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Black Stone: Difference between revisions
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Beyond the assertions of the Saudi government, the continued existence of the original Black Stone, its origins, and the historicity of whatever is currently contained in the silver protrusion on the side of the Ka'bah have not been independently verified.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Meteorite/oiTNCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Wabar+meteorite+craters+black+stone&pg=PT68&printsec=frontcover|title=Meteorite: Nature and Culture|publisher=Reaktion Books|year=2015|author=Maria Golia|isbn=978-1780235479}}</ref> Nonetheless, the Natural Museum of History in the United Kingdom has suggested the stone is likely a pseudometeorite, or a terrestrial rock mistaken for a meteorite, that was first sacralized by the pagan Arabs.<ref>{{Citation|author1=Monica M. Grady|author2=A.L. Graham|title=Catalogue of meteorites: with special reference to those represented in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000|page=263|isbn=978-0-521-66303-8}}</ref> There is likewise no historical evidence to suggest Ibrahim and Isma'il were responsible for the construction of the Ka'bah or, therefore, the original placement of the Black Stone. | Beyond the assertions of the Saudi government, the continued existence of the original Black Stone, its origins, and the historicity of whatever is currently contained in the silver protrusion on the side of the Ka'bah have not been independently verified.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Meteorite/oiTNCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Wabar+meteorite+craters+black+stone&pg=PT68&printsec=frontcover|title=Meteorite: Nature and Culture|publisher=Reaktion Books|year=2015|author=Maria Golia|isbn=978-1780235479}}</ref> Nonetheless, the Natural Museum of History in the United Kingdom has suggested the stone is likely a pseudometeorite, or a terrestrial rock mistaken for a meteorite, that was first sacralized by the pagan Arabs.<ref>{{Citation|author1=Monica M. Grady|author2=A.L. Graham|title=Catalogue of meteorites: with special reference to those represented in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000|page=263|isbn=978-0-521-66303-8}}</ref> There is likewise no historical evidence to suggest Ibrahim and Isma'il were responsible for the construction of the Ka'bah or, therefore, the original placement of the Black Stone. | ||
==Baetyl== | ==Baetyl== | ||
Most historians consider the Black Stone to be an Arabian baetyl from pre-Islamic times. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines "baetyl" as "In Greek religion, a sacred stone or pillar. The word baetylus is of Semitic origin (-bethel). Numerous holy, or fetish, stones existed in antiquity, generally attached to the cult of some particular god and looked upon as his abiding place or symbol.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/48659/baetylus Baetylus] | |||
Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009</ref> | |||
===Pre-Islamic Arabia=== | ===Pre-Islamic Arabia=== | ||