ABSTRACT
This city is not surrounded by walls, but by very beautiful houses, as is the custom in Ita ly ; we will, therefore, not dwell long on a description of it.2 It is a city of very ex tensive traffic, because a great number o f the pagan people come here ; the reason being that neither Christians nor Jews are admitted.8 When I had arrived at the said city I imme diately entered into a mosque, that is, a temple, where there were at least £5,000 poor people, and I hid myself in a corner of the said temple, and remained there for fourteen days. A ll day long I remained stretched upon the ground covered up with my garments, and keeping up a constant groaning
1 Jiddah, or, more correctly, Juddah. 8 The present wall which surrounds Juddah on the land side was built
by El-Ashraf Eansooh El-Gh6ree, the Mameluke Sultan o f Egypt, a .h . 917, or thirteen years after the date o f Yarthema’s visit. The town is superior to any in the Hij&z : the houses are well built o f stone and madrepore, and consist generally of two stories.
