Made in Arabic
mosque
المَسْجِد
A lamp of blown glass, enamelled and gilded, made in Cairo or Syria under the Mamluks in the 14th century. It hung on chains from a mosque ceiling, lighting up its painted letters: «al-ʿĀlim» repeated round the neck and foot, and a dedication in large thuluth script on the body. The building it lit, the masjid, gave Europe its word: Spanish mezquita, Italian moschea, French mosquée, English mosque.
- Instrument
- a Mamluk enamelled glass mosque lamp, 14th century
The path between languagesmasjid → mezquita → moschea → mosquée → mosque
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ملكٌ عامّ
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