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MAHOMMEDAN See also:ARCHITECTURE
Before proceeding with " See also:modern architecture," to which the styles now discussed have gradually led us, we have still another important architectural See also:style to describe, in Mahommedan architecture. The See also:term " Mahommedan " has been selected in preference to " Saracenic," because it includes a much wider See also: The same principle was observed in the mosque of See also:Kairawan, in See also:Tunisia (675), and in the mosque of See also:Cordova (786–985), copied from it. Similar wooden ties are found in the mosque of El Aksa and the See also:Dome of the See also:Rock at Jerusalem (built 691), so that they became one of the characteristics of the style. For constructional reasons, however, this method of building was not always adhered to, and in the mosque of Tulun (fig. 55) in Cairo (879), the first mosque in Egypt, built of See also:original materials, we find an important departure. The arcades, instead of running at right angles to the Mecca wall, are built parallel with it, on See also:account of the See also:great thrust of the arches, all built in See also:brick (fig. 56). The wood ties would have been quite insufficient to resist the thrust, and in the See also:case of this mosque were probably used to carry lanterns. The mosque of Tulun is the earliest example in which the pointed See also:arch appears throughout, and it forms the leading and most characteristic constructional feature of the style in its subsequent developments in every See also:country, except in See also:Barbary and Spain, where the circular-headed See also:horse-See also:shoe arch seems to be preferred. As it is also the earliest mosque in which the decoration applied is that which was by'inference laid down in the Koran, some allusion to the restrictions therein contained, and the consequent result, may not be out of See also:place. The See also:representation of nature in any form was absolutely forbidden, and this applied generally to foliage of all kinds, and See also:plants, the representation of birds or animals, and above 5. Fountain for Ablution. 6. Rooms built later. 7. See also:Minaret. 8. Latrines. all of the human figure. The only exceptions to the See also:rule would seem to be those found in the very conventional representations of lions carved over the gateways of Cairo and Jerusalem and in the courts of the See also:Alhambra. It was this restriction which produced the extremely beautiful conventional patterns which are carried See also:round the arches of the mosque of Tulun, and are found in the friezes, See also:string-courses and the capitals of the shafts, and when these patterns form the background of the See also:text of the Koran in high See also:relief, in the splendid Arabic characters, it would be difficult to find a more beautiful decorative See also:scheme in the See also:absence of natural forms. As the mosque of Tulun was built by a Coptic architect, and its decoration is evidently the result of many years of previous developments, it is probably to the See also:Copts that its See also:evolution was due. The second type of decoration is that which is given by geometrical forms, and either in pavements or wall decorations in See also:marble, or in the framing of woodwork in ceilings, or in doorways, the most elaborate and beautiful combinations were produced. The third type of decoration is one which in a sense is found in the origin of most styles, but which, restricted as the Mahommedans were to conventional representations, received a development of far greater importance, and in one of its forms—that known as stalactite vaulting—constitutes the one feature in the style which is not found in any other, and which, from the western See also:coast of Spain to the See also:east of See also:India, at once differentiates it from any other style. A See also:complete account, with illustrations of the origin of the stalactite will be found in the See also:Journal of the Royal See also:Institute of See also:British Architects (1898). The earliest example is found in the See also:tomb of Zobeide, the favourite wife of See also:Harun al-Rashid, at See also:Bagdad, built at the end ofthe 8th century. This tomb, octagonal in plan, and of modest dimensions, was vaulted over by a See also:series of niches in nine stages or levels rising one above the other, and brought forward on the inside, so that the ninth course completed the covering of the tomb. It was built in this way to See also:save centreing, each niche when completed being self-supporting. There is a second tomb at Bagdad, of later date—the tomb of See also:Ezekiel,—constructed in the same way, except that in each See also:stage the niches are built not one over the other but astride between the two, and this is the way in which in subsequent developments it always appears to have been built. Its application to the pendentives of the portals of the mosque at See also:Tabriz and Sultaniya was the next development; and when some two centuries later it is found in See also:Europe, in the palaces of the Ziza at See also:Palermo, dating from about the beginning of the 11th century, it has lost its brick constructive origin, and, being cut in slabs of See also: Although the tendency of modern See also:research points to Persia as the country in which the first development of the See also:art took place, and we have already referred to two tombs at Bagdad, in which the earliest examples of a stalactite vault are found, so far as remains are concerned nothing can be traced earlier than the work of Ghazan See also:Khan (1294), whose mosque at Tabriz, half in ruins, is the earliest example. It is to Egypt therefore we turn first. There still exist—and sometimes in See also:good preservation—mosques and other buildings in Cairo of every See also:period showing the development of the Mahommedan style, from the 9th to the 17th century. Owing to the magnificent material at their command—for unfortunately more of it was taken from the ancient Egyptian monuments than from the quarries-a much purer style was evolved than in Persia ; and owing to the absence of See also:rain those ephemeral structures built in brick and covered with stucco, which in other countries would long have passed away, retained the crispness of their flowing See also:ornament, which is still as See also:sharp and well defined as when executed. We have already referred —greet 1. Kibla. 2. Mimbar. 3. Tomb of 'Amt.. 4. Dakka.
to two of the earlier mosques, those of 'Amr in Old Cairo and of Tulun. The next in date, and built also in brick, is the mosque El Hakim (c. 1003). The mosque of El Azhar (" the Splendid ") was founded about 970, but entirely rebuilt in 1270 and enlarged in 1470. It is the university, and its Liwan or prayer chamber is the largest in Cairo, there being 38o columns carrying its roof.
The mosque of al-Zabir (founded 1264) is now occupied as See also:barracks. In one of its entrance porches the arches are decorated with the well-known zigzag or See also:chevron ornament, and a second See also:porch with See also:cushion voussoirs, features found elsewhere only in See also:Sicily, so that the mosque was probably built by masons brought from thence. Then follows a series of mosques: Kalaun (1287); al-Nasir (1299–1303);and 69 ft. wide, a greater span than any See also:Gothic See also:cathedral, and only exceeded in dimensions by the great See also: This, according to See also:Poole, was not originally a feature in Le i Lti.k"M.41 .111IMM,'=''aub` uT Ji~~il!+1~elgl,~. nst i irgmug .See also:mar- Merdani (1338) ; all based on the same plan as those described with a large courtyard surrounded by porticoes. The mosque of al-Nasir has a portal with clustered piers and pointed and moulded orders. This is said to have been brought over as a See also:trophy from See also:Acre, but it is more probable that Syrian masons were imported to carry on the style introduced by the Crusaders. The mosque of See also:Sultan See also:Hasan (1357–1360) marks an important See also:change in the scheme of its plan, which served afterwards as a future See also:model (fig. 57). It consists of a central court, 117 ft. by 105 ft. open to the See also:sky, and instead of the covered porticoes on each side there are immense recesses covered over with pointed vaults. The prayer chamber is 90 ft. deep, 90 ft. high to the See also:apex of the vault Saracenic mosques. A dome, he says, has nothing to do with prayer and therefore nothing with a mosque. It is simply the roof of a tomb, and only exists when there is at least a tomb to be covered. The greater number of the mosques in and outside Cairo are mausoleums, which accounts for the large number of domes found there. - Of the tombs of the caliphs, outside Cairo, the most important is the tomb of ash-Shafi'i, reputed to have been built by Saladin but now quite changed by restoration. The tomb of Barkuk, in which the courtyard plan of Sultan Hasan is retained, has porticoes round it, which are of much more solid construction than those in earlier examples, and carry small domes. The two great domes on the east side and the minarets on the See also:west are among the finest in Cairo. The tomb-mosque of Kait See also:Bey (c. 1470), though comparatively small, is the finest in design and most elegant of its type in Egypt. Here the central court is covered by a See also:cupola See also:lantern (fig. 58), and the See also:ceiling over the prayer chamber and other recesses is framed in See also:timber and elaborately painted and gilded. The tomb is at the See also:south-east corner, and is covered with a dome in stone, beautifully carved with conventional designs. In some of the mosques by the side of the portal is a fountain enclosed with See also:bronze grilles, and above it a small See also:room sometimes used as a school with open arcades on two sides. This feature in the mosque of Kait Bey, with the portal on its right, the lofty minaret beyond, and the great dome at the farther end, makes it the most picturesque in aspect of any Cairene mosque. (For plan see MosQut:, fig. 3.) It was in Egypt that the minaret received its highest development. The earliest example is that of the mosque of Tulun, which is of unusual shape, and has winding round it an inclined See also:plane or See also:staircase of easy ascent which can be made on horseback. The original design of this scheme was probably derived from the mosque of See also:Samara, a See also:town 6o m. See also:north of Bagdad, where the minaret built c. 85o has a See also:spiral ascent round it, recalling that of the See also:Assyrian ziggurat as at See also:Khorsabad. The See also:general design of the Cairo minarets would seem to have been universally adhered to from the 12th century onwards, but the upper storeys are all varied in detail, there being virtually no two alike. As a rule the See also:lower portion of the minaret forms See also:part of the See also:main wall of the mosque, and was carried tip square a few feel See also:Scale of Feet rr- above the cresting. It then became octagonal on plan, the sides decorated with niches or geometrical ornaments in bold relief. This, the first See also:independent See also:storey, was crowned by a stalactite See also:cornice carrying the See also:balcony (fig. 59), from which the muezzin (callto-prayer) was chanted. In the See also:early and See also:fine examples the See also:balustrade round it consisted of See also:vertical posts with panels between, pierced with geometric ornaments, and all in stone. The second storey, also octagonal, was set back sufficiently to allow a passage round, and this was crowned by a similar stalactite cornice and balustrade. A third storey, sometimes circular on plan, completed the See also:tower, which was crowned with a bulbous terminal. In one of the mosques, that of El Azhar, the first storey is square on plan, and the second storey has twin towers with lofty bulbous finials. The elaboration of the carved ornament on the various storeys of the minarets is of considerable beauty. Among the most remarkable, other than those already referred to, are the miharets of the mosque of al-Bordeni, of Kalaun, al-Nazir, Mu'ayyad (built on the semi-circular See also:bastion wall of the Zuwela See also:Gate),Sultan Barkuk (1348), and numerous other mosques or tombs outside Cairo. The earlier domes were quite See also:plain, hemispherical, with buttresses round the base, similar to those of St See also:Sophia at See also:Constantinople. In the later domes it was found that by raising the upper portion so as to take the form in See also:section of a pointed arch, they could be built in See also:horizontal courses of See also:masonry up to about two-thirds of their height, the upper portion forming a lid without any thrust. It is probably owing to this method of construction that they still exist in such large See also:numbers. The outer surfaces are decorated in various ways with geometrical designs, See also:star patterns, chevrons, diapers, &c. Domes built in brick were covered with stucco and divided up into godroons. We have already referred to the lofty portal of the mosque of Sultan Hasan; portals of smaller dimensions form the principal entrance to all the mosques and private houses. The recessed portion rises to twice or three times the height of the See also:door, and its pointed or cusped See also:head is always filled by a See also:rich stalactite vault. The descriptions of the disposition of plan, and the principles which have governed the plans of the Cairene mosques, apply equally to those in Syria, so that it now only remains necessary to quote the See also:chief examples. Of these the earliest is the Dome of the Rock, incorrectly called the mosque of Omar, which was built by Abdalmalik in 691, partly with materials taken from the buildings destroyed by See also:Chosroes. At first it consisted of a central area en-closing the sacred rock, covered with a dome and with aisles round carried on columns and piers, and like the smaller Dome of the See also:Chain open all round, but the See also:climate of Syria is very different from thatin Egypt, and consequently at a later period (813—833) the sultan See also:Mamun built the walls which now enclose the whole structure. Many restorations have taken place since, and the dome with its rich See also:internal decoration is attributed to Saladin (1189). The magnificent Persian tiles which encase the walls, the marble casing of some of the piers, and the stained See also:glass, form part of the See also:works of See also:Suleiman (1520-1560). The great mosque of See also:Damascus occupied the site of an ancient See also: The Crusaders made various additions in the See also:rear, but the great entrance porch is said to have been added by Saladin, after 1187, and was built probably by See also:Christian masons who were allowed to remain in the country. The numerous minarets at Jerusalem and Damascus in general design follow those of Egypt, but instead of the incised work are generally encased with marble in geometric patterns. The great mosque at Mecca, from which it was thought at one time the plan of the Egyptian and other mosques was taken, is necessarily different from all others, because the Ka'ba or See also:Holy Stone, towards which all the niches in all other mosques turn, stood in its centre. The arcades which surround the court were nearly all rebuilt in the 1'7th century, as the whole mosque was washed away by a torrent in 1626. The mosque of Kairawan in Tunisia was built in 675. It occupies an area of 427 ft. deep and 225 ft. wide, with a prayer chamber at the Mecca end of 17 aisles and 11 bays deep, more than twice, therefore, that of 'Amr in Old Cairo. The columns to the prayer chamber, all taken from ancient buildings, are 22 ft. high in the central See also:aisle and 15 ft. in all the others. They carry horse-shoe arches, which, as in the mosque of :Amr, are all tied together by wood beams inserted at the springing of the arches. The mosque of Cordova was built by Abdarrahman (Abd-ar-Rahman) in 786-789 in See also:imitation of the mosque of Kairawan. There were eleven aisles of twenty-one bays, the centre one slightly wider than the other. The materials,were taken from earlier buildings, and, as the columns and caps were not considered high enough, above the horse-shoe arches are built a second See also:row of arches which carry the See also:barrel vaults. To this mosque Hakim added twelve more bays in See also:depth at the Mecca end (962), and in 985 Mansur added eight more aisles of See also:thirty-three bays on the east side. Part of the open court on the north side dates from Abdarrahman's See also:foundation (690) and part from Mansur. In the mosque of Cordova we find the earliest example of the cusped arch, in the additions made by Hakim in 961; in order to obtain a greater height above the columns, it became necessary to employ the expedient of raising arch above arch in order to obtain the height they required for the ceilings; and as these arches formed purely decorative features, which might otherwise have become monotonous, variety was given by introducing the cusped form of arch and interlacing them one within the other. It is probably this elaborate design which suggested the See also:plaster decorations of the screens above the arches in the court of the Alhambra. Though commenced in 1245, the existing palace of the Alhambra was built in the first half of the 14th century, at a time when the style was fully developed. There are two great courts at right angles to one another, the most important of which was the Court of the Lions, so called from the fountain in the centre, with twelve conventional representations of that See also:animal carrying the basins. This court is surrounded by an See also:arcade with See also:stilted arches carried on slender marble columns with extremely rich decoration above, partly in stucco painted and gilt. The hall of the See also:Abencerrages (35 ft. square) has a polygonal dome covered with See also:arabesque (fig. 60). Two other halls are roofed with lofty stalactite vaults of great intricacy, richly gilded and of remarkable effect (fig. 61), but the employment of stucco instead of stone, as in Egypt, has led to an abuse in the See also:wealth of enrichment, which is only partly redeemed by the plain masonry of the towers and walls enclosing the palace. The Giralda at See also:Seville is the only example of a tower, but it does not seem to have served the purpose of a minaret. With the exception of the built by the Seljukian dynasty, the Mahommedan style in Persia dates from the 13th century, i.e. if Ghazan Khan built the mosque at Tabriz in 1294. The plan is that of a Byzantine church with a central dome, aisles and See also:sanctuary. The portal consists of a lofty niche vaulted with semi-domes and stalactite pendentives, similar in many respects to the well-known example of Sultan Hasan in Cairo, built sixty years later. It is built in brick and covered internally and externally with glazed bricks of various See also:colours, wrought into most intricate patterns with interlacing ornament and with Cufic See also:inscriptions. The dazzling and perfect beauty in point of colour is not to be surpassed, but from the architectural point of view it possesses the fatal See also:sin of not showing its construction. The bricks and tiles are only a See also:veneer, and though in certain features (such as the portal and the dome) the construction is at least suggested, the tendency is to See also:trust to decoration alone to produce architectural effects. (But see TABRIZ.) The great mosque at See also:Isfahan (1585) is a good See also:illustration of the danger attending a too See also:free use of See also:surface decoration. See also:Strip the walls of their tiles, and nothing is See also:left except square See also:box-like forms with pointed arched openings of different form. The interior, how-ever, owing to the variety of its features, and the varied See also:play of See also:light and shade given in the hemispherical vaults of its transepts andniches and the vaulted aisles, constitutes one of the most beautiful monuments of Mahommedan art. Apart from the great development of Mahommedan architecture in India (see INDIAN ARCHITECTURE), there remains now to be described only one other phase of the style, that found in Constantinople. See also:Prior to the conquest of Constantinople in 1445, two mosques were built by the See also:Turks at See also:Brusa in See also:Asia See also:Minor. The plan of Ulu Jami, the great mosque, follows the original courtyard type. Yeshil Jami, the See also:Green mosque (1430), built on the site of a Byzantine church, is cruciform on plan. In both of them the Persian See also:influence is shown, in the magnificent towers with which they are covered, the marble casing and the stalactite vaults.
After the conquest of Constantinople, the supreme beauty of St Sophia, and the adaptability of its plan to the requirements of the Mahommedan faith, caused it to be accepted as the model on which all the new mosques were based. The first two erected were the Bayezid (1497-1515) and the See also:Selim mosques (1520-1526). In the former the dome and its pendentives are carried on octagonal piers. and the dome, io8 ft. in See also:diameter, is greater than in any subsequent example. The finest mosque, and the example in which we find the complete development of the See also:Turkish style, is that erected by
Suleiman the Magnificent in 1550-1555. This mosque, designed by Sinan, an Armenian architect, is still quite perfect. The plan follows very closely its model, St Sophia, and consists of a central dome, 86 ft. in diameter and 156 ft. high, carried on pendentives, resting on great arches which are slightly pointed, with great apses on the east and west sides, and three smaller apses in each, the arches of which are all circular. The principal change in design is that found in the north and south walls, under the arches carrying the dome; in St Sophia they were subdivided into two storeys with galleries overlooking the church, but in the Suleimanic mosque the galleries are set back in the outer aisles, and the See also:screen walls consist of a wide central and two side pointed arches, and voussoirs alternately of See also:black and See also: The mosque is preceded by 'a forecourt, surrounded by an arcade on all sides and containing a fountain, and in the See also:garden in the rear is the tomb of the founder and his wife. The Shah-Zadeh mosque, known as the See also:prince's mosque, was also built by Sultan Suleiman, from the designs of Sinan, the same -;- Armenian architect who built the Suleimanic mosque. Here, instead of confining the great apses to the east and west sides, they are introduced on the north and south sides in place of the screen, and produce a monotonous and poor effect. The same design is found in the Ahmedin mosque, built 1608, and with the same result. Externally, however, they are both fine, owing to the variety of domes, semi-domes and other curved forms of roof. The minarets of the Turkish mosques are very inferior to those of Cairo. They are of great height, generally semicircular, with narrow balconies round the upper part, and crowned with extinguisher See also:roofs. To a certain extent, however, they contrast very well with the domes and semi-domes of St Sophia and those of the mosques built by the Turks. In the mosque of See also:Osman, built 1748-1757, we find the first trace of Western influence in its rococo design, but here, as in the mosque of Mehemet See also:Ali in Cairo, built in 1837, the scheme is so good that, notwithstanding the great falling off in design, and, in the latter mosque, the construction, the effect of the interior is very fine. Amongst other architectural features, the fountains in the court-yards of the mosques and those which decorate the public squares are extremely pleasing in design. The latter are square on plan with polygonal angles, elaborate niches with stalactite heads, with overhanging See also:eaves on each side; the ornament is very varied and the colour sometimes very attractive. The roofs have sometimes most picturesque outlines. (R. P. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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