Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/527

Rh Bk. I. Ch. II. SYRIA AND PALESTINE. 511 It is true, nevertheless, that in so rich a storehouse of materials as Egypt, the architects could not always resist appropriating the remains of earlier buildings ; but when they did this, they used them so completely in their own fashion, and so worked them into their own style, that we do not at once recognize the sources from which they are derived. To return, however, to the mosque of Touloun. Its general arrangement is almost identical with that of the mosque of Amrou, only with somewhat increased dimensions, the court being very nearly 300 ft. square, and the whole building 390 ft. by 455. No pillars whatever are used in its construction, excej^t as engaged corner shafts ; all the arches, which are invariably pointed, being supported by massive piers. The court on three sides has two ranges of arcades, but on the side towards Mecca there are five ; and with this peculiarity, that instead of the arcades running parallel to the side, as in a Christian church, or in the mosque of Amrou, they run across the mosque from east to west, as they ahvays did in subsequent examples. The whole building is of brick, covered with stucco ; and fortu- nately almost every opening is surrounded by an inscription in the old form of Cufic characters, wiiich were then used, and only used about the period to which the mosque is ascribed, so that there can be no doubt as to its date. Indeed, the age both of the building itself, and of all its details, is well ascertained. The Woodcut No. 961 will explain the form of its arcades, and of the ornaments that cover them. Their general character is that of bold and massive simplicity, the counterpart of our own Norman style. A certain element of sublimity and power, in spite of occasional clum- siness, is common to both these styles. Indeed, excepting the Hassanee mosque, there is perhaps no mosque in Caii-o so imposing and so perfect as this, though it possesses little or nothing of that grace and elegance which we are accus- tomed to expect in this style. Among the more remark- able peculiarities of this build- ing is the mode in which all the external openings are filled with that peculiar sort of tra- cery which became as charac- teristic of this style as that of the windows of our churches five centuries afterwards is of the Gothic style. With the Saracens the whole window is filled, and the interstices are small and varied ; both which characteristics are 962. Window iu Mosque of Ibu Touloun.