Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/711

 284. SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE. " That haze which seems Floating about the panel, if there gleams A sunbeam over it, will turn to gold, And in light graven characters unfold The Arab's wisdom everywhere ; what shade Marr'd them a moment, those slim pillars made, Cut like a company of palms to prop The roof, each kissing top entwined with top Leaning together.' — Browning. I. INFLUENCES. i. Geographical. — The extent of the countries brought under the influence of the Mahometan rehgion is indicated in the map (No. 284). Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa and Spain were in turn wholly or in part subjected. India boasts, in the upper valley of the Ganges, a succession of Mahometan capitals due to the waves of invasion bursting through the north-west frontier. Saracenic architecture differs from many other styles in being the product of a religion which had no special country. Differing widely in general treatment and in detail, the style was imposed on each country brought under its influence. The term Saracen was that employed by the Greeks and Romans for the tribes