Mosque

MOSQUE, a building erected for Mohammedan religious serv ices. The early type of mosque is determined by the position of the Mihrab or prayer niche indicating the direction of Mecca and the ritual custom of having all the worshippers arranged in parallel lines facing in this direction. Thus the Mihrab is placed in the centre of a long wall and accommodations for the lines of worshippers furnished by a series of arcades parallel or perpen dicular to the wall in which the Mihrab is placed. The covered portion thus formed is usually a rectangle, wider than it is deep, enclosed by walls at the back and two ends, but open through the final arcade at the front on to a court, frequently surrounded by colonnades, and containing, in its centre, a fountain for ritual ablutions. Beside the Mihrab was placed the Mimbar, or pulpit, which usually consisted of a tall, shrine-like platform against the wall, covered with a pyramidal roof, and approached by a long, straight flight of steps. In later mosques there was also frequently a large raised platform supported on arcades, known as a Dikka, from which portions of the service were read. At Mecca, the first mosque consisted of a series of arcades surrounding a rec tangular court in which was the Ka'ba, or sacred rock; obviously no Mihrab was necessary, and the arcades themselves, surrounding the court, formed the prayer hall.

This primitive type of arcaded or colonnaded mosque under went many changes in various parts of the Mohammedan world. As the Mohammedan builders were peculiarly apt at learning the technique of the peoples whom they conquered, mosque design necessarily absorbed different influences in each country; the influence of Byzantine art was especially strong throughout west ern Asia. Five differing general schools may be recognized : First, a profound change in Egyptian mosques, and led, as well, to a continually growing richness of exterior treatment, and the use both outside and in, of much rich stalactite ornament. Moreover, a type of plan, originally used for colleges or medressehs, consist ing of four great vaulted halls around a central square court, be came usual. The most beautiful example of this is the great

mosque of Sultan Hassan at Cairo (1356) ; even more rich in its decoration, and unusual in its plan, is the mosque of Kait Bey Outside the Walls (1472).

These Egyptian and Syrian mosques furnish excellent examples for tracing the development of the minaret (q.v.), the tower from which the call to prayer is given—an integral part of every developed mosque—from the primitive tower of Ibn Tulun, with its outside stair, like that of an Assyrian ziggurat or pyramid temple, to the slenderness and rich balconies of Kait Bey.

Moorish.

The Moorish school of north Africa and Spain, be cause of its distance from Byzantine centres, preserved the primi tive type of mosque plan even longer. The Great Mosque of Kair awan (begun 675) bears many resemblances to those of Amru and Ibn Tulun. It is noteworthy, however, that in the Mihrab, dating from 837, although the capitals are still of quasi-Roman type, the surface decoration already approaches the Moorish type that flowered later in the Alhambra, and that perhaps due to Roman influence domes of considerable size appear at both ends of the central aisle leading to the Mihrab. Equally primitive in its type is the great mosque at Tlemcen (1136) ; the same type is preserved in many other smaller mosques, such as those of Sfax (prior to the 11th century) and the Great Mosque at Algiers (1°18). By far the most important of the Moorish mosques is the Great Mosque at Cordova (begun 78o and much extended in the loth century), so that the prayer chamber occupied the enormous area of 148,000 sq.f t., with 16 rows of arcades. The whole is decorated with a lavishness unknown in other examples of the style and is noteworthy for the complicated interlacing arches, the doubling of the arcades, the intricate plaster orna ment and the frequent use of cusped arches.