Abstract

Dan Gibson has argued that the first holy city of Islam was Petra. David King has vigorously disputed Gibson’s conclusions. Using data from Gibson’s website, the two theories are tested and contrasted statistically. While King’s theory works well for most mosques and other sites after 900 C.E., Gibson’s theory seems to work well for sites prior to 900 C.E. In summary, many early mosques and related structures do appear to face Petra geographically rather than Mecca. However, later structures may be related to today’s Mecca in a variety of ways other than simple geographical alignment.

Presenters

Walter Schumm
Emeritus Professor of Applied Family Science, Department of Applied Human Sciences, Kansas State University, Kansas, United States

Details

Presentation Type

Focused Discussion

Theme

Religious Foundations

KEYWORDS

Early Islamic History, Petra, Mecca, Dan Gibson, David King

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