical trigonometry’ and ‘North America’.</ref>.) Why should early Muslims have interpreted the Quran any differently?


'''A note on terminology'''
'''A note on terminology'''
Fernando
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