DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53553#0106
88
ceased to be masters of the country, were pretty numerous
in this town, and were permitted to exercise divine worship
according to their religious tenets, until they were finally
expelled by Charles of Anjou. Several Saracen epitaphs in
Arabic characters have been found in Pozzuoli, and trans-
lated by Montfaucon ; a specimen of one of which I con-
ceive may be a curiosity to you. It is, in English, nearly
as follows:—In the name of all-merciful God. May the
Lord be gracious unto Mohammed, his prophet, and unto
his race; may he bless them! Death overtaketh all men,
but on the day of resurrection only they shall meet their re-
ward; for God hath prepared their egress out of the fire,
that they might enter Paradise. Yet man trembles ! as if
to go out of this world were ought but to enter the possession
of everlasting happiness. This is the tomb of Bazainab, the
son of Abdulmaled, who departed this life on the 21st day of
the month Shahan, in the year 576*, having confessed, that
there is no God, but God the Almighty.
But to return to our antiquarian ramble. The first object
which my spiritual cicerone thought proper to conduct me to,
was the temple of Jupiter, now the cathedral church of Poz-
zuoli, situated in the centre, and on the most ^elevated part
of the town. The whole of this superb edifice, walls as well
as columns, is of the most beautiful white marble; and such
is the solidity of its structure, that the same marble blocks
form the walls of the inside as well as outside; but the latter
is as much concealed by the surrounding buildings, as the
noble simplicity of the former is disfigured by various orna-
ments of a modern date. The architect of this sublime edifice
was Coccejus, and its founder Calphurnius, who caused it to
be built in honour of the emperor Augustus, as may be seen
from the following inscription on the frontispiece :
CALPHURNIUS. L. F.
TEMPLUM. AUGUSTO. CUM. ORNAMENTIS. D. D.
The
Of the Hegira, answering to the 28th December, 1181 after Christ.
ceased to be masters of the country, were pretty numerous
in this town, and were permitted to exercise divine worship
according to their religious tenets, until they were finally
expelled by Charles of Anjou. Several Saracen epitaphs in
Arabic characters have been found in Pozzuoli, and trans-
lated by Montfaucon ; a specimen of one of which I con-
ceive may be a curiosity to you. It is, in English, nearly
as follows:—In the name of all-merciful God. May the
Lord be gracious unto Mohammed, his prophet, and unto
his race; may he bless them! Death overtaketh all men,
but on the day of resurrection only they shall meet their re-
ward; for God hath prepared their egress out of the fire,
that they might enter Paradise. Yet man trembles ! as if
to go out of this world were ought but to enter the possession
of everlasting happiness. This is the tomb of Bazainab, the
son of Abdulmaled, who departed this life on the 21st day of
the month Shahan, in the year 576*, having confessed, that
there is no God, but God the Almighty.
But to return to our antiquarian ramble. The first object
which my spiritual cicerone thought proper to conduct me to,
was the temple of Jupiter, now the cathedral church of Poz-
zuoli, situated in the centre, and on the most ^elevated part
of the town. The whole of this superb edifice, walls as well
as columns, is of the most beautiful white marble; and such
is the solidity of its structure, that the same marble blocks
form the walls of the inside as well as outside; but the latter
is as much concealed by the surrounding buildings, as the
noble simplicity of the former is disfigured by various orna-
ments of a modern date. The architect of this sublime edifice
was Coccejus, and its founder Calphurnius, who caused it to
be built in honour of the emperor Augustus, as may be seen
from the following inscription on the frontispiece :
CALPHURNIUS. L. F.
TEMPLUM. AUGUSTO. CUM. ORNAMENTIS. D. D.
The
Of the Hegira, answering to the 28th December, 1181 after Christ.