On the Meteoritic Origin of the Black Stone of the Ka'bah

Various descriptions and a history of the Black Stone of the Ka'bah, and speculations as to its nature and origin, are included in this paper. In the opinion of the writer, many people would prefer to assume that the tradition about the Stone's having been brought by the Angel Gabriel and given to Abraham and Ishmael for setting in a wall of the Ka'bah, arose out of an attempt to explain its witnessed fall as an aërolite, which may have happened not long before the first recorded rebuilding of the Ka'bah.