Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/896

Rh 864 MOSQUE fittings. The whole outside is frequently decorated with the most elaborate surface-carving in stone or marble, the pavement of the richest marbles, inlaid in intricate patterns, the walls panelled in a similar way, or decorated with the most minute mosaics of glass, mother-of-pearl, agates and other costly stones. The central niche and the pulpit are of special magnificence ; and, if the latter is of wood, it is often covered with delicate ivory carvings, and inlay of pearl and ebony. Very beautiful surface-ornament, executed in hard stucco, and enriched with gold and colours, is used to decorate arches, wall surfaces, and the penden- tives of domes, which latter generally have the so-called &quot; stalactite &quot; form of ornament one of great beauty and complexity. The woodwork of doors, screens, and ceilings is frequently very gorgeous with carving, inlay, and ela borate painting ; the whole of the doors outside are often covered with very delicate pierced and embossed work in bronze, or more rarely iron. The magnificent tiles from Persia, Damascus, and Khodes, enamelled in brilliant blue, green, and red, on a white ground, are often used to cover the walls. Traceried windows in pierced marble or stucco work often occur ; these are filled with brilliant coloured glass, always in very small pieces, forming a transparent mosaic of jewel-like richness. 1 Lamps of enamelled glass, or of bronze inlaid with silver, were once common, but are now rapidly disappearing. Some mosques, especially the Karubin mosque at Fez in Morocco, possess a collection of magnificent illuminated MSS., chiefly copies of the Koran and other religious books; in the large collection at Fez, MSS. of Aristotle s Natural History, with the works of Averroes and other commenta tors, exist in considerable number ; some few of the MSS. are as early as the 10th century. Plans of Mosques. Considerable diversities exist in the plan and arrangement of mosques in various countries, either because the Moslem conquerors adopted to some extent the existing buildings and architecture of the conquered people, or on account of the new mosque being built on a site already cramped by surrounding buildings. The first of these causes influenced to some extent the mosques of India, and to a much greater extent those of European Turkey. The second cause, the cramped site, especially in Cairo, created a special type of plan. Nevertheless, when free from such disturbing influences, there is one normal plan adopted, at least in early times, by the Mos lems in all countries from India to Cordova, and from northern Syria to Egypt. 2 This normal plan is a very simple one, and is the natural product of a country like Arabia, unskilled in architecture, where land was worth but little, and timber very scarce. (See fig. 1.) Though not the earliest, the great mosque of Cordova is the most magnificent, and in the main the best preserved, of this typical form. 3 It was begun in 784-5 by the caliph Abd al-Rahman I. (Abderame) and completed by his son Hisham in 793-4 ; though it was afterwards enlarged, and then to some extent injured by addi tions the work of the Christians, who made it into a cathedral yet it still remains but little altered, except by the loss of its mag nificent carved and inlaid wood ceiling and sumptuous Mimbar. It consists (omitting recent additions) of two main parts, a large cloistered open court, with at one side a covered building for prayer. In one respect only it differs from the usual plan : the open court is generally much larger than the roofed space, whereas at Cordova it is smaller. For the sake of brevity this arrange ment will, in the rest of the article, be referred to as the &quot; normal plan.&quot; In spite of neglect and alterations this mosque is still one of the most imposing buildings in the world. The long ranges of 1 See Coste, Architecture Arabe, 1837-39 ; Bourgoin, Les Arts Arabes, 1868 ; Prisse d Avennes, Art Arabe, 1874-80 ; and Texier, L Armenie et la Perse, 1842-52. 2 The great mosque of MECCA (q. v.) is unique in plan. For an account of the mosque of Medina, see MEDINA. 3 Contreras, Arte Arabe en Espafia, 1875 ; Academy, 19th Novem ber 1881, &quot;Mosque of Cordoba,&quot; by J. H. Middleton ; Mon. Arqui. de Espafla ; and Prangey, Mosqute de Cordoue. aisles, nineteen from east to west and thirty-one from north to south on their marble columns the spoils of many a Greek and Roman temple seem to stretch almost endlessly in every direction, and each range of pillars appears to lose itself in the gloom of distance, so that from no point can any idea be formed of what is the real size of the whole building. The side towards the court was quite open, and all over the court orange-trees were planted at regular intervals, continuing the lines of the columns within, and set at the same distances apart ; so that aisles of orange-trees in long ranges covered the open space, just as the marble columns did within. No words can describe the jewel-like splendour of the mosaics in the sanctuary, which in complicated Arabesque patterns, mixed with elaborate Cufic inscriptions, cover the walls and even the arches, which cross and recross each other in the most fanciful and daring way, forming a sort of aisle round three sides of the sanctuary. There is documentary evidence to show that these glass mosaics, though of thoroughly Oriental design, are, like those in the mosques of Jerusalem and Damascus, the work of Christian artists from Byzantium. The most important early mosques were all built on this normal plan, with but very slight variations. The following are some of the finest examples of this type : Mosque of Amr, Old Cairo, begun in 642 A.D., but much en larged at the end of the 7th century, and afterwards partly rebuilt (see fig. 1). Mosque of Sidi- Okba at Kairawan in Tunis, latter part of 7th century. Mosque of Sidi- Okba near Biskra in Algeria, about 684. Mosque of Edris at Fez in Morocco, end of 8th century. Great mosque of Damascus, 708. Great mosque of Cordova, 784-794 (described above). Mosque of Ibn Tulun, Cairo, 879. Mosque of Al-Azhar, Cairo, begun about 970. Great mosque at Old Delhi, 1196-1235. The first of these, the mosque of Amr (see Coste, Architecture FIG. 1. Plan of Mosque of Amr, Old Cairo. 1. Kibla. 2. Mimbar. 3. Tomb of Amr. 4. Dakka. 5. Fountain for Ablu tion. 6, 6. Rooms built later. 7. Minaret. 8. Latrines. Arabe}, is now in a partly ruined condition. Its east wall probably still retains some of the original work of Amr, who in 642 built a small mosque on the site of the present one. But little remains except its fine antique marble columns to tell of its former splendour in mosaic, stucco reliefs enriched with painting, and magnificent inlaid wood ceilings and screens. According to Makrizi, it once contained 1290 MSS. of the Koran, and was lighted by 18,000 lamps. In general effect, like all mosques of this simple and extensive plan, it is very stately, from the vast size of its area, and its great number of closely-ranked columns and arches, the latter being of many forms pointed, semicircular,