Artometric

To me, the beauty of Arabic art is in it's simplicity, and often in it's mystery - I have no idea what this was, standing in the courtyard of the Ummayad Mosque. Some kind of sun dial, the pattern of shadows it casts telling you the exact number of seconds until Ramadan (I'm SURE it's possible)? A medieval lightning rod?

Whatever it may be, I'm a huge convert to the Arabic manner of using geometry and pattern in the creation of art, which contrasts with the much less abstract representations typical of so many other cultures, particularly that most dominant one of the west. I'm not sure if Islamic law expressly forbids the depiction of individuals in religious artwork, but the mosques and palaces I visited are entirely, and refreshingly, free of any sort of portraiture or realism in their decorations. The only slight exception was the use of trees in the detail of facades, providing that brilliant combination of green and gold prevalent all over the muslim world.