The circling of the kaaba is a survival from the days of the worship of Saturn — the circling mimicking the rings, which were somehow known in ancient times. The kaaba itself used to have a large, seated idol, roundish and human-like, perhaps even buddha-like, and the site of course antedates Elagabalus (who eventually castrated himself as part of his religion, if memory serves) by millennia. It’s *possible* that the Black Stone was added much later, obviously. The idol, as well as the statues which used to line the avenue to the shrine, was destroyed eventually by the muzzies, clearly alterations have been made. The staircase that used to run from one corner up to the top of the kaaba was filled in long ago, for another example.
worship of Saturn? can you explain more? I thought most early civilisations worshipped the Sun and Moon and at the most Jupiter.
Right now I think that possible Mohammed used the logic of a monotheistic religion revolving around the worship of the black rock as a way to unify the Arab tribes.