rcular form above
(Fig. 187). A minaret is often divided into several stages. Each stage
is then marked by a balcony, and is, generally speaking, a polygon
of a greater number of sides than the stage below it.

[Illustration: FIG. 188.--ALHAMBRA. HALL OF THE ABENCERRAGES.]

In the interiors of Saracenic buildings what is generally known as
honeycomb corbelling is constantly employed to fill up corners and
effect a change of plan from a square below to a circle or octagon
above. This ornament is formed by the use of a series of small
brackets, each course of them overhanging those below, and produces an
effect some idea of which may be gathered from our illustration (Fig.
188) of the Hall of the Abencerrages in the Alhambra. The interiors
when not domed are often covered by wooden or plaster ceilings, more
or less richly decorated, such as are shown in the view of one of the
arcades of the Mosque "El Moyed," Cairo (Fig. 189), where the
horse-shoe and pointed arches can both be seen. This illustration also
shows timber ties, at the feet of the arches, such as were commonly
used by the earlier Saracenic builders.

The surfaces of the interiors of most Mohammedan buildings in all
countries are covered with the most exquisite decorations in colour.
Imitations of natural objects being forbidden by the Koran (a
prohibition occasionally, but very rarely, infringed), the Saracenic
artists, whose instincts as decorators seem to have been unrivalled,
fell back upon geometrical and flowing patterns and inscriptions, and
upon the use of tiles (Fig. 190), mosaics, inlays, patterns impressed
on plaster, and every possible device for harmoniously enriching the
surfaces with which they had to deal. Several of our illustrations
give indications of the presence of these unrivalled decorations in
the buildings which they represent (Fig. 195). Windows are commonly
filled by tracery executed in stone or in plaster, and glazed with
stained glass, and many of the open spaces in buildings are occupied
by grilles, executed in wood, and most effective and rich in design.

[Illustration: FIG. 189.--MOSQUE 'EL MOYED' AT CAIRO.]

[Illustration: FIG. 190.--ARABIAN WALL DECORATION.]

[Illustration: FIG. 191.--PLAN OF THE SAKHRA MOSQUE AT JERUSALEM.]

_Syria and Palestine._

Syria was one of the countries earliest overrun by the Arab
propaganda, and Jerusalem was taken by the Caliph Omar as early as
A.D. 637. He there built a small m