Kaaba

prop. n. [ Ar. ka'bah, lit., a square building, fr. ka'b cube. ] The small and nearly cubical stone building, in the court of the Great Mosque at Mecca, toward which all Muslims must pray. It contains a sacred black stone, believed by Muslims to be one of the precious stones of paradise, and to have been brought to Abraham when he was contructing the Kaaba, by the Angel Gabriel. The Kaaba itself predates Mohammed, having been a pantheon which contained Arab idols, which were destroyed by Mohammed. [ Written also caaba, kaabeh and kaabah. ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]