Al and Jay ask the question; does any of the empires surrounding Mecca ever heard of it or had any trade reference to Mecca? The answer is none, no surrounding empires; for example the Sabean, the Nabatean, the Assyrian, the Babylonian or even the Romans ever referenced Mecca.  They also discuss some of the five stages of the Haj all of which involve stones:  1. The Ka'ba(cube), 2. Al Safa and Marwah (the S.I.N say that they are two mountains). 3.  The Jamarat . They discuss if these rituals are purely Islamic or were they borrowed from Judaism. The discussion will resume next time.