Kufic. Characters employed in stonework and tile inscriptions in Islamic architecture. Kufic inscriptions were sometimes used decoratively (and meaninglessly) in Hispano-Moresque architecture in much the same way as Egyptian hieroglyphs were used before they could be read and understood by C18 and C19 designers. They were widely employed in C19 revivalist architecture of the Moorish or orientalizing type.

Bibliography

Lewis & and Darley (1986)

Kufic an early angular form of the Arabic alphabet found chiefly in decorative inscriptions. Recorded from the early 18th century, the word comes from the name Kufa, a city south of Baghdad, because the script was attributed to the city's scholars.