I wrote about this a month ago:
In the Supreme Court’s white marble courtroom, the nine sitting justices are not the only presiding presence. At the center of the nation’s legal system, high above the justices’ mahogany bench, the great lawgivers of history are depicted in marble friezes.
From Hammurabi to Moses to John Marshall, the stone sculptures commemorate written law as a force for stability in human affairs. The larger-than-life artworks, designed by architectural sculptor Adolph A. Weinman as the courthouse was being built in the early 1930s, convey the idea that, while the law begins with individuals, its principles never die.
The 18 lawgivers looking down on the justices are divided into two friezes of ivory-colored, Spanish marble. On the south wall, to the right of incoming visitors, are figures from the pre-Christian era — Menes, Hammurabi, Moses, Solomon, Lycurgus, Solon, Draco, Confucius and Octavian (Caesar Augustus). On the north wall to the left are lawmakers of the Christian era — Napoleon Bonaparte, Marshall, William Blackstone, Hugo Grotius, Louis IX, King John, Charlemagne, Muhammad and Justinian.
Today rioters i Indonesia attacked the US embassy, because of thies frieze, which justice Renquist last year would not remove, after truble with US-moslims.
Muhammad (570-632)
In Muslim tradition, this great prophet received the sacred scriptures of the Koran from God. The fundamental tenet of Islam, which covers all private and public behavior, is submission to the will of God. After last year’s controversy about the image of Muhammad, the Supreme Court included this explanation in tourist materials: “The figure is a well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor to honor Muhammad, and it bears no resemblance to Muhammad. Muslims generally have a strong aversion to sculptured or pictured representations of their Prophet.”
Mohammed is seen in the middle.
The North Frieze on the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC features a bas-relief sculpture of Mohammed, among several other historical law-givers. He is in the center of this image holding a curved scimitar; on the left is Charlemagne, and on the right is Byzantine Emperor Justinian. You can download a detailed pdf of the Supreme Court friezes here. The urban legend site Snopes.com has info about the frieze in this entry.
Via among others: http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/misc_mo/
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