STEEPLE. The tower of a church, etc., together with any superstructure standing upon •it, such as a spire or lantern. Morris Jastrow thinks there is a direct and continuous line of tradition leading from the Babylonian zikkiirat or stage tower to the towers of the Moham medan mosques (note the Mohammedan tower at Samarra on the Tigris, of the ninth century A.D., which was clearly modelled on the pattern of a Babylonian zilazurat) on the one hand, and to the belfries, campaniles and steeples of Christian churches on the other. " In Babylonian and Assyrian architecture the tower is always separate from the temple proper—as though to symbolize the independent origin of the two structures, the moun tain-motif and the house-motif. Generally the tower is back of the temple, at times to one side, but, even when it is accorded a position immediately adjacent to the temple, as in the case of the two zikkurats attached to the temple of Anu and Adad at Ashur, one standing to the right, the other to the left of the double temple, the tower is yet a distinct structure, the ascent being inde pendent of the temple. In the case of many mosques the
Babylonian-Assyrian tradition is followed through the virtual independence of the minarets as adjuncts to the mosque, though in others the minaret is directly attached and eventually becomes a steeple placed on or at the side of the mosque. Similarly in the church architecture of Italy we find a tower built quite independently of the church as in the case of St. Mark's in Venice and of the cathedrals in Florence and Pisa, while in Norman archi tecture the belfry becomes attached to the church, and in Gothic architecture the tower becomes a steeple placed on the church, and with a complete departure from its Babylonian-Assyrian counterpart is looked upon as a symbol of the spirit of Christianity, calling upon its followers to direct their thoughts heavenward "