the Black Stone

Examples of the Black Stone in the following topics:

• Early Life of Muhammad

  • The Black Stone, a sacred object, had been removed to facilitate renovations to the Kaaba.
  • The leaders of Mecca could not agree on which clan should have the honor of setting the Black Stone back in its place.
  • He asked for a cloth and put the Black Stone in its center.
  • The clan leaders held the corners of the cloth and together carried the Black Stone to the right spot; then Muhammad set the stone in place, satisfying all who were present.
  • An illustration from c. 1315 depicting Muhammad's role in re-setting the Black Stone in 605 CE.

• The Quran

  • Muhammad received revelations from 609-632 CE, and they became the basis for the Quran, the central religious text of Islam.
  • The agent of revelation is mentioned as the "one mighty in power," the one who "grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon.
  • According to the Quran, one of the main roles of Muhammad is to warn the unbelievers of their punishment at the end of the world.
  • Muslims believe the Quran to be both the unaltered and the final revelation of God.
  • The main rituals of the Hajj include walking seven times around the Kaaba, termed Tawaf; touching the Black Stone, termed Istilam; traveling seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah, termed Sa'yee; and symbolically stoning the Devil in Mina, termed Ramee.

• The Rise of Egyptian Civilization

  • The Qadan culture practiced wild-grain harvesting along the Nile, and developed sickles and grinding stones to collect and process these plants.
  • People lived in small huts, created simple pottery, and had stone tools.
  • People lived in huts, and had undecorated pottery and stone tools.
  • The Tasian culture (4500-3100 BCE) produced a kind of red, brown, and black pottery, called blacktop-ware.
  • The Badarian culture (4400-4000 BCE) was similar to the Tasian, except they improved blacktop-ware and used copper in addition to stone.

• The Inca People

  • The Inca Empire was the largest of the pre-Columbian mesoamerican empires.
  • The Inca using a mortarless construction technique, called dry stone wall, that fit together so well that a knife could not be fitted through the stonework.
  • For example, a black-and-white checkerboard pattern topped with a pink triangle denoted a soldier.
  • These ceramics were painted in bright colors, such as orange, red, black, and yellow.
  • This impressive mountain-top temple was built around 1450 CE using dry stone wall.

• The Chimu

  • Early Chimú ceramics in a high-sheen black, along with the detailed and intricate precious metalworking, shared many of the same aspects as Moche craftsmanship.
  • At its peak, the Chimú advanced to the limits of the desert coast, to the Jequetepeque Valley in the north, and Carabayallo in the south.
  • The shiny black finish of most Chimú pottery was achieved by firing the pottery at high temperatures in a closed kiln, which prevented oxygen from reacting with the clay.
  • The Sun was associated with stones called alaec-pong (cacique stone).
  • These stones were believed to be ancestors of the people in the areas they were found.

• Ancient Egyptian Art

  • The regalia of the pharaoh symbolized his or her power to rule and maintain the order of the universe.
  • Blue and gold indicated divinity because they were rare and were associated with precious materials, while black expressed the fertility of the Nile River.
  • Before painting a stone surface, it was whitewashed and sometimes covered with mud plaster.
  • The side view of the person or animal was generally shown, and paintings were often done in red, blue, green, gold, black and yellow.
  • Stone was reserved for tombs and temples, while other buildings, such as palaces and fortresses were made of bricks.

• The Black Death

  • The Black Death was an infamous pandemic of bubonic plague and one of the most devastating pandemics in human history.
  • When spring arrived, the Italian merchants fled on their ships, unknowingly carrying the Black Death.
  • The peak of the activity was during the Black Death.
  • The Black Death had a profound impact on art and literature.
  • Evaluate the impact of the Black Death on European society in the Middle Ages

• The Sican

  • The Early Sicán culture is known for the highly polished, black-finish ceramics found in the La Leche Valley.
  • This black-finish ceramic style began in the Moche culture prior to the Early Sicán, and shows the sharing of cultures in the region.
  • It appears to be a predecessor to the related faces of the Sicán Deity and the Sicán Lord of the Middle Sicán culture.
  • The breeding and herding of llamas on the North Coast since the time of the Moche could have been utilized by the Sicán to provide the goods as well as a caravan of llamas to transport the goods considerable distances.
  • However, in 1375, the Chimú conquered the area, marking the end of the Sicán era.

• Great Zimbabwe

  • Construction of the stone buildings started in the 11th century and continued for over 300 years. 
  • The ruins that survive are built entirely of stone and they span 730 ha (1,800 acres).
  • The rulers of Zimbabwe brought artistic and stone masonry traditions from Mapungubwe.
  • The construction of elaborate stone buildings and walls reached its apex in the kingdom.
  • It did not carry on the stone masonry tradition to the extent of its predecessor.

• The Neolithic Revolution

  • The first humans evolved in Africa during the Paleolithic Era, or Stone Age, which spans the period of history from 2.5 million to about 10,000 BCE.
  • The men hunted animals while the women gathered food, such as fruit, nuts and berries, from the local area.
  • Simple tools made of stone, wood, and bone (such as hand axes, flints and spearheads) were used throughout the period.
  • Humankind gradually evolved from early members of the genus Homo— such as Homo habilis, who used simple stone tools— into fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) during the Paleolithic era.
  • Paleoliths (artifacts from the Paleolithic), such as this stone ball, demonstrate some of the stone technologies that the early humans used as tools and weapons.