Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/686

* KUFIC WRITING. 62a KTJHN. Peninsula. Petra, and the Hauran. It was origi- nally written without diacritical and vowel points, these being gradually introduced during the first centurj' of the Hejira. The first copies of the Koran were written in it, and it took its name from C'ufa (Arabic al-Ki'ifah), a city in the Vilayet of. Bagdad, which in the early caliph- ate had become a centre for Moslem studies. The alphabet was arranged like the Hebrew and Syriac; but this order, though occasionally used for numerical piir])oses, has now been superseded by another. The Kufic character, which is of a somewhat clumsy and ungainly shape, began to fall into disuse after about 1000, its place being taken by the i^aslchi, which is the common form of writing to-day. This Xaskhi made its way with difficulty. It is found first in documents dated "50. The Kufic has been largely employed in inscriptions on mosques, palaces, forts, etc., and on coins. Epigraphically it is found in several forms. The simple Kufic was employed from the first century of the Hejira up to the middle of the fourth. It has all the clumsy and angular characters of this scri])t. The orna- mental Kufic is represented by the inscrip- tions of the Fatimite dynasty in Egjpt (tenth- twelfth centuries) : this has wrongly been called the Karmatian. The decorative Kufic is used for Koran verses which simply serve the purpose of adornment. Since the introduction of the round Xaskhi characters, the decorative Kufic has developed several varieties, sometimes in the form of leaves and branches; at others elongated and thin; or, thirdly, square and geometric. The introduction of the Xaskhi into Arabic epigraphy was due to the .Sunnite reaction under the Sel- juks, Atabeks. Xur ed-Din, and Saladin, and was coincident with the Crusade and Mongol inva- sions. It started in Persia, where it is seen upon coins in the tenth century and in inscriptions during the eleventh century. It overran Bagdad, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine, and entered Egypt with Saladin. Tlie earliest Xaskhi inscrip- tion in Syria is of 11.55. The last Fatimite in- scription in ornamental Kufic in Cairo is dated 1160. Saladin's first inscription in Cairo (in Xaskhi) is dated 118.3. Difl'erent kinds of these Xaskhi (in which the alphabet is arranged ac- cording to the outward similarity of the letters) are the Diicani (only employed for decrees, pass- ports, etc.), the Ta'lil- (the Court script, chiefly used in Persia), the Thuluth (threefold, highly flourished and involved, used at the head of books and doc'uments), the Yakuti. Rihani, etc. The Maghrebin cursive script used in Xorthwest- ern Africa is a direct deve!o|mient of the Kufic. Consult: Taylor. The Mphahrt. vol. i. (London. 1883) ; Von Berchem, Corpus Inscriptionum Arabiconim (Paris. 18041000); Houdas, Essai Siir I'ecritiire maf/hrebine (1886) : and the Pale- ographical Societv's "Oriental Series" (London, 1884). K'tJ-FOW. A city in China. See Kluii-FOW. KUGBEB, kooG'ler, Fraxz (1808-58). A German art historian and poet. He was bom at Stettin. January 19. 1808. He studied at the universities of Berlin and Heidelberg, and at the Academy of Architecture. Berlin. After the completion of a very diversified course of study, he devoted himself to the fine arts. In 1833 he became a professor of art history at the Academv of Fine Arts and decent in the University of Berlin. His best known work is the Uandbuch der (Jesehichle dcr Malerci, etc. ( Manual of the History of Painting from the Time of Constantine the Great to the Present Day) (1837), which has been translated into English — the part relating to Italian art by Sir Charles and Lady Eastlakc, and revised by Aus- ten Henry Layard (London, 1801), and that re- lating to the German, Dutch, and Flemish schools under the editorship of Sir Edmund Head, revised by Sir .Joseph A. Crowe (London. 1898). His other works include: Geschichte Friedrichs des Grossen (Leipzig, 1840; 12th ed. 1887) ; a Haiid- buch der Kunst geschichte (Manual of the His- tory of Art) (1842; revised by Liibke, Stuttgart, 1871-72); Geschichte dcr Baukunst (Berlin, 1855-00), the most complete work on the subject, as far as it goes. He is also favorably known as a poet, and as the author of several dramas, published in his Belletristische Schrifteii (Berlin, 1852). He died in Berlin, March 18, 1858. KUH, koo, Emil (1828-7G). An Austrian critic and poet, born in Vienna, of .Jewish parents. He studied philosophy and history, embraced Catholicism in Berlin, in 1857. and returned to Vienna, where he became prominent as a literary critic through his contributions to the leading newspapers, and in 1864 was appointed professor of German language and literature at the Han- delsakademie. His most valuable work is a comprehensive biography of Friedrich Hebbel (1877). although its partiality provoked great opposition. Besides, he published: Veber neiiere Lyrik (1865), an excellent essay; Zicei Dichter Oesterreichs: Franz Orillparzer und Adalbert Stifter (1872) : and Dichtrrhnch uus Oestcrrcieh (1863), an unusually well selected anthology. His own lyrics are original in sentiment and graceful in diction. With Julius Glaser he edited the collected works of Hebbel (Hamburg, 1804- 66), and with Pachler the Xachlass of Friedrich Halm (Vienna, 1872). KUHLAtr, kJir/lou. Friedrich (1786-1832). A German composer, born at Veelzen, Hanover. When very young he lost one eye, but despite this handicap, and his poverty, which compelled him to gain a living by singing in the streets, he managed to study harmony under Schwencke in Brunswick. To avoid the conscription in Ger- many he went to Copenhagen in 1810, where he became first flute in the King's band (1813), and five years later became Court composer. Mean- while he had composed a number of operas, popu- lar in their day. but long since forgotten. His songs, quartets, and sonatas were once widely known, but at present only a few compositions for the flute and for the piano are in use. KUHN", koon, Ernst (1846—). A German Orientalist, son of Franz Felix Adalbert Kuhn, born in Berlin. He was educated there and at Tubingen, and, after lecturing four years at Halle and Leipzig, in 1875 became professor of Sanskrit and comparative philology at Heidel- berg. Two years later he went to Munich as pro- fessor of Sanskrit. After his father's death (1881) he became editor of Kuhn's Zeitschrift fiir rergleichende Sprachforschunrf, and in 1893 of Orientalische Bihliorjraphie. One of his most important works is the Grundriss der iranischen Philoloqie, published with Geicer (Strassburs, 1895 et seq.). From 1879 to 1880. with Socin, he was ip. charge of Wissenschaftliche Jahresbe-