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Spiritual Symbol of Ka'ba

Spiritual symbol of Ka'ba – its legacies and denominations in pagan Temple cultures

Author: Dr. P.R.Palodhi

By: Dr. P. R. Palodhi 

A. THE SACRED STONE IN KA'BA – A SPIRITUAL SYMBOL

As regard origin of temple cultures, the Prophetic tradition of Islamic holds that: the Sacred Stone fell from Heaven to show humanity's first Prophet Adam where to build an altar, which became the first Temple on earth. The sacred Stone is only a marker and not for idolatry of stone worship. And since Adam's time the temple culture became customary to the Prophetic religions. Adam's altar and the stone were said to have been lost during Noah's Flood and forgotten. According to a chronicler, the Stone was identified by its unique ability to float in water. Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) was said to have later found the Black Stone at the original site of Adam's altar when the Angel Jibrail revealed it to him. Prophet Ibrahim ordered his son Ishmael to build a new temple, the Ka'ba, in which to embed the Stone [1]. The Semitic cultures of the Middle East had a tradition of using unusual stones to mark places of worship, a phenomenon which is reflected in the Hebrew Bible as well as the Qur'an [2]. As such, scholars have compared its functional similarities to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Heribert Busse [3] pointed about main similarities between the Jewish temple and the Ka'ba. First, the temple and the Ka'ba have a common foundation in Semitic religion. Second, after the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, two successors arose: the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Muslim Haram al-Sharif (which occupies the site previously occupied by the temple). Busse also mentions (p. 237): "Jewish traditions concerning the Temple were transferred to the Haram al-Sharif - part of them came directly from the Temple, part of them via the Church of the Holy Sepulchre." Islamic tradition initially associated the primordial hillock with Jerusalem [4]. However, the site of the primordial hillock was transferred to Mecca when the Jewish tribes of Medina rejected Prophet Muhammad, and the qibla (direction of prayer) was changed from Jerusalem to Mecca. Thus from a common Semitic origin of temple and the Ka'ba the Great Mosque stands today as the holy center of Islam. Even in pre-Islamic times the Ka'ba was a sacred site and was considered to be ‘the sacred House of Allah.' But Ka'ba has been filled with pagan idols many times by the rule of pagan Arabs. With the rise of Islam, again sanctity of Ka'ba was restored when Prophet Muhammad cleansed it of the pagan idols (with the exception of the images of Jesus and Mary). Since that time the Ka'ba has played a central role in the religious life of Muslims around the world.

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Ever since the Prophet Muhammad received God's command, "From whatsoever place thou issuest, turn thy face towards the Holy Mosque" (Q, 2:144), Muslims believed that the small shrine located near the center of the Great mosque in Mecca is the most sacred place on earth. Built in to the eastern wall of the Ka'ba there is the Black Stone of Mecca (al-Hazar al- Aswad). The Ka'ba marked the location where the sacred world intersected with the profane, and the embedded Black Stone was a further symbol of this as an object that linked heaven and earth [5]. The creation began by stretching out the earth around this center. "The first land to appear upon the face of the water was Mecca. Then God unfolded the earth out from under it" [6]. In final Revelation, the ‘Symbol of Ka'ba' is equally significant as the ‘Name of God'. Qur'an refers to Mecca as the "Mother of Cities" (Q, 42:7) and Muslims view Mecca and its Ka'ba as the center of the world, with all things radiating from them [7]. Now facing the Black Stone pilgrims make seven   rounds starting from right, anti-clock wise – in which sun rotates, planets rotate, and all of them in turn revolve around the center of our galaxy, and the disk like whole Galaxy with its spiral arms rotates in this anti-clock direction. Untold millions from all continents have prostrated themselves five times a day toward this magnetic center. During Hajj, before entering the Mosque pilgrims must throw stones to Satan - because without awareness of the evil, one should not approach the Holiness of the God. Proper realization of the Light comes not before knowing the darkness. In esoteric sense the Ka'ba is identified with the heart of the seeker. While construction of the Mosque, Prophet Muhammad kissed the Stone and stood upon it. The sacred Stone is not the idol, it is only a marker and Ka'ba is the focal point for direction of the prayer. ‘Abis bin Rabia narrated that: Umar came near the Black Stone and kissed it and said, "No doubt, I know that you are a stone and can neither benefit anyone nor harm anyone. Had I not seen God's Apostle kissing you, I would not have kissed you." (al-Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismail. Sahih al-Bukhari. Volume 2, Book 26, Number 667).    

Tradition maintains that the stone was originally pure and dazzling white, but has turned black because of the sins of the people. The Stone has suffered desecrations and damage; the Ka'ba has been destroyed and subsequently rebuilt several times over the centuries. It is said to have been struck and smashed to pieces by a stone fired from a catapult during the Umayyad siege of Mecca in 756. The fragments were rejoined by 'Abd Allah ibn Zubayr using a silver ligament [8]. In January 930 it was stolen by the Qarmatians, who carried the Black Stone away to their base in Hajar (modern Bahrain). After 21 years the Stone was recovered in 951 AD. The Black Stone consists of a number of fragments held together by a silver frame, which is fastened by silver nails to the Stone [9]. Some of the smaller fragments have been cemented together to form the seven or eight fragments visible today. The Stone's exposed face measures about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) by 16 centimetres (6.3 in). Its original size is unclear; its recorded dimensions have changed considerably over time, as the Stone has been remodeled. In the 10 th century, an observer described it as being one cubit (slightly over 2 feet (0.61 m) long). By the early 17 th century, it was recorded as measuring 1.5 yards (1.4 m) by 1.33 yards (1.22 m). According to Ali Bey in the 18 th century, it was 42 inches (110 cm) high; Muhammad Ali reported it as being 2.5 feet (0.76 m) long by 1.5 feet (0.46 m) wide [10].

B. LEGACIES OF KA'BA PREVAILED IN WORLD RELIGIONS:  

History reveals that since remote antiquity legacies of Ka'ba and the sacred religious Stone of Prophet Adam have prevailed in world religions. Based upon the idea of Ka'ba various pagan denominations could be noticed in religions around the world.   

Ancient Egyptian Religion: From hieroglyphic engravings of 6 th dynasty (24 th century BC) inside pyramids of Men-ne-Re and Pepi II (Nefer-ka-Re) - the Egyptologists have inferred Ka as ‘alter ego' or ‘guardian spirit'. Ka with Ba and Akh, written by a hieroglyph of ‘uplifted arms' or ‘sheltering arms', it seems originally to have designated the protecting the divine spirit of a person, and later the personified sum of individuality. We do not know what it originally meant to the more ancient Egyptians before pharaohs, but pagan pharaohs of Egypt believed that KA survive the death of body and could reside in a picture or statue of a person. The exact significance of Ka remains a matter of controversy, chiefly for lack of an Egyptian definition. KHAYBET in Egyptian mythology is a manifestation of KA. 

Ancient Mesopotamian Religion: Origin of Ka remained unknown. In later inscriptions Ka is personified as mistress of Magic, one of the guardians of balance between Good and Evil. In their mythology Ka was depicted as daughter of Mesopotamian goddess Thammut. 

Pre-Vedic Indus Valley Religion: From theological investigations (on the names of the places and prevailing legends and philology) and genetic research it is now becoming clear that Prophet Abraham's east bound descendants have lived around the Indus region. In this connection Siva of   Hinduism demands attention because of his legendary connection with religious symbol of Sacred Stone. This was unacceptable to early Vedics who used to ridicule pre-Vedic Saivites as worshippers of Sisna (penis) which is a purposive word bereft of any spiritualism. But when Vedic religion failed to cope with Siva's popularity - they turned to absorb Siva's image by giving rise to various pagan myths of Phallic and Linga-yoni worship. In the Pre Vedic Indus Valley Inscriptions and in the Vaisali Inscriptions Ka and Linga were co-related; during the period of Indus civilization Ka and Linga were different in the field of worship, but in the language they were jointly producing one phonetic value. G.R. Hunter analyzed the Indus Inscriptions ‘Ka' as a bi-syllabic word ak-ka (perhaps pronounced as single consonant) and he posited that the whole ideographic presentation means a servant to God or Hero.

Strange legend about ‘KA' in Kashmir: In Bijbihara, south of Srinagar, a place on the riverbank is still referred to as ‘Moses' bath-place', where there is a magic stone called Ka- Ka- Bal or Sang-i–Musa (stone of Moses). According to legend, the stone, about 70 kilograms in weight, is supposed to rise by itself and remained suspended at about one meter off the ground if eleven people touch it with one finger while correctly chanting the magic spell ‘Ka-Ka, Ka-Ka'. Researcher Andrew Thomas reported that levitation in India is still performed to this day using chanting. In the village of Shivapur, near Poona, is a little mosque dedicated to the Sufi holy man Qamar Ali Dervish. Outside in the courtyard of the mosque is a stone weighing 138 pounds, and during daily prayer, eleven devotees surround the stone, repeating the holy man's name. When they read a certain pitch, the 11 men are able to lift the stone by using one finger each. As soon as the chanting stops, the devotees jump back, for the stone resumes its weight and falls to the ground with a heavy thud. 

Vedic and Avestan religions: In Vedic reckoning Ka appears as unknown divinity. In Rig-Vedawe come across Ka in book 10:121. "Kasmai devaya havisa vidhema"(R.V; 10:121:1). The meaning of the hymn is: "whom do I invoke giving up Hiranyagarbha?" (Also in RV 1:164:18). Max Muller and Dowson identify Ka with Prajapati, Brahmana, Dokhsa, and Kasyapa in the sense of Lord of all creatures. In the Amarakosa (3.3.5) Ka means Marut, Brahma and Surya. In the Purnacandra Bhasakosa Ka stands for twenty-four gods – Brahma, Surya, Vishnu, Siva etc. In the Saiva Purana (of the Vedic heritage) the Jyoti and the Sun means Ka. 

In contrast to polytheistic Veda, its contemporary Prophetic Gatha of Zoroaster conveys a different sense; here KA signifies "WHAT" but in a different religious sense. In Gatha VII, Yasna 34-5: The Prophet Zoroaster prays to the Supreme God Ahura Mazda, "What (KA) is your power, What (KA) is your desire? I obey Your instructions. I shall always remain completely righteous and pure mind to protect those self-restrained people who follow Your path according to Your wish and according to Your instructions. First we will obey You and do Your work and thereby acquire full strength and then we will describe Your strength and Your message to the Devas and to the loathsome Masakyas who go along the evil path"

Chinese Religion: KO-WU (investigation of things), Neo-Confucian practice which stressed study of things, persons and events in the world in order to arrive at an understanding of the inner "principle" (Li) of reality.  It is connected with the gradual awareness of Li. KO TAO is the Chinese custom of kneeling and touching the ground with forehead as obeisance.

Japanese Religion: KAMI – the object of worship in Shinto and other indigenous religions of Japan, often translated as God, Lord, or Deity, but also including other forces of nature which become object of reverence are worshipped in their manifestations in a symbolic objects (viz., mirror). Kamidana is Japanese God-shelf. The Grand Shrine of ISE represents a universal Kami. Stones and rocks in Japan were initially seen as symbols of mononoke (supernatural forces which permeate matter and space). Later, an abstract, undifferentiated mononoke was replaced by more definite animistic deities who resided in the stones and rocks. These rock abodes are called iwakura. All over the precinct of the shrine at Ise are rocks and stones which are venerated as the abodes of deities, such as the subsidiary shrine at the Naiku called Takimatsuri-no-kami. Elsewhere in Japan are many stones and stone arrangements representing the male and female principle, such as the stone circle at Oyu in Akita Prefecture in north-eastern Japan. The emotional attachment to natural stones, originally religion-inspired, has persisted in Japan and is manifest today in the creation of richly symbolic and spiritual stone gardens. 

Mexico and Mayan religion: KAAN in Mexican religion stands for heaven and KABIL is the Mayan deity whose name signifies He-of- the-lucky-hand.

Finno-Ugric religion: KABA (KAVA) is the Finno-Ugric spirit of fate or providence.

Hopi Indians: KIVA is the sacred circular ceremonial room of the Hopi Indians devoted to secret rites; it is built beneath Pueblo dwelling. 

Slavic religion: KAMEN is the Slavonic word for stone, a sun emblem or image which they believed to yield great KA. 

 

C. HOW TEMPLE CULTURES FLOURISH IN PAGAN TRADITIONS? 

As compared to spiritual symbol of sacred Stone in Prophetic religion, there is parallel development of ‘stone cultures' in entire pagan world. The moving and arranging of massive stones into a building or some other configuration in a sacred context also characterizes many early cultures around the globe, from the Inca in South America, to the Egyptians and Mycenaeans. As early as 5000 BC we could trace the large stones (megaliths - Greek mega, great, and lithos, stone), either unwrought or roughly worked were erected across prehistoric Europe to stand in lines or in circles (such as at Stonehenge in England), or otherwise arranged in conjunction with earthworks usually identified as burial mounds (such as at Newgrange in Ireland). Little is known about the purpose or meaning of these megalithic constructions, but it is universally agreed that they mark or embellish a sacred place in the landscape. Examples of megalithism can also found in countries around the world, such as the ‘Beforo monument' near Bouar in the Central African Republic, the Tatetsuki stone circles standing the summit of a tumulus at Okayama in Japan, and the moai statues on ceremonial platforms on Easter Island. According to Pausanias (VII, 24. 4), in olden times all the Greeks worshipped unwrought stones instead of images and describes thirty square stones near a spring sacred to Hermes at Pharae in Greece. 

Besides sacred stone, we find that Temples also play the vital role in Pagan religions. Since beginning of our civilization, Temple complexes provided a unifying force for both Semitic tradition of God, and polytheistic Pagan cultures that centralized around respective temples of their gods and goddesses. According to Revelation, Paganism is inherited from the pre-human Jinn race who also received guidance from God: "O ye assembly of Jinns and men! came there  not unto you messengers from amongst you, setting forth unto you My Signs and warnings you of the meeting of this day of yours?" (Q, 6:130). But then Revelation (Surah Al-Jinn) informs that: most of the pre-human Jinns denied God's command and devised a Pagan religion of false gods. As regard the pagan denominations of ‘stone and idol worships', God reveals in Bible (Leviticus 26:1): Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your GOD.

Deuteronomy 12:3: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. 

Jinns' paganism was inherited by the later human generations. Since remote ancient to very modern, we find the Temple culture of false gods and goddesses first by making their idols and then worshipping them as equal to God. The Pagan denial of God is effectuated primarily by creating ‘mass ignorance about God' via falsehoods of myths and cults, and secondarily by giving rise to ‘inequity' in society. Hence pagan rules always tend to operate via sects; ancient society of Ur was divided into three classes: a. Amilu (priestly Sanga, like later Brahmins); b. Mishkinu (like Vaisyas of Hindus); and c. Ardus (like Sudras of Hindus). 

It was the Sumerians who constructed some of the earliest temples. The first temple, according to Sumerian tradition, was in Eridu on the edge of the Persian Gulf. According to Sumerian legends, it was there that civilization began and there that the first temple was built to Enki (later they equated with EA), the god of underground fresh water. The cunning Sumerian god Enki (bël nëmeqi' Lord of cunning/skill') remained very important as the god of wisdom in the Sumerian pantheon for many centuries, and was "consulted" whenever the Sumerians undertook the construction or reparation of a temple, perhaps also because of his connection with the earliest temple. The nucleus of Sumerian civilization was the temple enclosures. Places of worship, temple storehouses, and business offices were surrounded and protected by the massive wall. These complexes provided both religious and social structure for the surrounding communities. Here ruled wealthy priesthood; assisted by the scribes they used to take care of the temple property. The temple served also as a bank where money was loaned by the priests in the name of their god, and likewise the interest was extracted in god's name. Egyptians inherited from ancestral source certain belief in ‘Hereafter'. Gradually the monarchy and the advancing civilization went with it to evolve the elaborate material equipment for the dead – a monumental tomb Pyramid with its mortuary furniture. A famous saying of Aesculapius is that "All Egypt is a temple." Indeed, everywhere we look in Egypt, we are faced with teaching devices boldly displayed on the outside as well as the inside of the many sacred edifices. The most beloved god of Egypt, as well as nearly all the local gods of Western Asia, especially Syria, Palestine, Assyria, and Babylonia, were believed to have lived, died, and risen again.     

Intriguing parallels in Temple cultures: History then goes to reveal various intriguing parallels between Temple cultures of Prophetic tradition and polytheistic Pagans. The Sumerian temples, in their most developed phase, showed structural similarities to later Israelite temples. At least two of the temples excavated in Israel (Nahariya and Tell Beit Mirsim) bear the likeness of Sumerian floor plans [1]. In both Sumerian and Hebrew traditions, holiness was associated with the temple and the potential presence of deity there; purity was a prerequisite for entrance to that sacred area. Therefore, purification rituals were a necessary preliminary step to approaching deity in the temple. In Prophetic tradition we find that ceremonial washing i.e. ablution (wudhu) is must before prayer (salat); likewise   it also appears from one of the temple hymns that the hand-washing ceremony (šu-luh) was performed in the Sumerian temple room as the abzu, or perhaps even in the abzu itself [2]. 

Now as we come to Black Stone (al- Hazar-al-Aswad) of Ka'ba, it is a symbol that links heaven and earth. Similarly among the pagan Egyptians, the Babylonians, and the Hittites, tombs and temples were integrally joined; the temple was viewed as the "link between this world and the next" (Lundquist, "What Is a Temple?" p. 215)[3]. 

In the Qur'an the House or the sacred precinct is associated with a mountain (Q, 52:1). Three aspects of the Ka'ba are associated with mountain symbolism. First, Islamic tradition identifies the place where Prophet Abraham built the Ka'ba. Second, tradition has that Abraham building the Ka'ba from rockstaken from five mountains: "Mount Sinai, the Mount of Olives, Mount Hira, Mount Libanon and Mount Judi."[4]. Third, tradition places the Ka'ba opposite the polar star, which is the highest point in the heavens. Al-Kisa'i writes: "Tradition says: the polestar proves that the Ka'ba is the highest situated territory; for it lies over against the centre of heaven."[5].  

These aspects of God's religion have been remodeled in pagan cultures; thus cosmic mountain and astrology based on stars became the very foundations of all pagan religions. In the ancient Near East, mountains were associated with pagan worships, as was the case with the pyramids of Egypt and the ziggurats of Mesopotamia. The Mesopotamian ziggurat is probably the best example of a structure with an architectonic orientation portraying the idea of successive ascension to heaven. It was constructed with varying numbers of levels - usually three, five, or seven. The upper level was reached by a monumental staircase. The worshipers ascended the staircase, and deity descended from heaven to meet them [6]. The place of the meeting between the two realms was a place of great sacredness. Astrological twist based upon partial knowledge of astronomy (a gift from Jinn gods) has continued to mesmerize the successive pagan generations. Near Eastern archives informed that the duku was their place of divine judgment. The first (and best-known) function is demonstrated in a bilingual text known as VR50+51: Incantation: Shamash, When you come out of the great mountain, the mountain of the springs (of water); When you come out of the duku where fates are determined; When you come out of the (place) where heaven and earth are connected, from the foundation of heaven, to (this) place; The great gods will present themselves before you for judgment;The Anunnaki will present themselves to you for decisions

Profanity in pagan Temple culture: The archives of ancient civilizations inform various profane practices of the pagan Temple cultures. The gods were fed with abundant sacrifices, sometimes human and also animals. Cohabitation with temple prostitutes was sacred ritual in Mesopotamia and Syria in the 1st millennium BC. Mass frenzy and emasculation was prerequisite for becoming the priest of the goddess (in Phrygian plateau). A cult of about 1200 BC from Beth-Shan shows a nude goddess holding two doves in her arms as she sits with legs apart to show her sex; below her are two male deities, with a dog at the feet of one of them; towards them from below creeps a serpent and from one side advances a lion: "This may be considered as a terse epitome of the mythological symbolism of Canaanite religion at the end of the pre-Israelite age in Palestine" [7]. The goddess of fertility played a much greater role among the Canaanites as compared to other ancient people. The favourite animals for Canaanite goddess were ‘lions' for its ferocity, and the ‘serpent' and ‘dove' for their fecundity. In iconography these goddesses are represented as naked with savagery image. Naked goddess is shown astride with a galloping horse and brandishing weapons in her right hand. In a fragment of Baal epic (published in 1938), Anath appears blood thirsty, she massacres mankind, young and old, from sea-coast to the rising sun, causing heads and hands to fly in all directions. There she ties heads to her back, hands to her girdles, and wades to her knees, up to her throat – in human gore. This is similar to cult of ‘goddess Kali in Hindu Temple' where remotely ancient ‘cult of mother goddess' has been reanimated by inventing a thesis of Shakti cult.

References: (A. The sacred stone in ka'ba – a spiritual symbol)

1. Shaykh Tabarsi, Tafsir, vol. 1, pp. 460, 468. Quoted in translation by Francis E. Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, p. 5. SUNY Press, 1994. ISBN 0-7914-1876-

2. Cyril Glasse, New Encyclopedia of Islam, Rowman Altamira, 2001. ISBN 0-7591-0190-6

3. Heribert Busse, "Jerusalem and Mecca, the Temple and the Kaaba: An Account of Their Interrelation in IslamicTimes," in The Holy Land in History and Thought, ed. Moshe Sharon (Leiden: Brill, 1988), 236–46) 

4. A. J. Wensinck, The Ideas of the Western Semites concerning the Navel of the Earth (Amsterdam: Muller, 1916

5. Armstrong, Karen (1996). Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths. A.A. Knopf. p.221. ISBN 9780679435969.

6. Tha'labi, Qisas, 3–4; translation by Brian Hauglid; see also A. J. Wensinck, "The Semitic New Year and the Origin of Eschatology," Acta Orientalia 1 (1922): 175.

7."Thus the first village to be built was Mecca and the first house was the Glorious Kaaba." Thackston, trans., Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisa'i, 62

8. Dairesi, Hırka-i Saadet; Aydın, Hilmi, (2004), The sacred trusts: Pavilion of the Sacred Relics, Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul. Tughra Books. ISBN 9781932099720

9. Alex Bevan, John De Laeter, Meteorites: A Journey Through Space and Time, pp. 14-15. UNSW Press, 2002. ISBN 0-86840-490-X)

10. Burke, John G. (1991). Cosmic Debris: Meteorites in History. University of California Press. pp. 221–223. ISBN 9780520073968)

References: (B. Legacies of ka'ba prevailed in world religions)

1. Dic. Of Mythology folklore and symbols by Gertrude Jobes, 1962. Part 1&2; The Scarecrow Press Inc, NY

2.  Encyclopedia of world religions, by G.T. Bettany, Bracken Books, London

3.  Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of world religions, 1999, ISBN: 0-87779-044-2

4. Dic. Of Philosophy and Religion – eastern and western thought, by W.L. Resse, Humanities   Press, N.Jersy, 1980 

References: (C. How temple cultures flourish in pagan traditions?)

1. J. Kaplan, "Mesopotamian Elements in the Middle Bronze II Culture of Palestine," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 30/4 (1971): 293–307.

2. The line in question is line 40 of hymn no. 3, in Sjöberg and Bergmann, Sumerian Temple Hymns, 19: temen šu-luh-sikil-zu abzu-a lá-a, "Foundation, your pure laving rite spreads over the Abzu."

3. Lundquist, John M.  "The Common Temple Ideology of the Ancient Near East," in The Temple in Antiquity: Ancient Records and Modern Perspectives, ed. Truman G. Madsen (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1984).

4. Tha'labi, Kitab Ara'is al-majalis fi qisas al-anbiya (Egypt: Mu af al-B b al- alab , 1340), 61–62; Tabari, Jami al- bayan, 1:546; Yaqut, Mu'jam al-buldan (Beirut, 1955–57), 4:465.

5. Translation and original Arabic script in Wensink, Navel of the Earth, p. 15.  

Sacred Stone, al-Hazar al- Aswad, temple culture, Adam's altar, Ka'ba, Semitic religion, Haram al-Sharif, qibla, Holy Sepulchre, Hajj, Ka, Ba, megaliths, Stonehenge, Khaybet, Linga, Sang-i–Musa, Ko-Wu, Ko Tao, Kami, Kaan, Kiva, Kamen,

6. See: Lundquist, "The Common Temple Ideology," 57–58.

7. Albright. W.F, ‘From the Stone age to Christianity', pp. 177-8, (The John Hopkins Press)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/spiritual-symbol-of-kaba-its-legacies-and-denominations-in-pagan-temple-cultures-6102122.html

About the Author

Author: After serving Govt. of India as Scientist S - I (ICAR); Hindustan Lever, Bombay, as Research Scientist; and about ten years service (1981-91) in United Arab Emirates (Al-Ain Municipality) as Senior Chemist, author took early retirement and turned towards religion. For about last two decades author is contemplating on the ‘Message of God' in revealed scriptures and trying to reflect upon its aftermath based on findings of history, scientific linguistics, archaeology and science etc. In this pursuit, author sincerely tried to embrace the guidelines of authentic most Revelation with observance of regular Prayer to God. Holistic knowledge from God has a ‘rational' part knowable by all human beings since God has made them accessible through ‘rational reasoning'. However, Truth shall finally prevail transcending all human theses, antitheses, and syntheses. Finite human knowledge never can tell the last word about infinite religious truths; rather diverse human reflections to religion merely testify by degrees the relative sapience of Homo sapiens sapiens to an unseen Supreme Arbiter.

Author has published his first book: "Mysteries of religion – in the light of Divine Revelations." Published in 2009 (ISBN 978-81-910042-0-5)

The second book is going to be oublished soon:

Title of the book: ‘RELIGION IN THE MAKING OF MANKIND' (Author: Dr. P.R. Palodhi)

It focuses attention on what God reveals in Religion beyond temporal relativism of the human genius. Book proceeds by compiling the knowledge of:

1. GOD (from what GOD Himself has revealed)

2. False gods and adversaries of Prophets

3. Genesis of pre-humans and humans

4. Beginning of Civilization

                

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