The orientation of the Kaʿba to Jerusalem: two sanctuaries. An older love affair?

Abstract

The primary question of this research thesis stems from one apparently undocumented observation; that the current building of the Kaʿba in Mecca, appears to be physically orientated towards Jerusalem. This deduction is based on the location of the Ḥaṭīm, a low semi-circular wall on the north-west side of the building, which is the demarcation of the original Abrahamic structure and the resting place of Ismāʿīl and his mother Hājar. The question that arises from this is whether there is any historical evidence for this format, relating back to the earlier structures of 7th century Mecca and before. The only other sacred buildings in Late Antiquity that are consistently orientated towards Jerusalem are Hebrew sanctuaries and synagogues. The secondary question is why there were paintings of Abraham, Jesus, and Mary in the Kaʿba at the time of its cleansing from idols by Muḥammad in 630 C.E. These questions led my research into the Jewish messianic tradition of the Messiah ben Joseph typology in Hebrew texts, sacred art and architecture; its presence in the Hebrew gospels of the Nazoraeans; and in the alleged Jewish restitution of sacrifices in the Temple in 614 C.E. by the Ephraimite messianic figure, Neḥemiah ben Ḥushiel at the time of the Persian occupation of Jerusalem. The deduction within the thesis is that, following Persian acquiescence to the Byzantines in 619 C.E., a return to Jerusalem became impossible and for some believers the orientation of prayer turned to the closer “House of Abraham”, the Kaʿba in Mecca. The conclusion of the thesis suggests that at a time in Late Antiquity, the Kaʿba had been a “House of Abraham”, within the Hebrew messianic tradition of the Ephraimite Messiah maintained by the Jewish Nazoraean movement.