Chap. II ARABIAN OR SARACENIC.

S5
PiK. S5. ARABIAN ARCIIF3.
thrust at the abutments.
tlieir cohiinus are posts. We do not find, in the forms of Arabian art, that character of
originality which can be traced from local causes. The Arabians had spread themselves
out in every direction, far from their own country, in which they had never cultivated tiie
arts
;
hence their architectiu-e was founded upon tlie models before them, which the
Byzantine school supplied. Of the forms of their arches,
some wiiereof are here exhibited (_fip. 8,5.), the most favourite
seems to have been the horse-slioe form. They may be
ranged into two classes, that just named, and the other, that
wherein the curve is of contrary flexure, and described from
several centres. Both classes are vicious in respect of con-
struction, from the impossibility of gaining resistance to
In masonry, such arches could not be executed on a large scale.
In brick arches, however, the surface of the cement is so increased, that if it be good, and great
care be used in not removing the centres till the cement is set, great variety of form in them
may be hazarded. If the pleasure perhaps we may say sensualityof the eye is alone to be
consulted, the Arabians have surpassed all other nations in their architecture. The exquisite
lines on which their decorations are based, the fantasticness of their forms, to which colour was
most tastefully superadded, are highly seductive. Their works have the air of fairy enchant-
ment, and are only to be comi)ared to that imagination with which the oriental poetry
abounds. The variety and profusion wherewith they employed ornament impart to the
interior masses of their apartments the ajjpearance of a congeries of painting, incrustation,
inosaic, gilding, and foliage ;
and this was probably much augmented by the JMahometan
law, which excluded the representation of the human figure. If a reason be unnecessary
for the admission of ornament, nothing could be more satisfactory than the splendour and
brilliancy that resulted from their combinations. One of their practices, that of introducing
light into their apartments by means of ojienings in the form of stars, has a magical effect.
130. We have principally confined ourselves, in the foregoing remarks, to the architecturp
of the Arabians as it is
found in Spain, which, it
is proper to observe, is
only a class of the edifices
in the style. There is so
close a resemblance be-
tween the buildings of
that country and those of
otiier places that were,
till lately, under the
dominion of the Moors,
^'^- '*^' eikvatjon, housk at alters.
that, allowing only for difference of climate, we might have lefl
the subject without further illustration, but that we think the re-
presentation in Jigs. 86. and 87. of a Turkish house at Algiers,
which we have extracted from Durand's Pnrallele des Edifices, may
give a better idea of Arabian architecture than a host of words.
131. In Ml ceo, the city of the Prophet, the houses are of stone,
and three or four stories in height. The material employed in-
dicates solidity of construction. Tlie streets are regular. The
the balconies covered with blinds ; fronts of the houses much orna-
both sides ; roofs terraced, with very
high parapets, opened at intervals by a railing formed of brick, in which holes are left
for the circulation of the air, at the same time giving an ornamental appearance to the front;
staircases narrow and inconvenient ; rooms of good dimensions and well-proportioned,
having, besides the principal windows, an upper tier. Damascus, of which a slight view
(fiy.
88.)
is annexed, has been described as resembling a large camp of conical tents, which,
on a nearer ap])roach, are found to be small cupolas to the houses. Brick, sun-dried, is the
principal material, and the forms of the roofs mentioned are absolutely necessary- to protect
against the winter rains. Streets generally narrow, houses well supplied with fountains,
and containing a large number of houses that may be ranked as palaces. ]\Iosques, many
in number, but presenting none that are very remarkable. The bazaars and baths of con-
siderable size and splendour. In Bagdad, there are many large squares. The gates erected
l)y the caliphs are still in existence, and are fine specimens of Arabian art. Its walls of
mud are '25
ft. in height, but within them are ramparts, carried on arches. In Bussorafi,
the most remarkable feature is the mode in which they construct their arches, which is
effected without centres.
132. We do not think it necessary to detain the reader on the architecture of Moorish
or M'estern Arabia. As in the eastern parts of the ancient empire, the houses usually
consist of a court, whereof some or all of its sides are surroimded by galleries. Narrow
rooms run generally parallel with the gallery, usually without aTiy ojiening but the door
Fig. ,SG. PLAN, HOUSE AT AI.O
leading features are
mented
;
doors, with steps and small seats on