TRADITIONAL TOMB OF MOTHER OF HUMAN RACE.
MOHAMMEDANS ITS CUSTODIANS.
It is in Arabia, and Bedouins Are the Most Regular Visitors to the Mosque Above It.
The tomb of Eve, the mother of the human race, is located, according to tradition, not far from the burial place of Mohammed, on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea.
Every year, as the sacred season of the Hejaz comes around, hundreds of thousands of devout Mohammedans disembark at the little harbor of Jiddah intent on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Journeying with these, a correspondent of the New York Herald made the trip across the Red Sea from Suakim to the shrine venerated by Christian and Islamite alike—the legendary tomb of the first woman. He writes of it as follows:
The country presents a very sterile appearance, there being but little vegetation. A few date palms are dotted about, and away to the west, in the direction of Mecca, groups of stunted acacia-trees render the prospect less barren. The approach to the tomb is up a sandy slope, rising about two hundred feet above the town.
The grave itself is one hundred and sixty feet long and five feet wide, and is surrounded by a stone wall four feet high, covered with chunam. In the center of it rises a small dome-crowned mosque, wherein pilgrims assemble to say their prayers. The mosque is in charge of some dervishes, who have plenty to do in keeping it clear of the crowds of beggars who assemble and clamor for backsheesh.
Inside the mosque is perfectly plain, except that in the center is erected an altar. This stands about three feet high, and is covered with curtains. The curtains being drawn aside, disclose a black stone let into the floor.
This stone is supposed to lie directly over the tomb of Eve, and is polished like marble by the kisses of the faithful. It is by no means permitted to every pilgrim to place his lips on this sacred spot, but by a liberal amount of backsheesh and the presence of the consular kavasses I was permitted the honor, and, accordingly, the curtain was drawn, and on hands and knees I paid homage to our legendary mother.
The stone which is treated with so much honor is a very curious one, evidently meteoric, and is supposed, like the Kaaba at Mecca, to have been specially sent down from heaven for its present use.
I had a long chat with the chief custodian of the tomb, who told me that the office had been in the family for generations. He said that the most regular visitors to the shrine are the Bedouins, who, in their yearly wanderings through the Arabian desert, rarely fail to visit Eve’s tomb. I asked him if there was any legend as to why Eve was supposed to be buried there, but he knew none, and asked:
“Where else would she be buried except on this sacred soil?”
It is certainly curious that legendary lore should select spots so distant from each other for the graves of our first parents. While Eve rests on the shores of the Red Sea, Adam is popularly supposed to lie buried under the forest-clad slopes of Adam’s Peak, in Ceylon.
On my way back to Jiddah I asked my companions if they supposed the grave represented the stature of Eve, and they said, “Surely.”