Note 355 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
Cybele is derived from κυβήβειν, i.e. κύπτειν, for she made her servants bow. Kύβη, the head, is derived from κύπτω.
The word cupola is directly from the Arabic, Cobbal, which from the form was likewise applied to the whole building, and also to an umbrella: thus, the Mosque of Cordova was known as Cobbal al Malik, or the King’s Cupola; and an office under the Mameluk government in Egypt was entitled Cobbal u Thaïr, this functionary carrying an umbrella, and bearing on his fist a hawk.