NavList:

   

Reply

Dear all,

I am most grateful for the trouble that some of you have done for
responding to my query.

>From the jpg map of Mecca kindly sent to me by Roger Derby I measured
the following position of the Kabah, the sacred temple of Mecca:

  Lat. = 21� 25' 30" N., long. = 39� 49' 22" E.

Kamil Abdali's position, kindly provided by prof. Richard Langley, was:

  Lat. = 21� 25' 24" N., long. = 39� 49' 24" E.

The longitude agrees nicely, though the latitude differs a bit more than
one would expect.

My interest in this matter stems from my research in a determination
secretly carried out by N. Scheltema, the Dutch consul of Djedda, and
his Muslim assistant A. Salim in the winter of 1910/11 that resulted in:

  Lat. = 21� 25' 18" N., long. = 39� 50' 59" E.

The large difference in longitude stems from the fact that only the
longitude difference between Mecca and Djedda was actually measured,
while the longitude of the latter was adopted from the British Admiralty
charts of that period.

========================================================
* Robert H. van Gent * Tel/Fax:  00-31-30-2720269      *
* Zaagmolenkade 50   *                                 *
* 3515 AE Utrecht    * E-mail: r.h.vangent@astro.uu.nl *
* The Netherlands    *                                 *
********************************************************
* Home page: http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/homepage.htm *
========================================================

   

Reply