Decorative Islamic Influence. The British architects who worked in Jerusalem in the 1920s and 1930s were greatly influenced by their religious historic knowledge of the Bible and the holy city of Jerusalem. They incorporated traditional Armenian ceramic tiles, as well as oriental decorative patterns and motifs into their contemporary architectural designs, thus adding to historic Jerusalem a Neo-Oriental characteristic. The British, in contrast to Arabs who decorated the exterior façades of their houses with ceramic tiles, used the same tiles mostly as interior décor, in fireplaces, water fountains and wall panels.