In the arid, desolate sands of Mecca , surrounded by the bare mountains of the Arabian desert, stands a small cubic structure that the ancient and modern Arabs refer to as the Kaaba : the Cube. The Kaaba The Kaaba is a square, roofless structure made of unmortared stones in a valley of sand. Its four walls were so low it is said a young goat could leap over them and birds would shit on it due to the open top. The structure is now decorated with coverings of cloth. At its base, two small doors are chiseled into the gray stone, allowing entry into the inner sanctum. Hajj Pilgrimmage at Kaaba Inside the Kaaba, the gods of pre-Islamic Arabia used to reside. In all, there are said to be 360 idols housed in and around the Kaaba, representing every god recognized in the Arabian Peninsula. Near the Kaaba was a well called Zamzam , fed by an underground spring. The spring situated in the middle of the arid desert became a sacred place for the thisty Bedouin nomads of Arabia. Ancient ...