What do you know about the main symbol of the Muslim faith? This is the famous Kaaba structure located in Mecca. According to legend, the Kaaba was built by Adam expelled from paradise.
Researchers believe that over the entire existence of this ancient artifact, the Kaaba was rebuilt several times. At the moment she is in marble, decorated with gold and silk.
Of greatest interest is the famous Black Stone of the Kaaba - a mineral attached to the Kaaba with silver nails. It is located at a height of just over 1.5 meters.
He can be seen and allowed to touch. But scientists are not allowed near the stone - any research on the mineral is strictly prohibited.
That is why there is so little scientific information about the Black Stone. But there is an assumption that this stone belongs to agates. And some researchers believe that it can generally be a piece of ordinary basalt, which is abundant in local rocks.
If you believe the legends, then in the distant past a white glow emanated from the stone, after which it turned black, absorbing all human sins. But there is another version, according to which the stone was watered with oil many times during the rituals of anointing.
Perhaps the blackness of the Kaaba stone is the blackness of carbon. One of the interesting theories regarding this stone was put forward at the end of the last century by a researcher from Copenhagen, Elizabeth Thompson.
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If you believe the legends, then this stone was sent to mankind by Heaven itself - therefore it cannot drown in water. Thompson believed that the nature of the stone may be meteoric. And, most likely, it has a porous structure - how else can you explain its unsinkability?
According to Thompson, the Black Stone could have formed from a mixture of terrestrial rocks and meteorite material. And they mixed at the moment of the impact of the meteorite on our planet.
But where did the famous Black Stone come from? About 1000 kilometers from Mecca, there is the impact crater Wabar. Thompson believed that the stone was brought from there. But when did the meteorite collide with our planet?
Researchers still cannot answer this question. According to one of the versions, the meteorite could collide with the Earth about 2-4 thousand years BC. But there are other versions, according to which the meteorite could fall on the planet much later - up to several centuries ago.
As for the information in religious sources, the tradition of worshiping the Black Stone dates back to pre-Islamic times. It is believed that for hundreds of years this stone may have belonged to the Quraysh tribe.
And during the time of the Prophet Muhammad, a fierce struggle was waged against any idolatry. But why this stone was not destroyed (after all, it was, in fact, an idol) is a mystery.
And Islam itself completely excludes any spiritualization of the Black Stone. For this religion, the stone is of great value only because the prophet Muhammad himself touched it. In addition, this stone is a symbol of paradise, which the exiled Adam left for himself.
It turns out that the worship of the Black Stone is worship of the Prophet Muhammad, and the stone itself does not in any way affect life - it does not worsen or improve it.
What they did not do with this ancient artifact - it was stolen many times, ransomed, smashed into pieces and tried to make it the subject of a magical cult.
But at the moment the stone is in Mecca. There are much more fabulous versions of the origin of the stone. According to one of them, this stone is a conglomerate of fossilized angels who guarded the Kaaba and Mecca in ancient times.