Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/113

 Moorish Architecture. 83 horse-shoe arch. The minarets alluded to above are tall turrets divided into several stories, from which the Mueddin (Muezzin) calls the faithful to prayer, and nothing can exceed the elegance of design displayed by many of them. The outsides of many mosques are entirely without ornamentation, and this peculiarity renders the richness of the internal decoration the more striking. The flat surfaces of the walls are everywhere covered as with a carpet with many-coloured patterns, recalling the textile fabrics of the East. In the early monuments of Saracenic architecture which have been preserved in Arabia, Palestine, and Syria we see the crude beginnings of a style struggling into life. Such are the Kaabah at Mecca, the famous mosque of Omar at Jerusalem, and that of Caliph Walid at Damascus. It was in Egypt that Arabian art first acquired a distinc- tive character and a settled style. Side by side with the mighty monuments of the ancient Egyptians rise many handsome mosques. In Spain, Saracenic art may be said to have attained to its greatest beauty. The Moors obtained a footing in that country in 711, and their subsequent intercourse with the knights of western Christendom exercised a great influence on all their arts, especially on their architecture, — although it always retained the exuberance of colouring and richness of decoration characteristic of their buildings in every country. The celebrated mosque of Cordova, commenced by Caliph Abd el Rahman in 786, and completed by his son, was the first and most important building erected by the Moors after their conquest of Spain. It was enlarged and ornamented by successive rulers, and is therefore Q 2