ARAB CULTURE

I1n the Middle Ages the Arabs were the sole representatives of civilisation. They opposed that barbarism which spread over Europe, shaken as it was by invasions of northern peoples, and went back to “the perennial source of Greek philosophy”; far from resting content with acquired treasures, they enlarged and opened up new ways to the study of nature.

2Wars of invasion, scarcely interrupted by civil discord, far-away expeditions, and striking triumphs, filled the first century of the Hegira. Even in 760, after the fall of the Omayyads, there was no evidence that to the tumult of arms would succeed in the caliph empire a period noted only for intellectual progress. But under the Abbasids a noble emulation, and above all the example and protection of the sovereigns, dissipated the ignorance and coarseness with which the disciples of Mohammed were justly charged. Men’s minds were permeated with new ideas, a number of writings of all kinds sprang into existence and in their turn gave birth to an infinity of others, which made Arabic the medium of learning for the East and all the Moslem states. Nearly all these writings are still extant, and form one of the vastest literatures ever known.

3To the caliph Abu Jafar al-Mansur belongs the credit of the first impulse given to the study of exact science. Among the confused and incomplete traditions that exist concerning the ancient Arabs, one catches a glimpse of notions of practical astronomy. The spectacle of the heavens had attracted their attention, as it does that of all peoples enjoying a mild climate and clear air, although without invariably inspiring to consideration of the celestial laws. All that they had gathered in their intercourse with surrounding nations was a knowledge of the names of planets and certain stars, which they deified, an exact indication of the dwellings in the moon, and purely astrological learning. They went by the lunar year, but it does not appear they had ever tried to mark time by eras and epochs in general usage. Thus it is almost impossible to establish a regular order in the long series of facts which make up the Arabian annals, until that epoch when a timely revolution broke up the various beliefs of its nomad populations, writing them under the law of the _Koran_ and developing new desires.

4“The Arabs,” says Humboldt,[d] “were admirably adapted to the rôle of mediator and to influence the peoples included in the area between the Euphrates and the Guadalquivir and the southern part of central Africa. They possessed an unexampled activity which marked a distinct epoch in the world’s history, a tendency opposed to the intolerant spirit of the Jews, which led them to mingle with conquered peoples without always abjuring their national character or traditional remembrances of their native country, and this in spite of a perpetual change of land. Whilst the German races did not acquire polish until a long time after their migrations, the Arabs brought with them not only their religion but also a perfected language and a wealth of poetry, which was not to be forever lost but was to be found again among the troubadours and minnesingers of Provence.”

5M. Girault de Prangey[e] has studied carefully Arab art, and compared the architectural monuments of Spain and the East. In the peninsula he distinguishes three successive epochs. The first, from the eighth to the tenth century, shows a badly disguised imitation of Christian and Roman buildings. The mosque of Cordova is doubtless in the same style as that of Damascus, which it surpassed in magnificence. There is no doubt that the churches described by Eusebius of Cæsarea,[f] with courts, porticoes, fountains, and priests’ lodgings, served as models for the mosques of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Byzantine mosaics are found in them. But already in 965 a sumptuous Greek ornamentation seemed insufficient. Details were multiplied, arches were complicated with festoons and varied curves, such as one sees at Cordova in the Villaviciosa chapel constructed in the caliphate of Hakim.

6The second epoch, from the tenth to the twelfth century, marks the first development of that Moorish architecture encouraged by the Almoravid and Almohad princes. The Arabs then strayed from the beaten path. The ogee arch, porcelain mosaics, fantastic embroideries, ornaments run in stucco, became fashionable. Inscriptions abounded and became part of the decorations.

7Finally the third epoch, when Arab art attained its apogee, was contemporary with the splendour of the kingdom of Granada. The Alhambra is the highest expression of it. The exterior of the palace, so simple yet imposing, is in conformity with the Moorish habit of hiding from the eyes of strangers. The entrance is only an immense arch decorated with some emblems and an inscription recording the founder’s name. The walls are of a species of mortar mixed with little pebbles which glint in the sunlight. In the interior, on the contrary, man’s genius has expended its utmost resources.

8Vast painted and gilded galleries, adorned with arcades of every shape cut up with festoons, in stalactites, and loaded with stucco open-work, the rooms lighted by uncasemented windows, the Ambassadors’ hall, that of the Two Sisters, the Infantes room, the Comares tower, the court and fountain of Lions, the Alberca court, below which are baths modelled in the ancient style--all offer admirable effects. Here water gushes among millions of beautiful little columns isolated or grouped picturesquely, there it flows in marble trenches, now forming cascades, now jets thrown in spray to feed the basins in the patios surrounded by shrubs and flowers.

9Everywhere inscriptions skilfully combined with sculptures express noble and elevated sentiments, adding fresh charm to the marvel of a palace which Christian kings partly destroyed.

10The interior ornaments of the principal halls of this ancient residence of Moorish kings are in plaster. The fashion of the relief is geometrical, and although constantly repeated has none the less beauty and delicacy. The paintings, artfully distributed and protected by the Andalusian climate, are to-day as they were in the times of the Abencerrages. In some of the halls which surround the court of Lions the colours put on by the Arabs still retain their lustre. They are very pure, composed only of reds, blues, yellows, and greens. In a recent analysis the blue and red matter was found to be of ultramarine and vermilion or sulphate of mercury.

11It is, moreover, to be regretted that a general study has not been made of the Arabic buildings in Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, and even India, of the different epochs of Arabic rule. It would offer peculiar characters useful in an exact determination of style. We have reason to hope that skilful artists will soon supply this want.