>>3448279 >>3448291 ob all
>>3448295 >>3448342
>>3448528 >>3448676
Misdirection? Watch the Water, mirrored?
From -- The Mecca Mystery: Probing the Black Hole at the Heart of Muslim History, Peter Townsend.
Quote
[I]t is important to note that ancient Arabia is an absolute treasure trove for the historical researcher. The reason behind this is that documents, artifacts and archaeological evidence survive best in dry conditions. Thus, the ultra-dry conditions prevailing on much of the Arabian Peninsula means that a wealth of historical evidence survived into the modern era. Modern Mecca is, furthermore, located in one of the driest parts of the peninsula, which means that evidence from there have an even better chance at survival.
[...]
It should, therefore, once again be emphasized that a lack of sources is not an insurmountable problem when we consider the history of the Arabian Peninsula. We are, if anything, confronted with an overwhelming array of historical records emanating from Arabia. The one thing that these records have in common is that none of them ever mentions Mecca.
[...]
The gaping hole in the historical record where references to Mecca should be (if the traditional Islamic account is to be believed) is nothing short of astounding. This is the city at the heart of Islam, the supposed mother of all cities. A city that was a major trading hub and religious center. Yet, as Patricia Crone points out in her seminal work 'Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam': "The Greek trading documents refer to the towns of Ta'if (Southeast of Mecca), Yathrib (later Medina), Kaybar, but never Mecca!" We must wait [...] for a full 109 years after the traditional death date of Muhammad for the first mention of Mecca to appear (in a document dating from 741 CE) and more than another century (i.e. around 900 CE) after that for the city to be shown on a map.
[...]
To put it as bluntly as possible: there is not a single shred of uncontested primary source evidence confirming the existence of an ancient city at the spot where the modern city of Mecca is located.