CHAPTER IV.

Aqueduct of Cordova-Built by 'Abdu-r-rahmán III.-The palace and city of Az-záhirah-Christian churches in Cordova-Tribunal of appeal.

Cordova.

AN Andalusian historian has said that such were An-nássir's passion and taste for Aqueduct of building that besides the erection of the magnificent palace that we have just described, and the considerable additions made to the great mosque, he also undertook and completed during his reign several public works for the improvement and ornament of his capital. Of this number was a most magnificent aqueduct, which conveyed excellent water from the mountains of Cordova to the palace of An-na'úrah (the waterwheel), in the western part of the city, by means of tubes geometrically arranged over arches connected one with another. The waters thus conveyed, in admirable order, and by dint of extraordinary science, were discharged into a vast reservoir, on which was a colossal lion of wonderful workmanship, and so beautifully imitated that the sight of it only was sufficient to cast fear into the hearts of the beholders, and that none devised by the Sultáns of former times had been seen equal to it, either in likeness or in magnificence. It was covered with the purest gold, and its two eyes were two jewels of inestimable value, which sent forth torrents of light. The waters of the aqueduct entered into the hind part of this monster, and then poured out from his mouth into the aforesaid basin, which circumstance, united to the beautiful appearance of the animal, to its terrible and overawing aspect, to the two eyes which shone forth as if they belonged to a human creature, never failed altogether to produce the most extraordinary effect in the minds of those who beheld it for the first time. After supplying this palace, and irrigating with profusion every corner of its gardens, notwithstanding their great extent, the superabundant water went to augment the Guadalquivir. Every author we have consulted on the subject agrees in saying that this aqueduct, with the reservoir, and the figure pouring the water into it, must be considered as one of the most amazing structures ever raised by man; for if we attend to the length of

VOL. I.

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Built by 'Abdur-rahmán III.

Az-záhirah.

it, to the unfavourable nature of the ground through which it was conducted, the magnitude and solidity of the construction, the height of the piers over which the water was made to flow, sometimes ascending, sometimes descending, we shall scarcely find among the works of ancient kings which have reached us any thing to be compared to it.'

The building of this aqueduct lasted fourteen months, counting from the day on which the preparatory works in the mountains were commenced to that on which the water began to flow over the arches, go into the lion, and then pour down into the reservoir. This took place on a Thursday, the third of Jumádí-l-akhar; on the same day the Khalif An-nássir invited to his palace of An-na'úrah a large party of the most illustrious citizens of Cordova, and gave them a most splendid entertainment; after which he distributed considerable largesses among his guests, and lavished all sorts of rich presents on the architects and geometricians who had directed the work, although they had already been most munificently remunerated from the royal treasury.2

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We have to mention another palace and city built by the famous Hájib, Mohammed Ibn Abí 'A'mir, commonly called Al-mansúr, although information respecting it is by no means so abundant with us as we should wish. We know that it existed at some distance from Cordova on the banks of the Guadalquivir, and that it was a most splendid structure, second to none but the palace of Az-zahrá, built by 'Abdu-r-rahmán; but, owing to the circumstance of its being destroyed by the Berbers, soon after the death of its founder,3 during the disastrous civil wars which brought to the ground the tottering throne of the Khalifs, the memory of it was soon effaced, and such particulars as have been handed down to us give but few details. Indeed, there are not wanting authors who suppose that it also was built by 'Abdu-r-rahmán An-nássir, confounding it no doubt with Azzahrá, and being led into error by the similarity of the names; but, as Ibnu Khaldún has clearly shown, they were two distinct and separate cities; and the fact is further proved by the testimony of contemporary writers, as Ibnu Hayyán and others: they all agree that when Al-mansúr usurped the Khalifate, during the minority of Hishám, son of Al-hakem, he built for his own security and residence a palace, whither he transferred his treasures, stores, and arms. The edifice, which stood on the banks of the Guadalquivir, not far from Az-zahrá, was begun in the year three hundred and sixty-eight of the Hijra (A. D. 978-9), the greatest part of it being completed in the short space of two years. Al-mansúr betook himself to it, with his family, servants, guards, and adherents, in the year three hundred and seventy (A. D. 980-1). He, moreover, established in it the offices of the state, built magazines for grain, and erected mills; he also granted the adjoining lands to

his Wizírs, Kátibs, Generals, and favourites, who lost no time in building magnificent houses and palaces, and planting gardens in the neighbourhood; people of all ranks and professions, anxious to fix their abodes near the ruler of the state, imitated their example, and built all round, so that in a very short time the suburbs of Az-záhirah joined those of Cordova.

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I recollect having read in an historical work, the composition of the author of the Kitábu-l-azhár wa-l-anwár, which I saw in the library of Fez, the following anecdote respecting Al-mansúr, and the splendour and magnificence with which he used to surround his person while residing in his palace of Az-záhirah. There came once to the court of Al-mansúr ambassadors from the most powerful of the Christian kings of Andalus; their object was to ascertain the real strength of the Moslems, and gain, if possible, a knowledge of their internal affairs. No sooner did Al-mansúr hear of their arrival than he issued orders for their suitable entertainment, and began to make preparations previous to their admission to his presence. He ordered that a vast lake, several miles in length, which was in the gardens of Az-záhirah, should be planted entirely with water-lilies; he then caused four kintars of gold, and four kintars of silver, to be cast into as many small pieces as there were water-lilies in the lake, and ordered that one of those pieces should be introduced into the cavity of each water-lily. All this having been executed agreeably to his instructions, Al-mansúr dispatched a messenger to the Christian ambassadors, and bade them appear in his presence the next morning at dawn. The Christians did as they were desired, and found Al-mansúr sitting in the great hall of his palace, in a balcony overlooking the lake; at sunrise one thousand Sclavonians dressed in silken robes embroidered with silver and gold, their waists being girt by sashes of gold tissue, and carrying in their hands gold and silver trays, made their appearance, and the ambassadors were very much struck to see the beauty of their personal appearance, the magnificence of their dresses and ornaments, and the admirable order in which they drew themselves up on each side of Al-mansúr's throne, the five hundred with robes of gold tissue and gold trays to the right, and the five hundred with robes of silver tissue and silver trays to the left. The Christians, in the meanwhile, not knowing what was meant, were dumb with amazement; but when the first sunbeams shone upon the water-lilies in the lake, all the Sclavonians left their ranks at a signal from their chief, hastened to the spot, and began plucking the flowers, placing those that had the silver pieces inside in the gold trays, and those that had the gold pieces in the silver trays, and when every water-lily on the lake had thus been plucked and placed in the silver and gold trays, they appeared again in the presence of Al-mansúr, and deposited their gatherings at his feet, thus raising a mountain of silver and gold before his throne. When the Christian

ambassadors saw this, they were seized with astonishment, and remained deeply convinced of Al-mansúr's immense resources and countless treasures; they addressed him in the most humble terms, asked for a truce, which was granted, and returned to their country, where they said to their king, "Do not make war upon these people, for, by the Lord, we have seen the earth yielding them its "hidden treasures."

It is related by Abú Idrís Al-khaulání that as Al-mansúr was one day sitting in his palace of Az-záhirah, reflecting on its beauties, listening to the murmur of the running waters and to the songs of rare birds, inhaling the perfumes of the scented flowers, and regaling his eyes with the emerald green of the bowers and meadows, as his whole soul in short was absorbed in the contemplation of the manifold beauties surrounding him on every side,-suddenly tears rolled down his cheeks, and he exclaimed, in deep sorrow, "O Az-záhirah! may the Almighty Lord save thee from the hands of the demon of war, who will ere long accomplish thy destruction!" and Al-mansúr, after saying this, wept bitterly and hid his face with both his hands. Then one of his favourites who was present said to him, "What ails thee, O Al-mansúr? What words are these? "What is the meaning of expressions which thy lips never uttered before; and "how comest thou to be assailed by thoughts so melancholy and sad as these, "when the like of them never before entered thy mind?" "God grant," said Al-mansúr, "that my prediction be not fulfilled; for if my presentiments tell me "truth, the fire of civil discord will soon rage within the precincts of this palace, "and all the beauties of Az-záhirah will ere long be effaced,-all traces of it will disappear from the face of the earth, this splendid mansion will be pulled down "and converted into a heap of ruins, the gardens transformed into a dreary desert, my treasures will be squandered and scattered, and what was formerly the scene of pleasure and mirth will be changed into a spot of desolation and ruin.” Al-khaulání continues: "Alas! this prophecy of Al-mansúr's was speedily fulfilled, as is well known; for his son Al-mudhfer, who after his death succeeded “him in the command of the army and the management of public affairs, had “neither the abilities nor the popularity of his father, and the power of the Khalifs began to decline. However, after the death of Al-mudhfer, whose "administration did not last long, the reins of government were taken by his "brother 'Abdu-r-rahmán, surnamed Sanjiúl," who was soon afterwards deposed and put to death by a successful rebel, a prince of the royal blood, named Mohammed "Ibn Hisham Ibn 'Abdi-l-jabbár, who afterwards assumed the honourable appella"tion of Al-muhdí-billah (the directed by God). This Mohammed collected an army in the provinces, marched against the capital, which he entered, and having

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"succeeded in securing the persons of 'Abdu-r-rahmán and of his principal partisans, put them all to death. The rebels then repaired to Az-záhirah, which they levelled with the ground, as being the residence of the usurpers against whom "the war was raised. So this Al-muhdí, whom Al-mansúr had not thought worthy "his notice while he lived, not only cut off his lineage and snatched away the empire from the hands of his posterity, but demolished the very edifices which he "had erected. The power of the Bení 'A'mir vanished for ever, and as a poet has remarked,

'Hajún will no longer be As-safá's faithful companion, the pilgrims will no 'longer meet in Mekka to hold nightly confabulations.

'Indeed, we ourselves shall perish, like the course of time and the passing away of successive generations.'

Nor was the havoc and ruin confined to Az-záhirah only. The same fate befel Az-zahrá and other palaces raised by the Bení Umeyyah, for during the civil commotions which disturbed the capital, and the struggles of the contending parties to secure the empire, that splendid palace and city, where so many treasures had been spent by 'Abdu-r-rahmán and by his son Al-hakem, was completely destroyed, and vanished like evening; the royal chambers were plundered of their costly furniture and tapestry, every object of art was scattered, and the whole building transformed into a heap of ruins; it is even asserted that many of the precious articles which these palaces contained, such as arms, vases, jewels, and the like, were sold in Baghdad and other cities of the East.10

Abú Nasr Al-fat'h says in his Matmah that the Wizír Hazm Ibn Jehwar 11 happening once to pass with a friend of his by the palace of Az-zahrá, which in his time had already been converted into a haunt of wild beasts, he pointed to it and exclaimed,

"I once asked that house, whose inhabitants have now exterminated one another,—where are thy owners, the eminent lords who ruled over us?

"And she answered me,-here they lived for a while, but they are now gone; they have vanished without my knowing where." 12

They say also that a holy man who lived in those days, one of those austere and pious Moslems whose thoughts are entirely consecrated to God, having once directed his steps towards Az-záhirah, when he came in sight of it was so much struck by the magnificence and size of the building, the luxuriance and excellent arrangement of the gardens, and the profusion of costly ornament and gilding lavished on it, that he could not help exclaiming,

O palace of the kings! every house in this country has contributed to thy