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CHAPTER XI.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES.

ARABIAN ARCHITECTURE,

KNOWN UNDER THE NAMES OF SARACENIC, MOORISH, AND BYZANTINE.

WHATEVER knowledge of the arts the Arabians acquired in the ages subsequent to Mahomet, they owed to the people whom they subdued, from the Indus to the Nile, and to their commercial relations with surrounding nations.

The first Mosque, which is known to have been erected out of the precincts of Arabia, was founded by Omar, immediately after the surrender of Jerusalem, on the site of the ancient Temple. This mosque was enlarged and embellished by succeeding caliphs until it was reckoned by the Arabians second only to the magnificent Mezquito of Cordova.

The ancient Arabians were a simple, frugal people, but as their conquests over more luxurious nations extended, their princes assumed the magnificence of Asiatic monarchs. As they acquired a greater relish for the arts, sumptuous edifices adorned their cities.

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The great mosque founded by Alwalid I., at Damascus, is particularly celebrated; on this edifice first appeared the lofty minaret. This appendage was an innovation in the style, of which it has since become characteristic. Nothing can be more light and graceful than the general effect of minarets (Plate X.); the pointed arches with which these towers are decorated give great importance to this edifice in the eyes of architects, as they so nearly resemble those afterward employed in the Gothic, or pointed architecture of Europe.

When the seat of empire was removed from Damascus to Bagdad, neither labour nor expense was spared that the new capital might eclipse the splendour of the former. The gorgeous magnificence of Bagdad would seem only one of the inventions of the author of the Arabian Night's Entertainment, were it not authenticated by contemporary and ocular testimony.

Cairo arose to rival Bagdad, and its mosque is surpassingly rich and beautiful. In arts and sciences the Arabs of the West were not inferior to those of the East; the buildings erected by the Ommiad caliphs of Spain, are some of them equal to anything remaining of the most splendid cities of antiquity. Among these, the mosque at Cordova and the Alhambra or Alhamra in Spain are the most celebrated.

The Alhambra is a fortress and palace built by the Moorish Kings of Granada. The following description

is extracted from "The Alhambra," by Washington

Irving.

"Ascending a steep and shady avenue, we arrived at the foot of a huge, square, Moorish tower, forming a kind of barbacan, through which passed the main entrance to the fortress. This portal is called the Gate of Justice; the vestibule or porch is formed by an immense Arabian arch of the horseshoe form, which springs to half the height of the tower. On the keystone of this arch is engraven a gigantic hand, (a symbol of the omnipotent hand of God.) Within the vestibule on the keystone of the portal is engraven in like manner, a gigantic key, (a favourite symbol of the followers of Mahomet.) After passing through the barbacan, we ascended a narrow lane, winding between walls, and came on an open esplanade within the fortress. In front of this esplanade is the splendid pile commenced by Charles V., intended, it is said, to eclipse the residence of the Moslem kings. With all its grandeur and architectural merit, it appeared to us like an arrogant intrusion, and passing by it we entered a simple unostentatious portal, opening into the interior of the Moorish palace.

"The transition was almost magical; it seemed as if we were at once transported into other times and another realm, and were treading the scenes of Arabian story. We found ourselves in a great court paved with white marble, and decorated at each end with light Moorish peristyles. In the centre was an immense

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