Mecca
Mecca became a trading center about A.D. 400. The people of Mecca worshiped many gods, whose idols stood at the Kaaba. Muhammad, the prophet whose life and teachings form the basis of the Islamic religion, was born in the city about 570.
The Meccans rejected Muhammad's religious teachings, and he and his disciples fled from the city in 622. Eight years later, Muhammad and his followers captured Mecca and destroyed the idols. They spared the Kaaba, which has remained as a Muslim shrine.
Mecca became the heart of the first Arab-Islamic empire. The city's political importance declined during the mid-600's, when Muslim conquests spread through distant lands. But Mecca kept its importance as the religious center of Islam.
Excerpt adapted from the "Mecca" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999