CHAPTER II.SYRIA AND EGYPT.

CONTENTS.

Mosques at Jerusalem—El-Aksah—Mosque at Damascus—Egypt—Mosques at Cairo—Other African buildings—Mecca.

CHRONOLOGY.

Asbefore mentioned, the earliest mosque of which we have any record was that built by Mahomet himself at Medina. As, however, it contained apartments for his wives, and other rooms for domestic purposes, it might perhaps be more properly denominated a dwelling house than a mosque. Indeed sacred buildings, as we understand them, seem to have formed no part of the scheme of the Mahomedan dispensation. The one temple of this religion was the Kaabah at Mecca, towards which all believers were instructed to turn when they prayed. As with the ancient Jews—one Temple and one God were the watchwords of the faith.

When, however, the Mahomedans came among the temple-building nations, they seem early to have felt the necessity of some material object—some visible monument of their religion; and we find that Omar, when he obtained possession of Jerusalem, in the 15th year of the Hejira, felt the necessity of building a place of prayer towards which the faithful might turn, or rather which should point out to them the direction of Mecca.

According to the treaty of capitulation, in virtue of which the city was ceded to the Moslems, it was agreed that the Christians should retain possession of all their churches and holy places; and no complaint is made of even theslightest attempt to infringe this article during the following three centuries. On the other hand, it was stipulated that a spot of ground should be ceded to Omar, in whichhe might establish a place of prayer. For this purpose the site of the old Temple of the Jews was assigned to him by the patriarch; that spot being considered sacred by the Moslems, on account of the nocturnal visit of the Prophet, and because they then wished to conciliate the Jews, while at the same time the spot was held accursed by the Christians on account of the Lord’s denunciation and Julian’s impious attempt to rebuild it. Here Omar built a mosque, which is described by an early pilgrim who saw it, as a simple square building of timber capable of holding three thousand people, and constructed on the ruins of some more ancient edifice.[143]

970. Plan of the Mosque el-Aksah at Jerusalem. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.

The troubles which, during the next half-century, succeeded the murder of Ali and his sons, seem to have been unfavourable to building or any of the arts of peace, and no record has yet been brought to light of any important structure erected during that period. In the 69th year of the Hejira, Abd el-Melik, the Caliph of Damascus, determined to erect a mosque at Jerusalem. His objects were to set up that city as a place of pilgrimage in opposition toMecca, which was then in the possession of a rival, and to carry into effect what was at one time understood to have been the intention of Mahomet, namely, to convert the temple of Jerusalem into the holy place of his new religion, instead of that of Mecca. These ulterior purposes were never realised, in consequence of the violent opposition which the project met with from the Jews.

971. View in the Mosque el-Aksah at Jerusalem.

The mosque which Abd el-Melik erected was, according to Professor Lewis,[144]partially destroyed by earthquakes in the years 748, 755 and 770A.D., and was rebuilt by El Mahdi in 771-781A.D., with increased lateral dimensions but diminished in length. From the description given by Mukaddasi,[145]the building, thus restored, covered a very much larger area than the existing mosque, there being as many as seven aisles on each side of the central aisle. Professor Lewis, in the work above quoted, gives a suggested restoration of the plan, which in the first place resembles very closely the prayer chambers of the typical Mahomedanmosques at Amru in Old Cairo, Kerouan in Barbary, and Cordoba in Spain; and in the general plan coincides so nearly in the position of its piers and columns with the existing building, so far as it extends, as to give a reasonable probability to his suggestion. When Jerusalem was taken by the Crusaders, the Aksah was converted by them into a palace, and some of their work is still to be seen in the arcades at the north end. After the conquest of Saladin he carried out extensive restorations; he covered the Mihrab, which had been walled off by the Crusaders, and decorated it with marble: he erected the magnificent pulpit which had been sent from Aleppo, and rebuilt the transept with its dome as we now see it.

As the Aksah exists at present it has the appearance of an ordinary basilica with nave and aisles, to which double aisles have been added on each side. This would suggest that the three central aisles of the mosque were raised above the rest of the building in order to obtain increased light through clerestory windows both in central and side aisles. This, however, may have been done by El Mahdi, who also built the transept and dome, because they are mentioned by Mukaddasi (985A.D.), who says “the centre part of the main building is covered by a mighty roof, high pitched and gable-wise, behind which rises a magnificent dome.” The mosque (Woodcut No.971) is 187 ft. wide and 272 ft. in length over all, thus covering about 50,000 sq. ft., or as much as many of our cathedrals. It has a porch, which is a later addition, but has not the usual square court in front, possibly because it was already within the enclosure of the sacred area. “The interior is supported,” says an Arab historian,[146]“by 45 columns, 33 of which are of marble, and 12 of common stone, besides which there are 40 piers of common stone.” Later investigation has shown that the main piers of the church are built with materials taken from some earlier edifice: the circular piers of the nave, for instance, are of a reddish marble from quarries near Jerusalem, patched up and bound together with iron rings, the whole being plastered over, painted and polished in imitation of marble, and Professor Lewis suggests that they may have been taken from Justinian’s Church of St. Mary (described by Procopius), which was burnt and thrown down by Chosroes in 614A.D.

Although extremely picturesque, as an architectural object the Aksah is of no great importance, the only portions which can lay any claim to beauty being the arches carried on basket-capitals, which were erected by the Crusaders, and the later decorations of Saladin and other Sultans who enriched the south portion of the mosque near the Mihret: it must also be added that it suffers very considerably from its juxtaposition with the Dome of the Rock, which, though constructed by the same Abd el-Melik who founded the Aksah, has been added to anddecorated in so sumptuous a manner by succeeding khalifs as to render it one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

The first drawings which were made of the Dome of the Rock (Cubbet-es-Sakra, more generally known as the Mosque of Omar) by Messrs. Arundale and Catherwood (probably under great difficulties, for the sacred enclosure was not then thrown open to the gaze of unbelievers), represented the work as one of uniform design. The more careful examination which has been made in later years has revealed that the columns, capitals and bases of the main structure were taken from some earlier buildings and adapted in the best way; a high base making amends for a small capital, and new ones only being made when it became necessary. On this point Major Condor says,[147]“only three of the capitals under the drum are alike; the rest differ in size, in outline, and in details. One of the capitals is evidently placed on a shaft which did not originally belong to it, but which required a large capital. The sixteen capitals in the screen are more uniform:” “two of those capitals are, however, of entirely different design, and their shafts longer than the others.” “The original bases are now covered with marble flagging;” “but this was removed in 1874, and it was then found that they differed in outline and height, viz. from 4 to as much as 17 inches.”

972. Plan of the Dome of the Rock (Mosque of Omar) Jerusalem.

The plan (Woodcut No.972), consists of a central hall over the Sakhra, or sacred rock, with double aisles round. The hall is divided from the first aisle by 4 piers, with 3 columns between each; these 16 supports carry 3-centred arches (virtually pointed arches, whose centres are distant from one another by about one-fourth of the span, with the point of the arch rounded off) with wooden tie-beams. Above these arches rises a lofty cylindrical drum, the upper portion of which is pierced with 16 clerestory windows; the whole covered by a wooden dome, richly carved, painted and gilded. The screen which divides the first aisle from the surrounding one is octagonal, with piers at each angle, and two columns between each; these columns are surmounted by capitals, dosserets, and carry wood beams encased in rich architraveframing, and circular arches above with a frieze decorated with an inscription above, now partially hidden by later restorations. The outer wall is also octagonal, with four doorways facing the cardinal points, and a parapet, the pent roof over both aisles being continuous.

973. View in Aisle of Dome of Rock. (From a Drawing by Catherwood.)

974. Capital in Dome of Rock. (From De Vogüé.)

The history of the structure has been carefully worked out by Professor Lewis, taken from various ancient authors, compiled in part by Messrs. Besant and Palmer, from which it would seem that Abd-el-Melik, having first built a small dome known as the Cubbet-es-Silsileh (Dome of the Chain) (A, Woodcut No.972), for a treasury, was so pleased with the work that he ordered the great dome over the Sakhra to be built on the same model. The structure thus erected (shown in black on the plan, Woodcut No.972), was executed by skilled workmen from Persia, Byzantium, and India. It was hung round with curtains of brocade, probably protected by eaves as in the Cubbet-es-Silsileh. Owing possibly to the inclemency of the weather, the Khalif el-Mamun (813-33) enclosed the whole with the octagonal wall, and made various alterations, including the erasure of Abd-el-Melik’s name in the frieze before alluded to, and the insertion of his own, the date being untouched. To this period (9th century) may also be attributed the mosaic decorations of the drum, though a later date is by some ascribed to them. The dome was rebuilt by Saladin, 1189, and although restored, is substantially the same as erected by him. In the 16thcentury the whole building was restored by Solyman the Magnificent, who encased the piers of the interior and the arches covered by them with marble, filled the clerestory windows with stained glass, and encased with marble and Persian tiles the external walls.

Notwithstanding the various additions and restorations which have thus therefore been made from time to time, the whole structure retains at first sight one uniform character in its design, and it is only on a careful analysis of its several parts that it is possible to distinguish the dates of the various changes. The effect which is produced by the whole is quite unrivalled by any other known building of its class. It has not, of course, the splendour and magnificence arising from the vastness and constructive beauty of such a church as Sta. Sophia at Constantinople, but for its dimension, there is probably no building in the world the design of which is at the same time so beautiful and so appropriate for the purposes for which it was erected.

975. Order of the Dome of the Rock. (From a Drawing by Arundale.)

As an architectural object the great mosque at Damascus is even more important than the Aksah, and its history is as interesting. The spot on which it stands was originally occupied by one of thosesmall Syrian temples, surrounded by a squaretemenos, of which those at Palmyra and Jerusalem are well-known examples.[148]The one in question was, however, smaller, having been apparently only 450 ft. square; and we do not know the form of the temple which occupied its centre.[149]This temple was converted into a Christian church by Theodosius (395-408), and dedicated to St. John the Baptist, whose chapel still exists within the precincts of the mosque.

976. Plan of Mosque at Damascus. By Sir Charles Wilson. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.

According to Jelal ed-Deen,[150]the church remained the joint property of the Christians and Moslems, both praying together in it—or, at least, on the east and west sides of a partition run through it—from the fall of the city in the year of the Hejira 14 (A.D.636) to the time of the Caliph Walid in the year 86. He offered the Christians either four desecrated churches in exchange for it, or threatened to deprive them of one which they held on sufferance. As soon as the matter was settled, it is said, he pulled down the Christian church, or at least part of it, and in ten years completed the present splendid mosque on its site, having first procured from the emperor at Constantinople fit and proper persons to act as architects and masons in its construction.

If the building were carefully examined by some competent person, it might even now be possible to ascertain what parts belonged to the Heathen, what to the Christians, and what to the Moslems. At first sight it might appear that the covered part of the mosque is only the Christian church, used laterally like that at Ramleh; but its dimensions—126 ft. by 446—are so much in excess of any three-aisled church of that age, that the idea is hardly tenable. On the whole, it seems probable that we must consider that the materials which had first been collected for the Temple, and were afterwards used in the church, were entirely rearranged by the Mahomedans in the form in which we now find them.

Like all buildings in the first century of the Hejira, it was so badly done that nearly all the pillars of the court have since that time been encased in piers of masonry. The walls have been covered up with plaster, and whitewash has obliterated the decoration which once existed, and which is still visible where the plaster has peeled off. It is still, however, interesting from its history, venerable from its age, and important from its dimensions. These are, externally, 508 ft. by 320, and the enclosed court 400 ft. by 106. So that, in so far as size is concerned, it may rank among the first of its class; and it has always been considered so sacred, that repairs and additions have constantly been made to it since its erection, more than eleven centuries ago; but, as in the case of its contemporary the Aksah at Jerusalem, the result is far from satisfactory. In this respect, these two buildings form, as just mentioned, a most singular contrast with the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem (Woodcuts Nos.973to975). That is perfect—solemn and solid, and one of the most impressive buildings in the world, both externally and internally; while the other erections of the Moslems are rickety, in spite of all repairs, and produce no impression of greatness notwithstanding their dimensions and antiquity.

The additions made by the Moslems to the mosque at Hebron (Woodcut No.542) are mean and insignificant to the last degree; and beyond these, it isdifficult to say what there is in Syria built by them that is worthy of attention.

There are some handsome fountains at Jerusalem, some details at Hasbeiya, a few large khans at Beisan and elsewhere, and some very fine city gates and remnants of military architecture; but the tombs are insignificant, and except the two mosques described, there seems to be no example of monumental architecture of any importance. The one building epoch of the country occurred when the Roman influence was at its height, during the first five centuries of the Christian era. Since that time very little has been done, except by the Crusaders, worthy of record; and before it nothing, that, from an architectural point of view, would deserve a place in history.

In Egypt our history begins with the mosque which Amru, in the 21st year of the Hejira (A.D.642) erected at Old Cairo; its original dimensions were only 50 cubits, or 75 ft. long, by 30 cubits, or 45 ft. wide. Edrisi[151]says that it was originally a Christian church which the Moslems converted into a mosque; and its dimensions and form would certainly lead us to suppose that, if not so, it was at least built after the pattern of the Christian churches of that age. As early, however, as the 53rd year of the Hejira it was enlarged, and again in the 79th; and it apparently was almost wholly rebuilt by the two great builders of that age, Abd-el-Melik and Walid, the builders of the mosques of Jerusalem and Damascus.

It probably now remains in all essential parts as left by these two Caliphs, though frequently repaired, and in some parts probably altered by subsequent sovereigns of Egypt. In its present state it may be considered as a fair specimen of the form which mosques took when they had quite emancipated themselves from the Christian models, or rather when the court before the narthex of the Christian church had absorbed the basilica, so as to become itself the principal part of the building, the church part being spread out into a prayer chamber (Mihrab) and its three apses modified into niches pointing towards the sacred Mecca.

As will be seen from the plan (Woodcut No.977), it is nearly square (390 ft. by 357), and consists of a court-yard, 255 ft. square, surrounded on all sides by arcades supported by 245 columns takenfrom older edifices of the Romans and Byzantines.[152]These columns carried brick arches,[153]tied at their springing by wooden beams, as in the Aksah. All this part of the mosque, however, has been so often repaired and renovated, that but little of the original details can now remain.

977. Mosque of Amru, Old Cairo. (From Coste’s ‘Architecture Arabe.’) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.

Of the original mosque, the only part that can with certainty be said to exist is a portion of the outer wall, represented in Woodcut No.960, which possesses the peculiarity of being built with pointed arches, similar in form to those of the Aksah at Jerusalem. They are now built up, and must have been so at the time of one of the earlier alterations; still they are, from their undoubted antiquity, a curious contribution to the much-contested history of the pointed arch. Notwithstanding the beautiful climate of Egypt, the whole mosque is now in a sad state of degradation and decay, arising principally from itsoriginal faulty construction. Owing to the paucity of details, many of M. Coste’s restorations must be taken as extremely doubtful.

From the time of the great rebuilding of the mosque of Amru under Walid, there is a gap in the architectural history of Egypt of nearly a century and a half, during which time it is probable that no really great work was undertaken there, as Egypt was then a dependent province of the great Caliphat of the East. With the recovery, however, of something like independence, we find one of its most powerful rulers, Ibn Tooloon, commencing a mosque at Cairo (A.D.876), which, owing to its superior style of construction, still remained in tolerable perfection till about 1860.[154]

Tradition, as usual, ascribes the design to a Christian architect, who, when the Emir declined to use the columns of desecrated churches for the proposed mosque, offered to build it entirely of original materials. He was at first thrown into prison through the machinations of his rivals; but at last, when they found they could not dispense with his services, was again sent for, and his design carried out.[155]

Be this as it may, the whole style of the mosque shows an immense advance on that of its predecessor, all trace of Roman or Byzantine art having disappeared in the interval, and the Saracenic architecture appearing complete in all its details, the parts originally borrowed from previous styles having been worked up and fused into a consentaneous whole.

978. Arches in the Mosque of Amru. (From G. de Prangey’s Work.)

979. Mosque of Ibn Tooloon at Cairo. (From Coste’s ‘Architecture Arabe.’)

The architect is said to have been a Copt, and if so this would explain the development of style, Mr. Butler’s work on the Coptic churches of Egypt,[156]proving clearly that, long previous to the buildings of Tooloon, a style had been developed by the Copts with ornaments of a geometrical character similar to that which is found in Tooloon.[157]Fromthis time we find no backsliding; the style in Egypt at last takes its rank as a separate and complete architectural form. It is true, that in so rich a storehouse of materials as Egypt, the architects could not always resist appropriating the remains of earlier buildings; butwhen they did this, they used them so completely in their own fashion, and so worked them into their own style, that we do not at once recognise the sources from which they are derived.

To return, however, to the mosque of Tooloon. Its general arrangement is almost identical with that of the mosque of Amru, only with somewhat increased dimensions, the court being very nearly 300 ft. square, and the whole building 390 ft. by 455. No pillars whatever are used in its construction, except as engaged corner shafts; all the arches, which are invariably pointed, being supported by massive piers. The court on three sides has two ranges of arcades, but on the side towards Mecca there are five; and with this peculiarity, that instead of the arcades running at right angles to the Mecca wall (as in the mosques of Amru and Kerouan) they run parallel to it. This may be accounted for by the great solidity of the walls carried by these arches, and the fact that the thrust of the latter could not have been counteracted by the wooden ties which suffice in the two examples above mentioned. By running the arcade the other way, the arches served as abutments one to the other, carrying the thrust to the outer walls, which are of great thickness. The same principle is observed on the other three sides, which in each case lie parallel to the external wall.

The whole building is of brick, covered with stucco; and fortunately almost every opening is surrounded by an inscription in the old form of Cufic characters, which were then used, and only used, about the period to which the mosque is ascribed, so that there can be no doubt as to its date. Indeed, the age both of the building itself and of all its details, is well ascertained.

The Woodcut No.979will explain the form of its arcades, and of the ornaments that cover them. Their general character is that of bold and massive simplicity, the counterpart of our own Norman style. A certain element of sublimity and power, in spite of occasional clumsiness, is common to both these styles. Indeed, excepting the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, there is perhaps no mosque in Cairo so imposing and so perfect as this, though it possesses little or nothing of that grace and elegance which we are accustomed to expect in this style.

980. Window in Mosque of Ibn Tooloon.

Among the more remarkable peculiarities of this building is the mode in which all the external openings are filled with that peculiar sort of tracery which became as characteristic of this style as that of the windows of our churches five centuries afterwards is of the Gothicstyle. With the Saracens the whole window is filled, and the interstices are small and varied; both which characteristics are appropriate when the window is not to be looked out of, or when it is filled with painted glass; but of course are utterly unsuitable to our purposes. Yet it is doubtful, even now, whether the Saracenic did not excel the Gothic architects, even in their best days, in the elegance of design and variety of invention displayed in the tracery of their windows. In the mosque of Ibn Tooloon it is used as an old and perfected invention, and with the germs of all those angular and flowing lines which afterwards were combined into such myriad forms of beauty.

It is possible that future researches may bring to light a building, 50 or even 100 years earlier than this, which may show nearly as complete an emancipation from Christian art; but for the present, it is from the mosque of Tooloon (A.D.885) that we must date the complete foundation of the new style. Although there is considerable difficulty in tracing the history of the style from the erection of the mosques of Damascus and Jerusalem to that of Tooloon, there is none from that time onwards. Cairo alone furnishes nearly sufficient materials for the purpose.

The next great mosque erected in this city was El-Azhar, or “the splendid” built in the yearA.D.981 by the Arabs of Kerouan on the type of their own mosque. This has been rebuilt in later times, but according to Mr. Carpenter[158]it preserves the proportions of its original plan. It is said to have been converted into a university in 1199, but was overthrown by an earthquake in 1303, and subsequently entirely rebuilt and restored by various sultans.

The Mosque of Al Hákim was built in the beginning of the 11th century. Portions of the arcades still remain, which show it to have been of the same type as Tooloon, with pointed and slightly horseshoe arches, and engaged angle shafts, which in Tooloon are probably the earliest examples of that feature extant. In the place of the minarets are two Mabkárehs or square tombs with small minarets on the top.

The buildings during the next two centuries are neither numerous nor remarkable in size, though progress is very evident in such examples as exist, and towards the commencement of the 13th century we find the style almost entirely changed. The Mosque of El-Dhahir (1268), now used as a fort, is remarkable for the ornament around the arches of two of its porches, which would prove it to be of Norman origin. It consists of a chevron or zigzag in one case, and of moulded mullions in the other, similar to those found in the porch of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, attributed to the Crusaders, and in the tower of the Martorana at Palermo.

The mosque of Kalaoon and the hospital attached to it (A.D.1287) are both noble buildings, full of the most elegant details, and not without considerable grandeur in parts. In all except detail, however, they must yield the palm to the next great example, the mosque with which the Sultan Hassan adorned Cairo in the year 1356. In some respects it is one of the most remarkable mosques ever erected in any country, and differing considerably from any other with which we are at present acquainted.

As will be seen from the plan (Woodcut No.981), its external form is very irregular, following on all sides the lines of the streets within which it is situated. This irregularity, however, is not such as to detract from its appearance, which is singularly bold and massive on every side; the walls being nearly 100 ft. in height, and surmounted by a cornice, which adds another 13 ft., and projects about 6 ft. This great height is divided into no less than nine storeys of small apartments; but the openings are so deeply recessed, and the projections between them so bold, that, instead of cutting it up and making it look like a factory, which would have been the case in England, the building has all the apparent solidity of a fortress, and seems more worthy of the descendants of the ancient Pharaohs than any work of modern times in Egypt.

981. Mosque of Sultan Hassan. (From Coste’s ‘Architecture Arabe.’) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.

Internally there is a court open to the sky, measuring 117 ft. by105, enclosed by a wall 112 ft. in height. Instead of the usual colonnades or arcades, only one gigantic niche opens in each face of the court. On three sides these niches measure 46 ft. square; but on that which faces Mecca, the great niche is 69 ft. wide by 90 in depth, and 90 ft. high internally. All four are covered with simple tunnel-vaults of a pointed form, without either ribs or intersections, and for simple grandeur are unrivalled by any similar arches known to exist anywhere.

Behind the niche pointing towards Mecca is the tomb of the founder, square in plan, as these buildings almost always are, measuring 69 ft. each way, and covered by a lofty and elegant dome resting on pendentives of great beauty and richness. It is flanked on each side by two noble minarets, one of which is the highest and largest in Cairo and probably in any part of the world, being 280 ft. in height and of proportionate breadth. Its design and outline, however, are scarcely so elegant as some others, though even in these respects it must be considered a very beautiful example of its class.

982. Section of Mosque of Hassan, Cairo. Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.

One of the principal defects of this building is the position of its doorway, which, instead of facing thekiblehor niche pointing towards Mecca, is placed diagonally, in the street alongside of the building. It is a very beautiful specimen of architecture in itself; still its situation and the narrow passages that led from it to the main building detract most materially from the effect of the whole edifice, which in other respects is so perfect. It may have been that ground could not be obtained for the purpose of placing the entrance in the rightposition; but more probably it was so arranged for the sake of defence, the whole structure having very much the appearance of a fortalice, and being without doubt erected to serve that purpose, as well as being adapted for a house of prayer.

One of the finest buildings of the 14th century is that built by Sultan Berkook outside the walls of Cairo (A.D.1384), which, besides a mosque, contains an additional feature in the great sepulchral chambers which are in fact the principal part of the edifice, and betray the existence of a strong affinity to the tomb-building races in the rulers of Egypt at that time.

983. Plan of Mosque and Tombs of Sultan Berkook. (From Coste.) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.

The plan and section (Woodcuts Nos.983,984), though small, will show the state to which the art had at that period arrived in Egypt. The pointed arch, as will be observed, is used with as much lightness and elegance as ever it reached in the West.

984. Section of Mosque of Berkook. (From Coste’s ‘Architecture Arabe.’)

The dome has become a truly graceful and elaborate appendage, forming not only a very perfect ceiling inside, but a most imposing ornament to the exterior. Above all, the minaret has here arrived at as high a degree of perfection as it ever reached in any after age.

The oldest known example of this species of tower is that of the mosque of Ibn Tooloon, but it is particularly ungraceful and clumsy. The minaret in that of Amru was probably a later addition. But it is only here in Berkook that they seem to have acquired that elegance and completeness which render them perhaps the most beautiful form of tower architecture in the world. Our prejudices are of course with the spires of our Gothic churches, and the Indians erected some noble towers; but taken altogether, it is doubtful if anything of its class ever surpassed the beauty and elegance of the minarets attached to the mosques during this and subsequent centuries.

The mosque El Muayyad, erected in 1415A.D., is a singularly elegant specimen of a mosque with columns. Externally it measures about 300 ft. by 250, and possesses an internal court, surrounded by double colonnades on three sides, and a triple range of arches on the side looking towards Mecca, where also are situated—as in that of Berkook—the tombs of the founder and his family. A considerable number of ancient columns have been used in the erection of the building, but the superstructure is so light and elegant, that the effect is agreeable; and of the “mixed mosques”—i.e., those where ancient materials are incorporated—this is one of the most pleasing specimens.

Perhaps the most perfect gem in or about Cairo is the mosque and tomb of Kaitbey (Woodcut No.985), outside the walls, erectedA.D.1472. Looked at externally or internally, nothing can exceed the grace of every part of this building. Its small dimensions exclude it from any claim to grandeur, nor does it pretend to the purity of the Greek and some other styles; but as a perfect model of the elegance we generally associate with the architecture of this people, it is perhaps unrivalled by anything in Egypt, and far surpasses the Alhambra or the other Western buildings of its age.

After this period there were not many important buildings erected in Cairo, or indeed in Egypt; and when a new age of splendour appears, the old art is found to have died out, and a renaissance far more injurious than that of the West, has grown up in the interval. In modern Europe the native architects wrought out the so-called restoration of art in their own pedantic fashion; but in the Levant the corresponding process took place under the auspices of a set of refugee Italian artists, who engrafted their would-be classical notions on the Moorish style, with a vulgarity of form and colour of which we have no conception. In the later buildings of Mehemet Ali and his contemporaries we find the richest and mostbeautiful materials used, so as to make us wonder how men could so pervert every notion of beauty and propriety to the production of such discordant ugliness.

985. Mosque of Kaitbey. (From Coste’s Architecture Arabe.)

From its size and the beauty of the materials, the mosque erected by the late Pasha in the citadel of Cairo ought to rival any of the more ancient buildings in the city; but it is already falling to pieces, and except for the fact that its main design is based on the principle of thegreat mosques erected in imitation of Sta. Sophia at Constantinople, which gives a certain grandeur to its interior, it would be utterly uninteresting.[159]

In a history of the Mahomedan religion a description of the mosque at Mecca would naturally take the first place; but in a work devoted to architecture it is sufficient to mention it in connection with Egypt, to whose sultans it owes whatever architectural adornment it possesses. The Kaabah, or holy shrine itself, has no architecture, and is famous only for its sanctity.

In the earlier centuries of the Hejira the area seems to have been surrounded by a cloister of no great magnificence, but after a great fire which occurred in 1399, the north and west sides were built in a more splendid manner by Barkook, Sultan of Egypt, whose mosque and tomb are illustrated, Woodcuts Nos.983,984. In 1500 El Ghoury, likewise an Egyptian sultan of Memlook race, rebuilt the Bab Ibrahim. The next repairs were due to the sultans of Constantinople. Selim I., in 1572, rebuilt one side, and in 1576 Murad effected a general repair of the whole, and left it pretty much as we now find it.

It need hardly be pointed out that in arrangement it necessarily differs from all other mosques. The precept of the Koran was, that all true believers when they prayed should turn to the Kaabah, and a mosque consequently became a mere indicator of the direction in which Mecca stood; but in this instance, with the Kaabah in the centre, no mihrab or indication was possible. All that was required was atemenosto enclose the sacred object and exclude the outside world with its business from the hallowed precincts.

The principal object in the enclosure is of course the Kaabah, a small, low tower, nearly but not quite square in plan, the longer sides 39 and 40 ft. respectively; the shorter 31 and 33 ft.; its height is 36 ft. The entrance is near one corner, at a height of 6 ft. from the ground. It is wholly without architectural ornament, and the upper part is covered by a black cloth, which is annually renewed. Next in importance to this is the Zemzem, or holy spring, which is said to have gushed out on this spot to the succour of Ishmael and his mother when perishing of thirst. These two objects are joined by a railing surrounding the Kaabah, except at one point, where it joins the Zemzem. The railing probably marks the enclosure of the old Pagan temple before Mahomet’s time.

These, with some other subordinate buildings, now stand in a courtyard,forming a perfect rectangle of about 380 ft. by 570 internally, surrounded by arcades on all sides. These vary considerably in depth, so as to accommodate themselves to the external outline of the building, which, as shown in the Woodcut (No.968), is very irregular. It is entered on all sides by nineteen gateways, some of which are said to be of considerable magnificence, and it is adorned by seven minarets. These are placed very irregularly, and none of them are of particular beauty or size.

On the longer sides of the court there are thirty-six arches, on the shorter twenty-four, all slightly pointed. They are supported by columns of greyish marble, every fourth being a square pier, the others circular pillars.

986. Great Mosque at Mecca. (From a Plan by Ali Bey.[160])

Neither its ordonnance, nor, so far as we can understand, its details, render the temple an object of much architectural magnificence. Even in size it is surpassed by many, and is less than its great rival, the temple of Jerusalem, which was 600 ft. square. Still it is interesting, as it is in reality the one temple of the Moslem world; for though many mosques are now reputed sacred, and as such studiously guarded against profanation, this pretended sanctity is evidently a prejudiceborrowed or inherited from other religions, and is no part of the doctrine of the Moslem faith, which, like the Jewish, points to one only temple as the place where the people should worship, and towards which they should turn in prayer.

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