avel'; and traditions of Mexico
describe Yucatan as 'the centre and foundation' of both heaven and
earth. We must, however, go back to the East as the most likely quarter
in which to find it, and as the quarter to which the eyes of man have
been most consistently turned.

To successive centuries of both Jews and Christians Jerusalem has been
the centre of the world, and the Temple the centre of Jerusalem. The
Talmud gives directions to those who are in foreign countries to pray
with their faces towards the sacred land; to those in Palestine to pray
with their faces towards Jerusalem; to those in Jerusalem to pray with
their faces towards the Mount; to those in the Temple to pray with their
faces towards the Holy of Holies. Now, this was not merely because this
sacred spot was a ceremonial centre, but also because it was regarded as
the geographical centre of the earth. According to the Rabbis the Temple
was built on the great central rock of the world.

It is written in the Talmud: 'The world is like the eyeball of man: the
white is the ocean that surrounds the wall, the black is the world
itself, and the pupil is Jerusalem, and the image of the pupil is the
Temple.' And again: 'The land of Israel is situated in the centre of the
world, and Jerusalem in the centre of the land of Israel, and the Temple
in the centre of Jerusalem, and the Holy of Holies in the centre of the
Temple, and the foundation-stone on which the world was grounded is
situated in front of the ark.' And once more: 'When the ark was removed
a stone was there from the days of the first Prophets. It was called
Foundation. It was three digits above the earth.'

This claim is direct enough, and at Jerusalem to this day in the Dome of
the Rock, supposed to occupy the site of Solomon's Temple, is a bare
stone which, as Sir Charles Warren was assured, rests on the top of a
palm-tree, from the roots of which issue all the rivers of the world.
The Mohammedans have accepted this same stone as the foundation-stone of
the world, and they call it the Kibleh of Moses. It is said that Mahomet
once intended making this the sacred centre of Islam, instead of Mecca,
but changed his mind, and predicted that at the Last Day the black
stone--the Kaabah--will leave Mecca and become the bride of the
Foundation-stone at Jerusalem. So that there can be no possible doubt of
the centre of sacred influences.

Concerning the stone at Jerusalem, Professor Palmer says: 'This Sak