Near the mih-rab there once stood a pulpit constructed by Hakem II., equalled by none other in the world for workmanship and materials. It was built of ivory and the rarest woods, such as ebony, sandal, almond, Indian plantain, citron, aloe, and so forth. This beautiful object was to be seen in the Cathedral of Cordova as late as the middle of the sixteenth century, when it was dismembered and its materials employed in the construction of a Christian altar. It was known to the Spaniards under the name of carro de Almanzor, the chariot of Al-mansur—probably because it stood upon wheels.
Not only did the Khalif Hakem II. make many additions to the great Mosque of Cordova, but improvements which greatly benefited the city. In place of the old reservoir for purification in the Court of the Mosque, he built four others at two sides of the Mosque, and these he filled by means of a canal which, taking the water from the hills of Cordova, poured it into an immense reservoir of marble which fed the four minor cisterns. These marble receptacles for water may yet be seen in the Mezquita of Cordova; the quarry whence they were extracted is likewise indicated by the peasants at a few miles from the city. The water, running constantly, after supplying the needs of the Mosque, was distributed into three conduits parting from three sides of the Mosque, East, North, and West, thus supplying the city and suburbs.
The actual dimensions of the Mosque are difficult to establish. An excellent authority says that in length from North to South, the Mosque measures six hundred and twenty feet, in width four hundred and forty feet. Mr. Waring, in his Notes of an Architect in Spain says the Mosque is an oblong of three hundred and ninety-four feet by three hundred and sixty feet. The famous Orange Court is in length two hundred and twenty feet, and, being within the boundary walls of the Mosque, is probably included in the first measurement given.
It is impossible to fix with any degree of certainty the number of columns contained in the Mosque during the time of Mohammedan supremacy. Ambrosio de Morales and the Infante Don Juan Manuel, both of whom described the Mosque before the columns were reduced in number by the unnecessary, not to say barbarous, alterations to which the building has been subjected, estimate the figures at one thousand and twelve; but it is only too certain that when the Mosque was converted into a Christian Church very many columns were removed to make room for altars, chapels, and the like.
No less than one hundred columns were comprised within the maksurrah, which was further provided with three doors of exquisite workmanship, one of which was covered with pure gold, as were the walls of the mih-rab. The floor of the maksurrah, it is said, was paved with silver, and that the pavements adjacent to it were covered with sofeysafa, an obscure word which Don Pascual de Gayangos believes to be a transposition of the Arabic word foseyfasa,[6] signifying enamel work of exceptional brilliancy, laid down by Greek workmen whom Abd-er-Rahman had brought to Cordova for the task.
The ceiling of the Mosque was formerly covered with oval cartouches bearing appropriate monitory inscriptions and pious sentences, such as ‘Be not one of the negligent,’ ‘Felicity,’ ‘Blessing,’ ‘There is no God but God, to whom all beings address themselves in their need,’ thus inciting the minds of the faithful to contemplation and prayer. Some few of the cartouches are still remaining, but the inscriptions were carefully effaced at the time when the Mosque was transformed into a Christian temple. Those in the mih-rab, and in the angles near the tower, were spared.
The number of brazen chandeliers of different sizes in the Mosque is computed at upwards of two hundred, and the number of cups attached and containing oil, at upwards of seven thousand. Some of the oil-reservoirs for the great lamps were Christian bells deprived of their clappers, afterwards inverted, and suspended from the roof. It is known that in the many expeditions against the Christian, bells were frequently removed from their churches and brought to Cordova. Sometimes the metal of the bells was recast into forms more in accordance with the Moorish style of ornament.
APPENDIX II
CORDOVA
The most elegant description of Cordova is that contained in the epistle of Ash-shakandi, a native of Shakandah, a town close to Cordova, on the southern bank of the Guadalquivir. He calls Cordova ‘the repository of science, the minaret of piety and devotion, the abode of magnificence, superiority, and elegance: neither Baghdad nor Damascus can compete with it. An idea of its worth can only be arrived at by comparing the city to a beautiful bride of whose dower it should form part. Cordova may be properly called the military camp of Andalus, the common rendezvous of those splendid armies which, with the help of Allah, defeated at every encounter the worshippers of the Crucified. Its great Mosque, lighted with bronze lamps made from Christian bells, had its foundations formed of the materials of demolished churches brought to Cordova by Christian captives.’
During the reigns of the monarchs of Gothic descent, Cordova cannot be said to have been the capital of Andalus, for although it served as a place of temporary residence for some of their kings, it was not, properly speaking, the court of the empire. By the establishment of Islam within it, its importance increased; the city became the capital of the Mohammedan empire in Spain and the stronghold of the family of Merwan,[7] the two important cities of Seville and Toledo quickly acknowledging its pre-eminence.