Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/898

Rh 866 M O S M O S Cairo, built by the same sultan, is also very beautiful, ami re markable for its carvings and mosaics. It should be observed that the magnificent mosques of Egypt, as of other countries, owe little or nothing to the native archi tectural taientof the Arabs them selves. Their own buildings at the time of the Prophet were of the simplest and rudest descrip tion, but they were always ready to make use of the architectural skill and constructive power of the people they conquered. The earlier buildings of Egypt are mainly the product of Coptic and Byzantine skill, while rather later the art of Persia, both in its general designs and details of workmanship, exercised a para mount influence over the whole Moslem world. Another influ ence must not be forgotten, that of French and English Gothic, produced by the bui M ings erected by the crusaders during their oc- Ft0 3 ^{^Tdro cupation of Palestine. One of the ^ Main entran ce. 2. Lobby and cis- Cairo mosques, that of Kalaun, terns for ablution. 3. Great minaret, possesses a fine arched doorway, 4. Kibla. 5. Mimbar. 6. Sultan s tomb- taken from a Christian church c ha ^&amp;gt; er - 7 - The tomb within a screen, at Acre a fine specimen of Early English work, which would not be out of place in Salisbury Cathe dral. Moslem translations of the clustered jamb-shafts and deep arch-mouldings of this style often occur. The rest of northern Africa contains many mosques of great size and splendour ; among these the most important, in addition to those already mentioned as having the normal plan, are (1) the mosque- tomb of Abdallah b. Wadib in Kairawan, Tunis, a very large build ing, containing several courts and cloisters, dating from the same early period as the other great mosque in Kairawan ; its minaret is covered outside with fine blue and green tiles ; (2) the great mosque of Algiers, 10th century ; and (3) that of Tlemcen, in the extreme west of Algeria, built in the middle of the 12th century ; this has a very splendid pavement, partly composed of Algerian onyx, and a beautiful bronze chandelier, 8 feet in diameter, given by Sultan Yarmorak, 1248-83. In Spain, at Zahra near Cordova, was one of the grandest of the early mosques, finished in 941 ; but nothing of it now exists. Several churches in Spain were originally built as mosques, such as S. Cristo de la Luz at Toledo, a small, nearly square building, roofed by dome-like vaulting on marble pillars. In Persia but little now remains of the magnificent early mosques, built with such splendour, especially during the reign of Harun al- Kashid. At Erzeroum there is a fine mosque, combined with tomb and hospital, almost Early Gothic in style, dating from the 13th century. 1 At Tabriz there is another church-like mosque, evidently the work of Byzantine builders ; according to Texier, this belongs to the 16th century, but it is probably two or three hundred years earlier. The mosque of Houen, near Csesarea in Cilicia, is a fine large rectangular building, covered with low domes on square piers. It dates from the second half of the 12th century. At Tchekirghe near Broussa is a very remarkable mosque that of Murad I., built in the 13th century, almost in the style of con temporary Italian Gothic. Its main fa9ade bears an extraordinary resemblance to one of the earlier Sienese palaces. The later capital of Persia Ispahan became the centre of the highest development of the Persian arts under Shah Abbas I., 1585-1629 ; to this period belongs the splendid mosque called Masjid Shah, a strangely-planned building of great size, enriched in the most sumptuous way, inside and out, by wall-coverings of the finest Persian enamelled tiles. The mosque of Sultan Hosein, built as late as 1730, preserves much of the old beauty of design and decoration. India is especially rich in mosques of great size and beauty. The earlier ones are much influenced by the still older Hindu architec ture, and some of the larger mosques are built of materials from the old Jain temples. It is recorded that twenty-seven Hindu temples were destroyed to build the great mosque in Old Delhi, erected 1196 to 1235, which presents a curious mixture of the semi -barbarous Hindu carved work with the more refined and graceful decoration of the Moslem builders. This great mosque is on the normal plan, as is the 13th century mosque at Ajmir, also 1 See Texier, L Arme nie et la Perse, 1842-52 ; Coste, Monuments Mndernes de la Perse, 1867 ; Flandiu aud Coste, Voyage en Perse, 1843-54. built on the ruins of a Hindu temple. A whole volume would not suffice to describe the magnificent mosques of India, such as those at Ahmedabad, Mandu, Maldah, Bijapur, Fathipur, and countless others. The introduction in the 17th century of Florentine marble and mosaic workers produced a new and very splendid style of building, of which the &quot;pearl mosque&quot; and the Taj Mehal at Agra are the finest specimens. At Srinagar in Kashmir there is a large and very remarkable, mosque of the normal plan, constructed entirely of wood logs, with numerous pillars of deodar pine ; it was built by Shah Hamadan, and is an extremely picturesque building. (See Cole, Ancient Build ings in Kashmir, 1869.) In Turkey the mosques are either old Christian basilicas, such as S. Sophia and S. Saviour s at Constantinople, and the numerous fine early churches of Thessalonica and Trebizond, or else are mostly copies, more or less accurate, of Justinian s splendid church of S. Sophia, a building which seems to have been enthusiastically ail- mired and appreciated by the Ottoman conquerors. The mosque of Solaiman the Magnificent, 1550-1555, is the finest of these Turkish reproductions of S. Sophia. Another, rather less close a copy, is the mosque of Sultan Ahmed, 1608. None of this latter class are of course earlier than the middle of the 16th century. 2 In the present century Moslem art has produced but little of architectural importance. The great mosque of Mohammed Ali, on the citadel of Cairo, is the work of a German architect, and though built of rich materials is of small artistic value or interest ; it is a large but feebly designed building of the S. Sophia type. Unfor tunately European influence seems now to be rapidly destroying the feeling for true art that still survives among Moslem nations. Liternture. In addition to works referred to above see Monumentos Arquitrc- tonicos de, Espana, 1859-83 ; Murphy, Arabian Antiquities of Spain, 1813 ; Owen Jones, Alhambra, 1842 ; Antiguedades Arabes de Espana, 1870 ; Hay s Views in Cairo, 1840 ; Roberts, Holy Land, Egypt, &c., 1842-9 ; Hessemer, Arabische Bau-Verzierungen, 18&quot;&amp;gt;3 ; Castellan!, Architettnra Orientals; Launay and Mon- tani, Architecture. Ottomane, 1873 ; Salzenberg, Alt-Christliche Baudenkmale von Constantinopel. 1854; Lewis, Illustrations of Constantinople, 1837; Chardin, Voyage en Perse, 1735: Fergusson, Architecture of India, &c., 1876; Cole, Ancient Delhi. (J. H M.) MOSQUITO (sometimes written &quot; Mosquita &quot;), a Spanish word signifying &quot; little fly,&quot; is a name popularly applied to certain annoying dipterous insects, and, strictly speaking, it should probably be used only for species of Culicidx (and for the genus Culex in particular), for which &quot; gnat &quot; is the English synonym ; but in many countries it is by almost common consent applied to all small dipterous in sects that suck human blood, and therefore includes what we know as &quot;sand-flies,&quot; &quot;midges,&quot; &c., of the genera Ceratopogon, Simulium, and others. By Englishmen a distinction is often falsely drawn between &quot;mosquito&quot; and &quot;gnat,&quot; the former being supposed to represent an insect native chiefly of hot climates, whereas the latter is their own too-well-known pest. In effect the terms are really synonymous, and any actual difference can only be specific. In very hot seasons we not uncommonly hear alarming reports of mosquitoes having made their appear ance in London and elsewhere in the British Isles, and means whereby they were imported are often suggested, the real facts of the case being that extra heat may render the native species more annoying, or that it causes a bodily condition in which their bites are more severely felt. 3 The &quot; mosquitoes &quot; of high northern latitudes may be species both of Culex and Simulium. Accounts of the numbers of these insects in tropical countries and in high latitudes, and of their irritating attacks, are to be met with seldom exaggerated in most books of travel. Even in Britain the annoyance caused by gnats is very great, and in marshy districts often unen durable, especially to new-comers, for it seems probable that the insects really attack a visitor more furiously than they do the natives of the district, but, on the other hand, the latter may be more indifferent to their assaults. In some subjects even the &quot;piping&quot; by which a hungry gnat announces its presence has most distressing effects. In 3 Texier and Pull.in, Byzantine Churches, 1864 ; Pulgher, gliaef de Constantinople, 1882. 3 A few years ago a London hotel, popular with American visitors, was said to harbour mosquitoes, which some of the visitors had brought with them from the Southern States. An examination revealed the fact that the cistern was uncovered and exposed, and was the breeding-place for hosts of gnats.