Northvegr - Iberic Bibliography (English)

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Iberic Bibliography (English)

-4-

CAVANILLES

"It is also recommendable (Mount Meca) for the monuments that show it as a stronghold as well as its people. Our Escolano described it as they would have been , or maybe the tale of someone's overimagination. I only have seen the following: two thirds of the mountain from the base there is a path or ditch of about four hundred yards or so, excavated on the stone with a latitude of about ten feet and about twelve feet deep; twice it changes its course to keep in tune along the mountainside until it reaches the summit. It is normal that the trail would start at the base of the mount, there are still some places less deep in the area around the fountain of Meca. Throughout the excavation it can be seen some holes in the walls, with the possible purpose of holding wood that would bar the way. Once the ditch is done, the monuments are seen. You can see about forty of these cisterns, edged in the stone, the biggest between twenty and sixty feet big. Almost all of them, have the walls edged with pickaxes, perpendiculars; others more slanted showing space between them more away from the top than the base. Some of the angles show steps also edged on the stone that would facilitate the descent to the bottom and todays is covered with debris and overgrowth as well as being totally dry, wereas there were two of them still holding water. None of these cisterns show vestige of how they were covered. In the surrounding areas, there were many furrows no doubt with the purpose that the waters would go through them and not as an overflow. This clearly indicates their purpose as well as the big capacity of some of them, particularly the one called el "Trinquete", whose dimensions were similar to a baseball playground, shows that the scarcity of water in that place was enormous and the need of the surrounding neighborhoods even more as it is also shown by the ruins that could be follow for a 1/4 of a league. Aside from the places already mentioned, the stronghold also show vestiges of walls, some aligned as to indicate the streets, and other to divide houses, bedrooms. Not far from the cisterns, towards the top, you could see places that some would say were to be stables for horses and livestock, but it could be the quarry. Among the ruins I found fragments of fine red mud, with their surfaces very smooth and looking as if being varnished. I also observed pieces with drawings, looking as if they were part of crockery some of them still with their handles. In some the color was the same red in others it look more like a dull brown, and all of them were hard and the grain was very fine. I also found some roman coins and one copper coin known as "celtiberica".

JUAN LOZANO

        "MECA, today, ALMANSA. The natives of Almansa speak today of their ancient city of Meca in a very positive way. They think it is located in a nearby mount, close to Alpera. The name MECA is proper to the arabs. They have their own in Arabia. They never forget it, because it reminds them of Mahoma. Our MECA is different, as it shows through its ruins, its age, whereas as a graveyard, its cisterns and silos being carved in stone without any additional artifacts. There are also arabic coins. It could also be that at the same time there were also some roman coins, maybe one or two latin inscriptions. Then it should have been a city, maybe a roman city first and with a different name from Meca, because there is no assurance that the romans would called it like that. Then came the Goths, and then the Arabs making it easy to know the choice of name, maybe because they were descendants, or as a devotion to their false Prophet. One thing is true, that some names (cities and rivers) were changed to accommodate their choice.
        Until now, I had this information in writing, but due to outside circumstances, I transfered to the city of Almansa and was able to gather information that this civilization existed during the roman period.
        Regarding the excavations, one can see the ruins of mortar; and I have been able to pick up some roman coins: I presently have two, both belong to the Lower Empire. One is about sixteen hundred years old. Is about the Emperor Commodo: M. COMMODUS ANT. BRIT. or Marco Commodo Antonio Britanico (named like that because of his triumphs over the British Empire). The other one belongs to Licinio: IMPLICINIVS. AVG. OR Imperator Licinius Augustus.
        The Moors, sworn enemies of idolatry to the excess of superstition, abhorred these coins because of the engraved figures, something that is anathema in their Koran. Therefore, they were left among the ruins with the hope that would be identified as roman. In sum: it shows remains of houses, walls of edged stone, 300 cisterns and silos. Tower with roman architecture which remains still shows with damages of more than 150 years old. Silver and gold coins has been picked up. Escolano saw the biggest of them, weighting about nine ounces, showing the head of Janus on one side and a key on the reverse. It was minted by the romans according to Plinio, during the Second Punic War and 200 years before the Mesiah.
        This city as MECA can only be dated as being 1000 years old with little or no difference, considering the disruption when the Arabs invaded us and the years it took them to establish their culture.
        Some historians suppose the older city before Meca in the territory of Almansa; but without geographical proof there is not much to go about it."

-5-

CEAN BERMUDEZ

        Three times, as we have told, he mentions MECA:
        First: "Almansa, city in the Kingdom of Murcia, part of Villena, belonged to the region of the Bastitanos. Do not know what name it had then. It was reedificated by the Moors who called it Meca. Among the arab ruins still standing, we can see silos, cisterns, a tower almost destroyed for a century and half ago, and a wall, all of roman origin. There were also roman coins of Commodo, Licinio and other Emperors".
        Second: "Cofrontes, a village of the Kingdom of Valencia and very close to were the rivers Jucar & Cabriel meet. It was called Confluentum or Confluentia, when it was part of the region of the bastitanos. There were stones with roman engravings, as it was in Ayora,
as well as in the summit of a mountain nearby, with vestiges of an ancient civilization, silos, cisterns of about four leagues or 12 miles in lenght each one, and a surrouding wall about the size of three men (one on top of the other) and a tower in ruins. See Maca"
        Third: "MECA. Mount that divides the Kindgom of Murcia from the Kingdom of Valencia and it extends from North to South, increasing towards the West, making what is called Mugron de Almansa. It shows what was a path or ditch that starts three thirds from the base of the mount towards its summit. Its length is about 400 leagues or 1200 miles and is about twelve or more in depth, including the excavations on the stone. At the top, there are remains of an ancient civilization, 40 cisterns made of stone the majority measuring about 20 feet long and the rest about 60., many ruins of walls, some that were at one time part of streets and run for about a 1/4 of league or 1 1/2 mile.
        Among these ruins, there are fragments of crockery made of a fine red hard and smooth clay, painted in colors with drawings as well as roman and celtiberic coins".

-6-

PASCUAL MADOZ

        "MECA (Puntal de), this is the name given, in the province of Valencia, judicial seat of Jarafuel and in the jurisdiction of Ayora to that part of the mount Meca that extends from S. to N. -mount Ayora extends towards NE.- And they are about three hours distance one from another. It's formation is mostly stones, some showing inlays; and excavations done by pickaxes in order to help to get to the summit, whereas without doubt, once upon a time its population was big and respectable, judging by the findings; the cisterns with their correspondents canals that would gathered the rain, by the pieces of the fortification and many other tale-tell objects in different size, metals and abundance, that would be the answer to the questions to whoever would walk that path , as well as fragments of crockery.        There is no historical data nor tradition that would pinpoint to the time in which it existed and it's dissappearance; but judging by the coins found and structure of the remains still standing, it would be safe to assume it was populated during roman dominance and maybe sarracen, if we take in consideration the name of Cueva del Rey Moro (Cave of the Moor King) given to a grotto nearby. Aside from this, -that the historians would like to elaborate on it-there is nothing more to say about it; the earth being arid and not productible.

ARTHUR ENGEL

        "Thanks to the hospitality of Don Mariano Pascual, which allowed me to borrow his car, I was able to make a short visit,- being a long excursion- to an ancient acropolis, el Castellar de la Meca in the area of Almansa. It's accesibility is difficult and a guide is needed.
        From the top of this acropolis, the view is admirable, and reminds me of another one I visited, "Ponille de Lucera" for example, which I stopped by, looking for roman ruins. Big savannahs extend to our feet, and our guide point out to us, to a certain distance, the remains a wall that looks to us like a chair. Could it be possible it is some prehistoric monument?
        All around us, we can perceive the distinct traces of an ancient city, its streets, houses and more than one hundred cisterns, big and small, edged in stone. We descended through a path, also edged in the rock.
        Objects found in Meca do exist, as I have been told, and in the care of the Almansa people, but I do not have any confirmation of it."

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