established looms in Almeria and Malaga, where the costliest stuffs were woven. These included the material manufactured for the nobility, called tiraz, with the name of the wearer to be woven in the cloth. A banner now in Burgos shows a crimson stuff woven and embroidered in gold threads. Strictly Moorish architecture is known by the absence of domes and decoration upon the outside of buildings and by the presence of isolated towers and elaborate adornment of interiors. The most noted of their royal palaces is the Alhambra (q. v.) Consult Gwilt's Encyclopedia of Architecture; Lübke's History of Art; and De Forest's History of Art. See Architecture and Fine Arts.
Saracens (săr′ȧ-sĕnz), the name formerly given by western writers to the Mohammedans of Syria and Palestine, the Arabs generally or the Arab-Berber races of North Africa, who conquered Spain and Sicily and invaded France. Later it was used to mean all nations against which crusades were preached, and was thus applied to the Seljuks of Iconium, the Turks, the Gypsies and even the pagan Prussians. Whether the word comes from an Arab word meaning to steal, from another meaning desert, from a Hebrew word meaning poor or from an Arab word meaning eastern people has been disputed, but the last guess is the most likely. See Arabia, Crusades, Moors.
Saragossa (sā′rȧ-gŏs′ȧ) or Zaragoza, a city of Spain, formerly capital of the kingdom of Aragon, stands on the Ebro, 212 miles northeast of Madrid. A seven-arched bridge, built in 1437, crosses the Ebro within the city. The low, brick houses and narrow, winding streets contrast strangely with the many tall and slender towers and spires. There are two cathedrals, one a Gothic building of the 13th century. The citadel of Aljaferia once was the palace of the kings of Aragon and later the headquarters of the Inquisition. The university, founded in 1474, has 47 professors, 800 students and a library of 18,000 volumes. The leaning tower, Torre Nueva, built in 1504, has been declared unsafe and ordered taken down. Cloth, silk and leather are among the town's manufactures. The name is a corruption of Cæsarea Augusta, which it was called in 25 B. C. It was an important Roman town, and was one of the first Spanish cities to accept Christianity. Saragossa was taken by the Goths in the 5th and by the Moors in the 8th century, and recaptured in 1118 by Alphonso of Aragon, after a five years' siege, during which most of the people died of famine. It was twice besieged by the French in 1808, 60,000 people perishing in its defense. It was at this siege that the famous Maid of Saragossa, whose exploit has been sung by Byron and Southey, fought by the side of her artilleryman lover. Population 105,788; of the province 448,198.
Saratoff (sa-ra′tof) or Saratov, a city of Russia on the Volga, 500 miles southeast of Moscow, stands on terraces rising from the river. There are nearly 30 churches, two cathedrals and a museum containing a fine art-gallery and library. Brandy, liquors, oil, flour and tobacco are manufactured. There is also a large trade. Saratoff was pillaged in 1774 by a Cossack pretender to the czardom. Population 197,822.
Saratoga (săr′ȧ-tō′gȧ) Springs, N. Y., one of the chief watering-places in the United States, is 38 miles north of Albany. It has about 50 mineral springs, whose waters are bottled and exported. There is a large number of huge hotels, some having rooms for over 1,000 guests, and on special occasion they have accommodated 40,000. Because of its spacious hotels and convention-halls it is a favorite place for conventions. It has 18 churches, several charitable institutions, good public and parochial schools, a high-school and Temple Grove Seminary, each of these containing a library, and also the libraries of McMillan Reading Circle and the Athenæum. There is a race-track, and regattas are held on Saratoga Lake, four miles away. Population 12,693.
Saratoga, Battle of, was fought on Oct. 7, 1777, near Saratoga Springs, N. Y. The British under Burgoyne and the Americans under Gates had faced each other since Sept. 14. Burgoyne advanced against the Americans, who charged in turn, headed by Arnold, who had rushed without orders to head off the attacking column and had assumed command. After a stubborn fight the British abandoned their guns and retreated to their camp, followed by the Continentals who charged and carried a part of the camp, when darkness ended the battle. On the 9th Burgoyne retreated to Saratoga, where he was hemmed in by Gates and forced to surrender on the 17th. At the time of the surrender the American force numbered 10,817; the British surrendered 5,804 men, 4,647 muskets and 42 guns. This victory in some respects was the most decisive one of the war. Twelve miles east of Saratoga Springs a handsome obelisk, 155 feet high, on a bluff 350 feet above the Hudson, overlooks the scene of this surrender, which it commemorates.
Sardanapalus (sär′dȧ-nȧ-pā ′lŭs), according to Greek tradition, a king of Assyria, whose reign was ended by a revolt. The rebels were defeated several times, but at last shut up Sardanapalus in his capital of Nineveh, and besieged him for two years. When the city could hold out no longer, the monarch gathered all his vast treasures, and, setting them on fire, leaped with his wives into the flames. It is not certain what,
