'Travels in Assyria, Media, and Persia, including a journey from Bagdad by Mount Zagros, to Hamadan, the ancient Ecbatana, researches in Ispahan and the ruins of Persepolis, and journey from thence by Shiraz and Shapoor to the sea-shore. Description of Bussorah, Bushire, Bahrein, Ormuz, and Muscat, narrative of an expedition against the pirates of the Persian Gulf, with illustrations of the voyage of Nearchus, and passage by the Arabian Sea to Bombay.' [‎222] (253/582)

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ISPAHAN.
court, in which are fountains for ablutions, and large circular vases
of close-grained stone, filled with water, for drinking. These last
ring like metal at the stroke of the nail, ,and are finely sculptured
over with devices and inscriptions in bold relief. The outer pair
of folding doors, which are scarcely less than sixty or seventy feet
in height, and of a proportionate breadth, are cased with silver, and
covered also with inscriptions, holy sentences, and characteristic
ornaments in relief; and at the cistern, which meets the passen
ger on entering it, are silver cups fastened by silver chains to the
marble, all of the most finished workmanship.
Around the court of the mosque are close vaults, for the de
votions of the infirm or delicate, during the winter, as the temple
itself is almost an open building. The ground plan of the whole,
as seen from an elevated station without, is far from being regular;
yet the want of uniformity is not apparent to the eye, either on
entering or being within the building; and this has been as
ably effected by the architect here, as at the Egyptian temple of
Philoe on the Cataracts of the Nile, at the principal entrance to
Geraza in the Decapolis, and at Palmyra, where one of the finest
gateways has been so constructed as to harmonize diverging lines;
and in the whole of these, irregularity has been made to appear
regular, by the skill of the builder.
Nothing can surpass the rich yet solemn state of the interior
of this royal mosque. Pavements and surbasements, of the fine
diaphonous marble of Tabreez, cabled mouldings of arches, finely
carved pilasters, and other portions of the same material, give
an appearance of simple and solid beauty to the foundations
of the edifice; while the lofty domes and spacious aisles have a
grandeur not to be surpassed; and the rich decorations of the walls
and roofs of every part, present one blaze of laboured magnifi
cence, which would be too splendid, but for the architectural ma
jesty of the edifice it adorns.
Around the mosque, on three of its sides, and communicating
with it by separate passages, are colleges for the studies of the