.... Still more surprising, no one ever bothers to question the source of their interpolations. Proves the blind following these plaster saints have.
Right Sister Ruhi .. I've also thought of this point many times.
Btw, would anyone let me know which precise spot of the Kaa'ba is known as Hateem and why? No mention of it in the Quran which makes me assume it never existed during the time of the Prophet (pbuh) and until a bit later.
Hateem is the circular or crescent-shaped wall right beside the Ka'ba on the north side (or Iraqi side); also called Hijr-Ismail or Stone of Ismail which comes from the assumption that Prophet Abraham constructed a shelter for his son Ismail and his mother on this spot. However, this is not Quranic information nor the hateem itself as you mentioned. I think that circular wall is about 4 and a half feet high and the concrete consists of white marble. This space is excluded during the taw'af no matter how close you're standing to the Ka'ba during taw'af because it's viewed as a part of the Ka'ba. Image below for clearer understanding.
As one would expect, there are lots of ahadith about hateem.
There are too many unsupportive stories surrounding it and it's impossible to confirm whether or not it existed during the time of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) or Prophet Abraham (pbuh). Personally I don't think it did, but only Allah Almighty knows best. I also don't have any information within my research when that area of the Ka'ba called hateem was monumented or made concrete.
The reason why traditional definition of hateem claims it to be an "original" part of the Ka'ba is again derived from hadith. It's the same hadith Sister Heba quoted in her original post from
Muslim. But the same hadith in
Bukhari is edited to fit in the aspect of hateem. Let me quote:
“Narrated Ayesha that the Prophet (Pbuh) said to her: Had not your tribe been close to the era of ignorance, I would have ordered to demolish the present building of Ka’bah and (would have rebuilt it) by including the part they had left (i.e. Hateem), and brought down its door to the ground level. I would have built two gates of the House of God, one on the east and one on the west and by doing that would have re-established it on the true Ibrahimic foundation”. (Bukhari). You see the underlined portion. That's the reason traditionalists claim it was original part of the Ka'ba. However the authenticity of this hadith, as is with every hadith, is rife with uncertainty. And like you said, Quran mentions nothing about any portion of land beside the Ka'ba having the kind of significance which the traditionalists uphold.
Some believe that the graves of Prophet Ismail and his mother are located within the hateem. For this reason many pilgrims don't walk inside the hateem. But I've also seen many who do. So again there's no consensus, as usual. And again, only Allah knows whether or not this is true. I know of one hadith which okays to walk within the hateem and I think that is the reason why many Hadithers consider it permissible to step on this area. Quoting that hadith:
“Narrated Ayesha that she told the Prophet (Pbuh) that she wanted to enter into the Ka’bah. The Prophet (Pbuh) took her to ‘Muqaam-e-Hij’r’ (Hateem) by holding her hand and said: When you intend to enter into the Ka’bah, (then remember that) this too is part of Ka’bah”. (Tirmizi, Abu Dawood, Ahmad, Nisai). 
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