islamic architecture in cairo

ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO

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ISLAMIC ARCHITECTUREIN CAIROAN INTRODUCTION

BY

DORIS BEHRENS-ABOUSEIF

THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO PRESS

First published in Egypt in 1989 byThe American University in Cairo Press113 Sharia Kasr el AimCairo, Egypt

Third printing 1998

Copyright 1989 © by E. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands

This edition published by arrangement withE. J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of E. J. Brill.

Dar el Kutub No. 3977/89ISBN 977 424 203 3

Printed in Egypt

TO MY STUDENTS IN CAIRO

Especially,

Eyad, Jihane, Lamia, Mary and Tarek

CONTENTS

(The numbers in [ ] refer to the Index of Islamic Monuments in Cairo and the Map of the Survey Dept.)

Preface ixList of Plates xiList of Figures xvImportants Events in the History of Islamic Cairo xvii]

PART I

INTRODUCTION

I. The City 3II. Stylistic Evolution of Islamic Architecture in Cairo 9

The Fatimid Period, 969-1169 9The Ayyubid Period, 1171-1250 11The Bahri Mamluk Period, 1250-1380's 15The Circassian Mamluk Period, 1382-1517 19The Ottoman Period (until Muhammad CAli), 1517-1914 27

III. Domestic Architecture in Cairo 35

PART II

THE MONUMENTS

IV. Early Islamic Architecture in Cairo 47[319] The mosque of cAmr Ibn al-cAs at Fustat (641/2) 47

[79] The nilometer at Rawda (861) 50[220] The mosque of Ibn Tulun (876-79) 51

V. Architecture of the Fatimid Period 58[97] The al-Azhar mosque (970) 58[15] The mosque of Caliph al-Hakim bi Amr Allah (990-1003) 63

[304] The mashhad al-Juyushi (1085) 66[7, 6, 199] The walls and Gates of Badr al-Jamali (1087-92) 67

[33] The al-Aqmar mosque (1125) 72[273] The mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya (1133) 74[285] The mausoleum of Yahya al-Shabih (c. 1150) 75[116] The mosque of Vizier al-Salih Tala i (1160) 76

VI. Architecture of the Ayyubid Period 78The Citadel of Cairo (1183-84) 78

[281] The mausoleum of Imam Shafici (1211) 85[38] The madrasa of Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub (1243) 87[38] The mausoleum of Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub, built by Shajarat al-Durr (1250) 90

[169] The mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr (1250) 91

VII. Architecture of the Bahri Mamluks 94[1] The mosque of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars (1266-69) 94

[43] The mausoleum-madrasa and hospital of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun (1284/5) 95[44] The madrasa of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun (1295/6-1303) 100

[221] The khanqah-madrasa of Amir Sanjar al-jawli (1303/4) 101[32] The khanqah-mausoleum of Sultan Baybars al-Jashankir (1307-10) 104

VIII CONTENTS

[263] The madrasa-mausoleum of Amir Sunqur al-Sacdi (1315) 107[143] The mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel (1318-35) 108[172] The zawiya of Shaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf (1298-1325) Ill[561] The sabil of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (1326) 112[120] The mosque of Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani (1340) 113[123] The mosque of Amir Aqsunqur (1347) 115

[147, 152] The mosque and the khanqah of Amir Shaykhu (1349, 1355) 116[218] The madrasa of Amir Sarghitmish (1356) 121[133] The mosque of Sultan Hasan (1356-61) 122

[288, 289] The Sultaniyya mausoleum (c. 1360) 128[125] The madrasa of Umm al-Sultan Shacban (1368/9) 129[131] The madrasa of Amir Iljay al-Yusufi (1373) 131

VIII. Architecture of the Circassian Mamluks 133[187] The madrasa-khanqah of Sultan al-Zahir Barquq (1384-86) 133[149] The khanqah of Sultan Faraj Ibn Barquq (1400-11) 135

[190, 257] The madrasa-khanqah (1416-21) and maristan (1418-20) of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad 138[121] The madrasa-khanqah of Sultan al-Ashraf Barsbay (1425) 140[158] The religious-funerary complex of Sultan al-Ashraf Inal (1451, 1454, 1456) 143

[99, 223] The religious-funerary complex of Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay (1472-74) and his madrasa at Qalcatal-Kabsh (1475) 144

[324, 303] The sabil of Sultan Qaytbay (1479) and cistern of Yacqub Shah al-Mihmandar (1495/6) 147[49] The mosque of Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn Muzhir (1479/80) 148

[5] The Fadawiyya dome (1479-81) 149[211] The mosque of Amir Azbak al-YGsufi (1494/5) 150[114] The mosque of Amir Qijmas al-Ishaqi (1479-81) 151[136] The mosque of Amir Qanibay al-Rammah (1503) , 152

[67, 148] The madrasa and khanqah of Sultan al-Ghuri (1503/4) 153[162] The religious-funerary complex of Amir Qurqumas (1506/7) 154[248] The madrasa of Amir Khayrbak (1520-21) 155

IX. Architecture of the Ottoman Period 158[142] The mosque of Sulayman Pasha (1528) 158[225] The takiyya of Sulayman Pasha (1543) 158[135] The mosque of Mahmud Pasha (1567) 160[349] The mosque of Sinan Pasha (1571) 161[330] The mosque of Malika Safiyya (1610) 162[196] The mosque of Amir Yusuf Agha al-Hin (1625) 163[201] The mosque of Shaykh al-Burdayni (1616-29) 163[264] The mosque of Amir cUthman Katkhuda (1734) 164

[98] The mosque of Muhammad Bey Abu'l-Dhahab (1774) 165[210] The mosque of Hasan Pasha Tahir (1809) 166[382] The mosque of Amir Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar (1837-39) 167[503] The mosque of Muhammad CA1i (1830-48) 168

Bibliography 171

PREFACE

As this book is in the first place an introduction, the bibliography does not include unpublishedmaterials such as waqf deeds, though they might be referred to in the text. For the same reason un-published theses, of which the universities of Cairo hold a large number of interest to this subject, havenot been cited.

Some buildings are dealt with only in the first, general part and have not been studied individually,such as the sabils of the Ottoman period or the buildings of cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda.

To locate the monuments studied in this book, their index numbers are indicated in the list of Con-tents and, with the help of the Survey Map of the Islamic Monuments of Cairo, these will guide thereader to the sites.

The photographs, unless otherwise indicated, are by Mr. Muhammad Yusuf, chief photographer atal-Ahram newspaper, and Mr. Martin Huth. A few are by the author.

The plans that accompany the text are the work of either K.A.C. Creswell or the "Committee for thePreservation of the Islamic Monuments of Cairo", whose material is now in the Department of Anti-quities.

Drawings published in The Mosques of Egypt, Ministry of Waqfs, Cairo 1949, have been used amongthe illustrations, as well as drawings made by Mr. Vilmos Sipos.

LIST OF PLATES

Note: Dates are supplied only for buildings not dealt with in the text.

PART I

THE CITY

1. Tabbana Street in the nineteenth century (Coste).2. Southern Cairo and the cemetery (Roberts).3. Nineteenth century houses along the canal of Cairo (Coste).

STYLISTIC EVOLUTION OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO

THE FATIMID PERIOD

4. Trilobed arch at Bab Zuwayla.5. The base of the dome added by Caliph Al-Hafiz li Din Allah at al-Azhar; window grill inlaid with

colored glass.6. Prayer niche of al-Afdal Shahinshah at the mosque of Ibn Tulun (drawing, "The Mosques of

Egypt").7. The minaret of Abu'l-Ghadanfar, 1157.

THE AYYUBID PERIOD

8. Minaret base from the Ayyubid period at the shrine of al-Husayn.9. The minaret of Zawiyat al-Hunud, ca. 1250 (Department of Antiquities).

THE BAHRI MAMLUK PERIOD

10. Keel-arched niche at the mausoleum of the Abbasid Caliphs, mid-thirteenth century.11. The transitional zone of the dome of the Abbasid Caliphs, mid-thirteenth century.12. The portal of the mosque of Amir Bashtak, 1336.13. The prayer niche at the madrasa of Taybars attached to al-Azhar, 1309/10 (Creswell).

THE CIRCASSIAN MAMLUK PERIOD

14. The stone dome of Amir Aytimish al-Bajasi, 1383.15. The domes at the religious-funerary complex of Sultan Barsbay.16. Detail of a stone dome carved with arabesque, Sultan Qaytbay, before 1474.17. The mausoleum of Sultan Qaytbay.18. The mosque of Amir Janim al-Bahlawan, 1478-1510.19. The groin-vaulted portal at the religious-funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay.

XII LIST OF PLATES

THE OTTOMAN PERIOD (UNTIL MUHAMMAD CALI)

20. The minaret of the mosque of Amir cUthman Katkhuda.21. Detail of a molding typical of the Ottoman period.22. The sabil-kuttab of Amir cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda.23. The portal of the sabil-kuttab of cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda.24. The portal at al-Azhar built by cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda.25. The facade of the mosque of cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda near al-Muski.26. The sabil-kuttab of Ruqayya Dudu, 1761.27. The sabil-kuttab of Ismacil Pasha, 1828.28. The sabil-kuttab of Ibrahim Pasha, late nineteenth century.

DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO

29. Houses of Cairo (Description de l'Egypte).30. The palace of Amir Bashtak at Bayn al-Qasrayn, 1334-39.31. Mashrabiyya window at the house of al-Razzaz.32. The portal of the palace of Amir Qusun (palace of Yashbak), 1337.33. The maqcad at the house of al-Razzaz, fifteenth-eighteenth century.34. Nineteenth century painting showing the interior of a house (Frank Dillon).35. Wakala and rabc of Sultan al-Ghuri at Khan al-Khalili, 1511.36. Interior of the wakala of Sultan al-Ghuri near al-Azhar, 1504/5.37. The hammam of Sultan al-Mu^ayyad (Pauty).

PART II

EARLY ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO

38. The mosque of Ibn Tulun.39. The mosque of Ibn Tulun, view of the interior.40. Side arcade at the mosque of Ibn Tulun.41. Stucco window grill at the mosque of Ibn Tulun.42. Stucco carved soffit at the mosque of Ibn Tulun.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE FATIMID PERIOD

43. The al-Azhar mosque.44. The original prayer niche of al-Azhar with Mamluk stucco carving in the spandrels.45. Stucco panels on the western wall of the sanctuary at al-Azhar.46. The dome of the Caliph al-Hafiz li-Din Allah at al-Azhar.47. The mosque of al-Hakim.48. Crenellation on the outer southwestern minaret of al-Hakim.49. Detail of the inner southwestern minaret of the mosque of al-Hakim (Creswell).50. The mashhad of al-Juyushi.51. Bab al-Nasr.52. Bab al-Futuh.53. Bab Zuwayla.

LIST OF PLATES XIII

54. The al-Aqmar mosque.55. The dome of the mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya.56. The prayer niche at the mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya (drawing, "The Mosques of Egypt").57. The mosque of al-Salih Tala i .

ARCHITECTURE OF THE AYYUBID PERIOD

58. The Citadel of Cairo, Ayyubid walls.59. Sculptures representing lions on a tower of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars at the Citadel.60. The Great Iwan of Sultan al-Nasir at the Citadel (Robert Hay).61. The mausoleum of Imam Shafici.62. The madrasa and mausoleum of Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub.63. Niche above the entrance at the madrasa of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub.64. The mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr.65. The prayer niche at the mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE BAHRI MAMLUKS

The mosque of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars.The facade of the madrasa-mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun with the sabil of al-Nasir to the left.The minaret and dome of Sultan Qalawun.The mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun (German Archaeological Institute).The prayer niche of the mausoleum of Qalawun.Stucco carving on the minaret of the madrasa-mausoleum of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad.The double mausoleum of the amirs Sanjar and Salar at the madrasa-khanqah of Amir Sanjar.Stone screen at the madrasa-khanqah of Amir Sanjar.The khanqah-mausoleum of Sultan Baybars al-Jashankir (Department of Antiquities).The madrasa-mausoleum of Amir Sunqur al-Sacdi (Department of Antiquities).The minarets of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel.The mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel.The zawiya of Shaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf.The mosque of Amir al-Maridani.The sanctuary of the mosque of Amir al-Maridani.Mashrabiyya at the sanctuary of al-Maridani.The sanctuary of the mosque of Amir Aqsunkur.The mosque (left) and khanqah of Amir Shaykhu.The interior of the khanqah of Amir Shaykhu.Gallery in the living quarters at the khanqah of Amir Shaykhu.The facade of the madrasa-mausoleum of Amir Sarghitmish (Department of Antiquities).The madrasa-mausoleum of Amir Sarghitmish and the minaret of Ibn Tulun.The madrasa-mosque and mausoleum of Sultan Hasan.The northern facade and portal of Sultan Hasan.Stucco inscription at the sanctuary of Sultan Hasan.The Sultaniyya mausoleum and the minaret of Amir Qusun on the right.The madrasa-mausoleum of Umm al-Sultan Shacban (Department of Antiquities).The portal of the madrasa-mausoleum of Umm al-Sultan Shacban.The madrasa-mausoleum of Amir Iljay al-Yusufi.

XIV LIST OF PLATES

ARCHITECTURE OF THE CIRCASSIAN MAMLUKS

95. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Barquq.96. Carved capital with a ram's head on the facade of the religious-funerary complex of Sultan

Barquq.97. The khanqah-mausoleum of Sultan Faraj Ibn Barquq.98. The northern entrance of the khanqah of Sultan Faraj Ibn Barquq with a sabll-kuttab to its right.99. The portal of the religious-funerary complex of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad.

100. The facade of the hospital of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad.101. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Barsbay.102. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Inal (The Mosques of Egypt).103. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay.104. Interior of the mosque of Sultan Qaytbay.105. The sabil-kuttab of Sultan Qaytbay at Saliba.106. The cistern of Amir Ya'qub Shah al-Mihmandar.107. The mosque of Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn Muzhir, the qibla iwan.108. Window spandrel with marble inlay and signature of the craftsman at the mosque of Abu Bakr

Ibn Muzhir (drawing "The Mosques of Egypt").109. The Fadawiyya Dome or Qubbat Yashbak.110. Squinch at the Fadawiyya Dome (The Mosques of Egypt).111. The mosque of Amir Qijmas al-Ishaqi.112. The prayer niche at the mosque of Qijmas al-Ishaqi with the signature of the craftsman.113. The religious-funerary complex of Amir Qanibay al-Rammah.114. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan al-Ghurl.115. The religious-funerary complex of Amir Qurqumas with the minaret of Sultan Inal to its right.116. The madrasa and mausoleum of Amir Khayrbak.117. Interior of the madrasa of Amir Khayrbak.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

118. The mosque of Sulayman Pasha.119. The takiyya-madrasa of Sulayman Pasha.120. The mosque and mausoleum of Mahmud Pasha.121. The mosque of Mahmud Pasha, interior view.122. The mosque of Sinan Pasha at Bulaq.123. The mosque of Yusuf Agha al-Hln.124. The mosque of Yusuf Agha al-Hln, view of the interior with mashrabiyya.125. The mosque of Shaykh al-Burdayni.126. The mosque of Amir cUthman Katkhuda.127. The mosque of cUthman Katkhuda, interior view.128. The madrasa-mosque of Muhammad Bey Abu'l-Dhahab.129. Iron grill at the mosque of Muhammad Bey Abu'l-Dhahab.130. The mosque and mausoleum of Hasan Pasha Tahir.131. The mosque of Amir Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar.132. The mosque of Muhammad CAU.

LIST OF FIGURES

PART I

THE CITY

1. Map of Cairo in the early Mamluk period.

STYLISTIC EVOLUTION OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO

2. The star pattern on the mausoleum of Sultan Barsbay.3. The star pattern on a mausoleum built by Barsbay.4. The star pattern on the mausoleum of Janibak built by Barsbay.5. The star pattern on the mausoleum of Sultan Qaytbay.6. The sabll-kuttab of Sultan Mahmud, 1750 (Coste).

DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE

7. Ground plan of the wakala of Sultan al-Ghurl near al-Azhar (Department of Antiquities).8. Detail of mashrabiyya.9. The wakala of Dhu'l-Fiqar, 1673 (Coste).

10. Hammam al-Tanball (Coste).

PART II


11. Plan showing the consecutive enlargements at the mosque of cAmr (Creswell).12. The Nilometer (Creswell).13. Carved stucco bands in the Samarra style on the arches of the Ibn Tulun mosque.


14. Plan of the al-Azhar mosque (Creswell).15. Reconstruction of the mosque of al-Hakim (Creswell).16. The mashhad of al-Juyushl, plan and elevation (Creswell).17. The al-Aqmar mosque (Creswell).


18. The Citadel in the Mamluk period (after Casanova).19. Plan of the madrasa of al-Salih Najm al-Dln Ayyub (Creswell).

ARCHITECTURE THE BAHRI MAMLUKS

20. The madrasa and mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun (Creswell).21. The khanqah-madrasa and double mausoleum of Amir Sanjar al-JawlT (Creswell).

XVI LIST OF FIGURES

22. The khanqah and mausoleum of Sultan Baybars al-Jashanklr (Creswell).23. The zawiya of Shaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf (Creswell).24. The mosque and mausoleum of Amir Shaykhu (Department of Antiquities).25. The khanqah of Amir Shaykhu (Department of Antiquities).26. The madrasa-mosque of Sultan Hasan (Department of Antiquities).


27. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Barquq (Department of Antiquities).28. The khanqah and mausoleum of Sultan Faraj Ibn Barquq (Department of Antiquities).29. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Inal (Department of Antiquities).30. The mosque of Amir Qijmas al-Ishaql (Department of Antiquities).31. The religious-funerary complex of Amir Qurqumas (Department of Antiquities).32. The madrasa and mausoleum of Amir Khayrbak (Department of Antiquities).


33. The mosque of Sinan Pasha (Department of Antiquities).34. The mosque of Malika Safiyya (Department of Antiquities).35. The mosque of Amir cUthman Katkhuda (Department of Antiquities).

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF CAIRO

632 Death of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina639-41 Conquest of Egypt by the Caliph cUmar's general, cAmr Ibn al-cAs

641 Capture of the old Roman fortress of Babylon641 Egypt becomes a province of the Caliphate of Medina

641-2 Mosque of cAmr built; foundation of al-Fustat as city and capital661-750 Umayyad Dynasty, Damascus

750-1258 Abbasid Dynasty, Baghdad!Samarra751 Governor of Egypt moves residence to new quarter of al-cAskar868 Ahmad Ibn Tulun becomes governor of Egypt

868-905 Tulunid Period870 Ibn Tulun moves residence to al-Qata3ic

879 Mosque of Ibn Tulun completed934-969 Ikhshidid period

969-1169 Fatimid period969 Fatimid armies from North Africa take al-Fustat; foundation of the walled city of

al-Qahira972 Al-Azhar mosque dedicated

1012 Al-Hakim mosque completed1066-72 Catastrophes of drought and pestilence1087-91 New walls and gates built by the Vizier Badr al-Jamall

1096 First Crusade begins1099 Jerusalem falls to the Franks

1163-68 Syrians and Franks battle for control of Egypt1168 Fustat burned to prevent it falling to the Franks1169 Salah al-Dln al-Ayyubl takes control of Egypt

1171-1250 Ayyubid period1170-76 Walls of Cairo extended; building of the Citadel startsc. 1175 Madrasa and khanqah systems introduced in Cairoc. 1240 Elite corps of Turkish (Bahri) Mamluks formed by Sultan al-Malik al-Salih

1250 First mausoleum attached to a madrasa (Shajarat al-Durr builds a tomb at herhusband's foundation)

1250-1382 Bahri Mamluk period1258 Mongols take Baghdad and murder the Abbasid caliph1261 Sultan Baybars sets up an Abbasid survivor as caliph in Cairo1277 Baybars defeats the Mongols at cAyn Jalut1292 Last Crusade enclaves captured

1309-40 Reign of al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun, greatest Mamluk builder and patron(with two interregnums)

1382-1517 Circassian Mamluk period1468-96 Reign of Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay, apogee of Circassian Mamluk period1501-16 Reign of Sultan Qansuh al-Ghurl

XVIII IMPORTANTS EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF ISLAMIC CAIRO

1517-1914 Ottoman period1517 Selim I, Ottoman Sultan of Turkey, conquers Egypt and makes it a province of the

Ottoman Empire1768 Amir CA1i Bey revolts against the Ottomans, takes part of Arabia and tries to annex

Syria1772 Revolt of CA1i Bey put down1798 Napoleon defeats Egyptian forces at the Battle of the Pyramids1801 French evacuate Egypt; control restored to Ottomans1805 Muhammad CA1i expels the Ottoman governor and massacres the last Mamluks

PART I

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

THE CITY

Cairo's architectural monuments rank among human-ity's great achievements. Recognizing that their preser-vation is a matter of importance to the whole world,UNESCO has listed the Egyptian capital as one of the"Cities of Human Heritage." Such recognition is welljustified, for few cities on earth display such a denseconcentration of historic architectural treasures as doesCairo.

This concentration reflects the political situation ofIslamic Egypt, which never had another capital outsidethe space occupied by the city we now call Cairo. His-torians describe a series of capital cities—al-Fustat, al-cAskar, al-Qata^ic- and al-Qahira—but all of these werewithin sight of one another and eventually became asingle city. Cairo has been the uninterrupted center ofpower in Egypt since the year 641.

Continuous, centralized power in one area distin-guishes Egypt from other Islamic nations such as Syria,Iraq, Anatolia, Andalusia, and Persia, where differentcities vied for supremacy in different epochs, sometimessimultaneously. Muslim Egypt was ruled from a singlesite, the area between the mosque of cAmr in the southand Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh to the north. Out-side this area very few medieval buildings of interesthave survived, while within it, a large number ofEgypt's medieval and post-medieval monuments stillstand, witnesses to more than eleven centuries ofhistory.

AL-FUSTAT, AL-CASKAR, AL-QATA>IC

What we today call Cairo, or al-Qahira, is anagglomeration of four cities founded within the area.The name al-Qahira did not exist until the last of thesewas created in 969 as capital of Egypt under theFatimids. Before this city came a succession of capitalsbeginning with al-Fustat (641), the Abbasid foundationof al-cAskar (750), and the Tulunid establishment of al-Qata>ic (870).

Al-Fustat was founded as the capital of Egypt justafter the Arab conquest of Egypt. Its location was astrategic decision by the Caliph cUmar Ibn al-Khattab

in Medina, for although Alexandria was capital ofEgypt at the time of the conquest, the Caliph preferredto settle his troops in an area less remote from the Ara-bian Peninsula. cAmr Ibn al-cAs, commander of theCaliph's troops in Egypt, thus abandoned his plans tosettle in the former capital on the Mediterranean. Thenew capital, at the apex of the Nile Delta, was strate-gically situated near the Roman fortress town ofBabylon. This site, at the junction of Upper and LowerEgypt, allowed easy communication with the ArabianPeninsula without crossing the Nile and its Deltabranches. cAmr Ibn al-cAs redug the ancient canal con-necting the Nile with the Red Sea, further facilitatingcommunication with the Caliphate in the Hejaz. Al-Fustat soon eclipsed Alexandria as the commercial andindustrial center of Egypt, receiving goods from Upperand Lower Egypt and from the Mediterranean at itsNile port. In the ninth century, however, the Khallj orcanal connecting the Nile with the Red Sea was par-tially filled in, and all that was left was a pond southeastof the Delta called Birkat al-Hajj, the first station on thecaravan road to Mecca.

Al-Fustat was typical of the garrison cities estab-lished in the early days of the Arab conquests. LikeKufa and Basra in Iraq and Qayrawan in Tunisia, itwas an unplanned agglomeration that later crystallizedinto true urban form. At the center of al-Fustat was themosque of cAmr, a simple construction for the religiousneeds of the troops and, adjacent to it, the com-mander's house. The mosque overlooked the Nile,whose channel was much closer to it than it is now. Al-Fustat was originally divided into distinct quartersoccupied by the various tribes of the conquering army.This garrison gradually developed into a large townengulfing the town of Babylon around the Romanfortress.

Al-Fustat acquired its first satellite city after theAbbasids overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate of Da-mascus in 750 and established their new capital atBaghdad. In order to reinforce their grip on the Egyp-tian province, the new rulers immediately sent troopsand founded a new capital, al-cAskar ("the soldiers"),

INTRODUCTION

Fig. 1. Map of Cairo in the early Mamluk period.

THE CITY

with a new mosque and governor's palace, to the north-east of al-Fustat. Despite the foundation of this satellitecity, al-Fustat continued for some time to be theadministrative and commercial center. In the followingperiod, the two communities of al-Fustat and al-cAskarfused into a larger city designated simply as al-Fustat,stretching to the Nile in the west and to the foot of theMuqattam hill to the east and north. The GreatMosque of al-cAskar had already disappeared in theMiddle Ages, and MaqrizI, the Egyptian historian ofthe early fifteenth century, mentions it only briefly.

Following the precedent set by the Abbasids infounding al-cAskar, later dynasties created for them-selves new seats of power, each farther to the northeast,farther inland, and each more grandiose than the last.Ahmad Ibn Tulun, sent to Egypt in 868 as the AbbasidCaliph's governor, soon asserted his independence,founding a new ruling dynasty (868-905) and a newcapital, al-Qata°ic ("the wards"), northeast of theFustat-al-cAskar complex. The new city, standing onhigher ground than al-cAskar, on the hill called JabalYashkur, the area today including the mosque of IbnTulun and the foot of the Citadel, was remote from thecommercial and industrial center of al-Fustat and itsbusy port. It was celebrated as a magnificent pleasurecity, especially under the reign of Ibn Tulun's sonKhumarawayh.

Ibn Tulun constructed a grand palace with vastgardens and a menagerie, as well as a hippodrome forhorse races, polo, and other chivalric games. Thehippodrome had a special triple gate, where Ibn Tulunentered alone through the middle arch flanked by hissoldiers marching through the side arches. The Gate ofLions, another of the hippodrome's entrances, was sur-mounted by two lions in stucco and a belvedere orgallery for the ruler.

Ibn Tulun's son Khumarawayh embellished theworks of his father in many ways. He furnished one ofhis belvederes, the Golden House, with statues ofwomen painted and adorned with jewelry, representinghis slaves and singers. Khumarawayh took special careof the garden of rare flowers and trees. Tree trunkswere coated with gilded copper from which pipestrickled water into canals and fountains to irrigate thegarden, and nearby was an aviary with singing birds.Most remarkable was a pool of mercury, whereKhumarawayh, an insomniac, lay on an air mattresstrying to rock himself to sleep. The entire complex,with its gardens, huge stables and menagerie of wildanimals, did not overlook the Nile but rather the Birkat

al-Fil, a large pond connected to the Khalij. In the sur-rounding area, luxury markets soon sprang up to servethe tastes of officers and notables.

The Tulunid age with all its luxurious trappingscame to an end in 905 when the Abbasid troops onceagain marched on Egypt, this time to reestablish orderand replace the dynasty whose sovereigns had lived sosumptuously. During this campaign, the entire city ofal-Qata^ic was razed to the ground except for IbnTulun's aqueduct and his mosque, the oldest mosquein Egypt surviving in its original form.

AL-QAHIRA

The fourth palatial satellite city was born with theconquest of Egypt by the Fatimids, an Ismacili Shlcadynasty originating in North Africa. The fourth Fati-mid Caliph, al-Mucizz li-Din Allah, with his generalJawhar al-Siqilli, overthrew the Ikhshidids who hadruled Egypt between 934 and 969. Egypt's status rosewith that of its conquerors; it became the seat of aCaliphate.

Jawhar accordingly began construction on the wallswhich were to enclose the new caliphal residence. Al-Mucizz first named the site al-Mansuriyya after hisfather, the Caliph al-Mansur, but four years laterrenamed it al-Qahira (The Victorious) after al-Qahir,the planet Mars, in ascendance when the signal wasgiven to break ground for the new capital. The newconstruction was completed in 971, with quarters forthe various ethnic groups composing the Fatimid army:Greeks, other Europeans, Armenians, Berbers,Sudanese, and Turks.

Facing a huge esplanade for ceremonial activities,the palace complex of the Caliph stood midway alongthe artery that cut the city into two unequal parts on anapproximate north-south axis. The residences occupiedthe heart of the new imperial city into which the Caliphal-Mucizz made his triumphal entry in 974.

THE Two CITIES

Under the Fatimids, al-Qahira became the seat ofpower, a ceremonial, residential center where theCaliph dwelt with his court and army, but al-Fustatremained the productive and economic center of Egypt.The older city, by that time called simply Misr, hadgrown into a flourishing metropolis. Travelers visitingit from the tenth to the mid-eleventh centuries reportedthat it competed in grandeur and prosperity with the

INTRODUCTION

Pl. 1. 1'abbana Street in the nineteenth century (Coste).

greatest Islamic cities of the time. Al-Muqaddasi in thetenth century described the highrise buildings of al-Fustat as resembling minarets. According to NasirlKhusraw, a Persian traveler of the early eleventh cen-tury, some of these buildings climbed as high as four-teen stories up to roof gardens complete with ox-drawnwater wheels for irrigating them. Khusraw dedicateslong descriptive passages to the city's thriving markets,and finally confesses, "I have seen so much wealth inal-Fustat that if I tried to list or describe it, my wordswould not be believed. I found it impossible to count orestimate it."

Recent excavations at al-Fustat have corroboratedsome of these contemporary descriptions. Eyewitnesseswrote that in the densest part of the city, around themosque of cAmr, merchants displayed goods from allover the world. Excavations have revealed Chinesewares of the most refined quality that found their way

to al-Fustat. The digs have also revealed considerablesophistication below the street level. The intricatesewerage system took advantage of differing altitudes ofal-Fustat's terrain to distribute water and eliminatewastes. According to other visitors' accounts, al-Fustatalso suffered, for all its glory and sophistication, fromproblems familiar to the inhabitants of modern cities.The physician Ibn Ridwan (d. 1068) thought the streetswere too narrow for their high buildings. The hills tothe east and north prevented proper ventilation of thecity so that the stagnant air became polluted, particu-larly with smoke from the furnaces of a multitude ofsteam baths. Dead animals thrown into the Nile con-taminated the drinking water, and the congestion anddilapidation of the heart of al-Fustat shocked somevisitors. In the twelfth century Ibn Sacld from Sevillenoted that the mosque of cAmr had fallen victim to atraffic problem. The monument, its premises crowded

THE CITY 7

PL 2. Southern Cairo and the cemetery (Roberts).

with women, children and peddlers and its walls

covered with graffiti, served the city's population as a

short-cut between two streets.

Al-Qahira, on the other hand, stood high above the

problems of the mother city. Nasirl Khusraw, describ-

ing the Fatimid Caliph's city, refers to mansions and

gardens of incredible beauty. Of the palace complex,

dominating the center of town like a mountain, he

writes:

I saw a series of buildings, terraces and rooms. There weretwelve adjoining pavilions, all of them square in shape. ...There was a throne in one of them that took up the entirewidth of the room. Three of its sides were made of goldon which were hunting scenes depicting riders racing theirhorses and other subjects; there were also inscriptionswritten in beautiful characters. The rugs and hangingswere Greek satin and moire woven precisely to fit the spotwhere they were to be placed. A balustrade of golden lat-tice work surrounded the throne, whose beauty defies alldescription. Behind the throne were steps of silver. I sawa tree that looked like an orange tree, whose branches,leaves and fruits were made of sugar. A thousand statu-ettes and figurines also made of sugar were also placedthere.

A French ambassador to Cairo, speaking of thepalace in 1167, mentions floors of colored marble,grouted with gold, and a courtyard surrounded bymagnificent colonnaded porticos. Water from a centralfountain trickled through gold and silver pipes intochannels and pools. There was a menagerie and anaviary filled with exotically colored birds from all overthe world. Long passages of Maqrlzl's account tell ofthe different treasure halls of the Fatimid palaces andan academy with a vast library.

These accounts imply that by the end of the eleventhcentury, Egypt's two symbiotic capitals, Misr and al-Qahira, physically manifested the separation betweenthe indigenous people and the ruling elite. The largerone, Misr, supported the productive and mercantilepopulation, while al-Qahira was inhabited exclusivelyby the foreign rulers and their entourage. Commonersemployed in the royal city returned to al-Fustat (Misr)at the end of the working day. Each city had a port.That of al-Fustat was close to its markets, while al-Maqs or Umm Dunayn (the pre-Islamic village of Tan-dunias) harbored the Fatimid fleet. This situation,however, did not survive the next century.

In the twelfth century a series of natural catas-trophes, plague followed by famine and a violent earth-quake, severely depopulated al-Fustat and arrested itsdevelopment. Al-Qata>ic, on the northern outskirts,had not recovered from its destruction by Abbasidtroops. The Fatimid vizier Badr al-Jamall, respondingto the situation, permitted the transfer of some marketsto al-Qahira and allowed wealthy citizens to build newhouses in the formerly exclusive city. Al-Fustat wasthus already in decline when the French King Amaury(Amalric) and his Crusaders came from Jerusalem toattack Egypt. Nur al-Dln of Syria sent his armies to aidthe Fatimids, and the Muslim troops, led by Shlrkuhand his nephew Salah al-Dln, fought the Crusadersfrom 1164 to 1169. During these campaigns theFatimid vizier Shawar is reported to have ordered theburning of al-Fustat to stop the invaders. After his vic-tory over the Franks, Salah al-Dln became vizier underthe last Fatimid Caliph, whom he overthrew in 1171,reestablishing the supremacy of the Sunni Caliphate ofBaghdad and ending two centuries of IsmacIli Shiciterule in Egypt.

These upheavals consolidated changes already inprogress. Once opened to whoever wished to live there,al-Qahira completely eclipsed al-Fustat. The suburbs ofthe older city had decayed, leaving large empty spacesbetween al-Fustat and al-Qahira. Salah al-Dln set outto enclose both cities and the intervening areas withinone long set of walls. Undaunted by the enormity of thetask, he also intended his wall to extend westwardacross the Khallj to include the port of al-Maqs, andeastward to al-Muqattam, where he began his Citadelin the Syrian tradition of hilltop fortifications. He diedbefore these projects were completed, and the walls ofCairo were never continued. The Citadel, however,designed not only as a fortress but also as the residenceof sultans, was enlarged and embellished with newbuildings throughout its history.

INTRODUCTION

Pl. 3. Nineteenth century houses along the canal of Cairo(Coste).

THE OUTSKIRTS

The city expanded on all sides under subsequentrulers. Under the Mamluks there was extensive devel-opment along the road leading from Bab Zuwayla tothe Citadel and its royal palaces. Natural forces playeda part as well. The Nile's course shifted to the west inthe fourteenth century, transforming the island ofBulaq into a port on the eastern bank and leaving al-Maqs, which Salah al-Dln had planned to fortify, farinland. On the eastern edge of al-Qahira the cemeteryfounded by al-Nasir Muhammad, like that of Fustatfarther to the south, expanded into the desert and soonbecame the site of important religious foundations.

The Khallj, which for centuries had formed thewestern border of the city, fed a number of ponds in thewestern, northern and southern outskirts. The Nileflooded these ponds in summer, leaving their bedsgreen with vegetation when the waters receded. Thebeauty of these ponds made them the summer resortsof Cairenes, and many princely residences were builtnear them, particularly the Birkat al-Fll in the south.The pond of Azbakiyya came into vogue during the lateMamluk period and remained fashionable under theOttomans. Orchards and pleasure buildings on thewestern bank of the Khallj gradually gave way tourbanization during the Ottoman period (1517-1914),as the city's northern areas expanded toward the Nile.

THE NAMES OF CAIRO

The word Cairo is derived from the Arabic al-Qahira, which is not, however, the name commonlyused by Egyptians to designate their capital. They havealways called it Masr (the popular form of Misr, mean-ing Egypt). Al-Qahira is the official term used in writ-ten Arabic today.

Egyptian medieval historians make a clear distinc-tion between Misr and Al-Qahira. Al-Qahira is thename of that part of the capital established in 969 by theFatimid dynasty as its residential city. Misr is theabbreviation of Fustat-Misr, or Fustat of Egypt, desig-nating the first Muslim capital of Egypt founded by theArab general cAmr Ibn al-cAs in 641-42.

There are two interpretations of the word Fustat.While European scholars usually derive it from theGreek and Latin fossatum meaning trench, which couldbe a pre-Islamic local toponym, Arab scholars prefer tointerpret it as the Arabic fustat , meaning tent. Accord-ing to legend, the name originated when the Arabtroops on their way to Alexandria left the tent of cAmrIbn al-cAs behind in order not to disturb a dove thathad built a nest in it. In time, people dropped the wordal-Fustat, and the area of the early Arab foundationwas once again known as Misr. The term Misr waslater extended to refer to the whole capital, composedof both al-Fustat and al-Qahira. Ottoman coins fromEgypt are inscribed, duriba fi misr, "struck in Misr",and Ottoman coins always refer to the city rather thanto the province where they were struck. The mint wasat the Citadel, in al-Qahira. In the Ottoman period al-Fustat (or Misr) itself was called Misr al-cAtiqa, refer-ring to the part of the city today called Misr al-Qadima,meaning Old Misr. Many people still call it Misral-cAtiqa.

The habit of calling the entire Egyptian capitalCairo, or al-Qahira, was begun by Europeans whovisited Egypt. The name was reinforced by Napoleon'sFrench scholars, who made a scholarly survey of thecity which they called Le Kaire, translated by theBritish as Cairo. Cairo's traditional byname is Misr al-Mahrusa, or Cairo, the Protected City.

Despite its many losses, Cairo has been sparedwholesale devastations by wars and other calamities,and today offers us a wealth of historic architecture.

CHAPTER TWO

STYLISTIC EVOLUTION OF ISLAMICARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO

THE FATIMID PERIOD (969-1167)

Not before the establishment of a Caliphate in Egyptunder the Fatimids did an indigenous style in art andarchitecture crystallize. The mosque of Ibn Tulun,despite a few variations, is still a product of theAbbassid court art of Samarra.

While the arrival of a new dynasty need not auto-matically bring with it a change of style in arts andcrafts, a new political system necessarily shapes theenvironment of the craftsman and thus brings newinfluences to bear upon his inherited methods andexperience. The Fatimid reign promoted Egypt from atribute-paying governorate within a Caliphate to aCaliphate itself, with Cairo the imperial capital.

Cairo's new status as seat of the Fatimid Caliphateled to the emergence of a new, individual style. Thearts and architecture of the Fatimid period show anintegrated use of Coptic, Byzantine and Samarranelements. Foreign forms in Fatimid architecture anddecoration thus express not a provincial version of animperial prototype, but a demonstration that the newimperial city had considerable attraction for craftsmenand artists from many traditions in and outside Egypt.

The Fatimid dynasty ruled Egypt between 969 and1171. They came from North Africa, where they hadestablished an empire prior to their conquest of Egypt.They were Shlca Muslims of the Ismaclli branch, claim-ing descent from the Prophet through his daughterFatima (hence their name) and his son-in-law, theCaliph CAli Ibn Abl Talib, whom Shicites especiallyvenerate. The shahada, or tenet of the Muslim faith,"There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is theProphet of Allah," when spoken by Shicites is sup-plemented by the phrase, cAli waliyyu 'lldh, "cAli is theProtected of God." According to Shlca doctrine, theonly legitimate and authoritative religious leaders arethe imams, or descendants of cAli through his sons fromFatima, al-Hasan and al-Husayn. The imams, becauseof their ancestry, were considered by the Ismacllls to be

PL 4. Trilobed arch at Bab Zuwayla.

divinely inspired and therefore infallible. The FatimidCaliphs were the imams of the community.

Under Fatimid Shlca rule, most of the Egyptianpopulation continued to be faithful to Sunnism, andwere thus separated from their rulers by a religious bar-rier. This religious barrier might explain the buildingof a certain type of shrine, such as the Fatimid

10 INTRODUCTION

Pl. 5. The base of the dome added by Caliph Al-Hafiz li DmAllah at al-Azhar; window grill inlaid with colored glass.

mashhads, memorial foundations dedicated to descen-dants of the Prophet Muhammad who had died muchearlier and most of whom had no connection withEgypt at all. These shrines, such as the shrines ofSayyida Naflsa, Sayyida Zaynab, and al-Husaynvenerated by both Shlca and Sunni Muslims, are stillvenerated today, helped bridge the religious gapbetween rulers and subjects, and also enhanced theprestige of the Fatimid rulers, themselves descendantsand relatives of the worshipped saints. Memorialbuildings of this type were not peculiar to Egypt; theyhad appeared earlier in other parts of the Muslim worldas well.

The Fatimid Caliphs were not buried in cemeteries,but within the confines of their own palaces. Theirtombs and those of their ancestors were considered asshrines and visited on religious and official occasions.The outstanding architectural achievement of theFatimid Caliphs, according to travelers' and historians'accounts, were their palaces. As nothing of these havesurvived except written descriptions, our visual expe-rience-of Fatimid architecture is restricted to a few sur-viving shrines, mosques, and the city gates. Thoughlimited in number, these monuments show us the greatcreativity of Fatimid architecture and decoration, andthe reasons for its long lasting influence in subsequentperiods.

Fatimid mosques retained the hypostyle mosqueplan, with column-supported arcades surrounding acourtyard. However, the keel arch was introduced,usually carried on pre-Islamic Corinthian capitals. AnIslamic type of capital in the shape of a bell was used,

and the shape was often repeated underneath the col-umn to form its base, though set upside down. Thepiers of the mosque of Ibn Tulun already had suchcapitals and bases.

The prayer niche of a Fatimid mosque is alwaysenhanced architecturally, either by a dome above it orby a transept (al-Azhar and al-Hakim have both), or bya widening of the aisle adjacent to the qibla wall(al-Aqmar mosque), or the aisle perpendicular to it(al-Salih Talaric- mosque).

Aligning the facade of the mosque to the street, afeature characteristic of Cairene medieval architecture,appears for the first time in the Fatimid period. The al-Aqmar mosque is the earliest extant example, and isalso the earliest extant example of an extensivelydecorated mosque facade. Facade decoration withrecesses in which windows are placed is first seen at themosque of al-Salih Tala-'ic and the location of amosque above shops was also initiated during thisperiod.

Fatimid minaret shapes show a clear evolution fromal-Juyushi to Abu'l-Ghadanfar toward the mabkharashape, a term meaning "incense burner," which wasused by Creswell to designate a rectangular shaft sup-porting an octagonal section with a ribbed helmet. Thisminaret shape, not, by the way, reminiscent of anyknown type of incense burner, was to become typical ofminarets for the next two centuries.

It is known that marble was used for decoration,though none used in mosques has remained in place.Stucco, wood and stone carvings display floral designs,arabesques derived from Samarran and Byzantinemotifs, and geometric patterns. Kufic inscription bandsbecome increasingly ornate. Window grills have floralas well as geometric designs, and glass in stucco grillsappears for the first time, a feature that was commonfrom then on.

The Fatimid period introduced decorative featuressuch as the keel-arched niche with fluted radiatinghood, a variation on a late classic theme used widely inCoptic art. This fluted niche hood must have inspiredarchitects to build fluted domes, a style continued inMamluk architecture. The Fatimid use of inscriptionbands along the arches, however, was not continued,and is confined to the Fatimid period.

Although Samarran and Byzantine motifs inspiredFatimid decoration, these were further developed andmodified into a complex and less repetitive treatment,emphasizing accommodation to the surface to bedecorated.

STYLISTIC EVOLUTION OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO 11

PI. 6. Prayer niche of al-Afdal Shahinshah at the mosque ofIbn Tulun (drawing, "The Mosques of Egypt").

PI. 7. The minaret of Abu'l-Ghadanfar, 1157.

THE AYYUBID PERIOD (1171-1250)

The Ayyubids, who adhered to the Shafici rite ofIslamic law, allowed only one Friday mosque within anurban area, which explains why they did not build anynew major mosques. They built instead a number ofmadrasas, of which only one has survived. Many oftheir madrasas were established in houses or palaces.

The madrasa was an institution sponsored bymembers of the ruling class for teaching theology andlaw according to an officially approved curriculum.Teaching in mosques was common since the beginningof Islamic history, but these early teaching institutionswere private initiatives not subject to state control. TheShicites were the first to found official teaching institu-

tions for the propagation of their own doctrine, as atal-Azhar. The Sunnis therefore emulated the system,promoting the madrasas to counteract Shlca prop-aganda.

In a madrasa, the student acquired a higher educa-tion in law and theology to enable him to undertakescholarly or administrative duties. He was given food,lodging, clothing, and even a stipend. The khanqahwas for the Sufis, who espoused the mystic, esotericapproach to religion, in which seclusion and ascetismplayed important roles. In the early khanqah, the Sufisled a monastic life according to their own strict regula-tions and were also sponsored in the same manner asthe students of the madrasa.

Imam Shaficl, founder of the rite known by his

12 INTRODUCTION

name, who lived and died in Egypt, was especiallyrevered by the Ayyubids. The first madrasa in Egyptwas built by Salah al-Din near the tomb of ImamShafici at the cemetery of al-Fustat. Salah al-Din alsosponsored a magnificent wooden cenotaph on theImam's grave, still in place today. Nothing of themadrasa has survived.

The first khanqah of Egypt, also introduced by Salahal-Din, was established on the premises of a Fatimidpalace in the center of al-Qahira. It too has not sur-vived, but throughout the medieval period it was oneof the most important khanqahs of Cairo. Originally,it was exclusively for Sufis from outside Egypt.

ARCHITECTURE

The break into the political and religious systemintroduced by Ayyubid rule in Egypt did not affect thearts to the same extent, although it led necessarily toinnovations in the field of architecture, required by theestablishment of new forms of religious institutions.

The madrasa and the khanqah which were bothplanned to lodge their respective communities of stu-dents and Sufis, were necessarily built on a plan dif-ferent from that of the traditional mosque. They had toinclude living units, a kitchen, sometimes a bath, areception hall and stables which are elements ofdomestic architecture. Thus the Twan, which historiansmention in an earlier residential context, was adoptedin madrasa and khanqah architecture. In its classicform, it was a hall open on one side and covered by avault or a flat ceiling. In Cairo, early iwans—Ayyubidand Bahri Mamluk—were vaulted; in the laterMamluk period they were often covered with a woodenceiling. At the madrasa of al-Salih Najm al-Din, twoiwans face each other across a courtyard with the livingunits on the lateral sides built on several stories. At theend of the thirteenth century, the so-called cruciformplan was adopted with four unequal iwans framing thecourtyard and the living quarters occupying the cornersof the courtyard.

In funerary architecture, the mausoleum of ImamShafic1 continued the shrine tradition established by theFatimids, on a superlative scale and with new meaning.The Imam Shafici dome, like that of al-Salih Najmal-Din, has a feature alien to Fatimid domes: its profilecurves near the springing of the dome. This dome,however, was restored several times, and it is possiblethat its shape was remodeled, in which case the dome

Pl. 8. Minaret base from the Ayyubid period at the shrine ofal-Husayn.

of al-Salih Najm al-Din would be the earliest extantexample of this type of dome profile.

The facade of the madrasa of al-Salih Najm al-Dinfollows the pattern introduced at the mosque of al-SalihTalari*-, with windows in recessed panels along thewhole length of the facade.

The minaret of al-Salih Najm al-Din is of themabkhara type decorated with stalactites. The earliestmabkhara minaret, that of Abu'l-Ghadanfar (1157), iswithout stalactites.

There are two undated buildings attributed byCreswell to the late Ayyubid decade that could also


have been built in the first Mamluk decade. In eithercase, they deserve some mention here, as they representa further step in the evolution of Cairo architecture ofthe mid-thirteenth century.

The Minaret of Zawiyat al-Hunud

One of these is a minaret known by its later designa-tion as the minaret of Zawiyat al-Hunud. It is arnabkhara minaret which has retained more decora-tions than that of al-Salih, with lozenges and keelarches and more stalactites. Its silhouette is moreslender and elongated, and it therefore might well havebeen built around 1250, as Creswell suggests.

The Mausoleum of the Abbasid Caliphs

The other building is known as the mausoleum of theAbbasid Caliphs, as several Abbasid Caliphs wereburied there after Sultan al-Zahir Baybars founded anominal Abbasid Caliphate in Cairo following the sackof Baghdad by the Mongols. It adjoins the shrine ofSayyida Nafisa in the cemetery of Fustat and isundated.

The mausoleum includes several cenotaphs, theearliest of which is that of an ambassador of theAbbasid court named Nadla, who died in Egypt in1243. There are also two sons of the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baybars buried under the same dome and otherlater Caliphs' cenotaphs. The cenotaphs of course donot date the mausoleum itself; it might be older or laterthan the tombs. Creswell identifies it as having beenbuilt originally for Nadla, the ambassador of theAbbasid Caliph, in 1243. Other arguments, such as theextraordinarily lavish decoration, favor its attributionto Sultan al-Zahir Baybars who would have built it forhis sons in the 1260's, especially since the enclosure inwhich the mausoleum stands axially is assigned to al-Zahir Baybars.

The mausoleum of the Abbasid Caliphs is one of themost finely decorated buildings of medieval Cairo. Itsdome's interior is covered with exquisitely carved stuc-co and painted medallions. It has a band of braided,painted Kufic script in its lower part, the only examplein Cairene architectural decoration. The architec-

Pl. 9. The minaret of Zawiyat al-Hunud, ca. 1250 (Depart-ment of Antiquities).

14 INTRODUCTION

11. The transitional zone of the dome of the AbbasidCaliphs, mid-thirteenth century.

P1. 10. Keel-arched niche at the mausoleum of the AbbasidCaliphs, mid-thirteenth century.

turally interesting feature of this building, whoseexterior is very similar to that of Shajarat al-Durr inkeel profile and carvings, lies in the transitional zone ofthe dome. Two-tiered squinches alternating with two-tiered windows resemble those at Sayyida Ruqayya,but here the space between squinch and windows isfilled with niches so that the whole octagonal zoneappears as a ring of niches, some forming stalactitesquinches, some pierced with windows for light, andothers carved to match the overall composition.

If this mausoleum is late Ayyubid as Creswellassumes (1242/3), this would be the first use of thisdevice, a year earlier than in al-Salih's dome (1243/4).This treatment of the transitional zone was subse-quently adopted in all domes with squinches.

DECORATION

Ayyubid decoration is quite distinct from that usedby the Fatimids. The arabesques are more abstract andmore intricate, to the extent that the basic design is

concealed behind the densely carved curves veryminutely and extremely delicately executed. Theirbasic arrangement, however, follows the usualgeometric rules.

Indeed, the stuccos resemble lace, a prominentexample being on the base of a minaret added in 1237to the shrine of al-Husayn whose original top has notsurvived. The decoration of Shajarat al-Durr's domegives the same impression. Stucco window grills are nolonger treated geometrically; arabesques are usedinstead. Work in stone and wood follows the sametrend. The woodwork of the cenotaphs of Imam Shaficiand the one added to the shrine of al-Husayn (now inthe Islamic Museum) are perhaps the most beautiful inCairo's history. They are carved in deep relief in floraland geometric patterns and use both Kufic and naskhiscripts. The use of naskhi increases in Ayyubid decora-tion and is applied along with Kufic to decorate archi-tecture and other artistic objects as well. Samarran andByzantine styles were fully supplanted in the Ayyubidperiod by Islamic decorative art forms.


THE BAHRI MAMLUK PERIOD (1250-1382)

Cairo's legacy of Bahri Mamluk monuments is forthe art historian a source of both delight and despairowing to the variety of forms and patterns adoptedduring this period, greater by far than that found inlater periods.

The architecture of the Bahri Mamluks is primarilyCairene, based on the Fatimid and Ayyubid traditionsthat evolved into an indigenous Cairo art without, how-ever, ever being closed to outside inspiration.

FUNCTIONS

The mosque of cAmr at Fustat was the congrega-tional mosque of the city, which means that it was themosque where the Friday sermon was held, first bycAmr himself, and subsequently by his successors, thefirst governors of Egypt and spiritual heads of theMuslim community. Of course it was not the onlymosque of the city, for there were a multitude of othersfor the five daily prayers. The congregational mosquewas called masjid jami*- and abreviated a.sjdmic, meaningcongregational. The ordinary mosque was calledmasjid, which is the origin of the word "mosque".Today, this terminological distinction no longer exists.

Every medieval urban agglomeration had its owncongregational mosque. When, however, the cities andtheir Muslim communities grew, the number of Fridaymosques increased. The cities of al-cAskar and al-O_ata->ic each had a Friday mosque. Al-Qahira had theal-Azhar and al-Hakim mosques. The Fatimid Caliph,in his position as both political and spiritual leader,held prayer each Friday in the four mosques of cAmr,Ibn Tulun, al-Azhar, and al-Hakim. Under the Ayyu-bids, the only congregational mosque of Cairo was thatof al-Hakim, no doubt because it was the largest in thecity. At Fustat, the mosque of cAmr continued to be thecity's Friday mosque. The Mamluks increased thenumber of Friday mosques, and from the time ofSultan Hasan, madrasas and khanqahs also becamesimultaneously Friday mosques so that by the fifteenthcentury, each quarter and sometimes even each streethad its own. The sermon delivered by the shaykh hadat that time only a spiritual, and not a political,function.

PLANS

Creswell has demonstrated definitively that thernadrasa plan called cruciform, consisting of a court-

yard with four iwans of unequal size and living unitsbetween them, developed in Egypt. The earliest knownmadrasas, those of al-Malik al-Kamil and al-Malik al-Salih, had two iwans facing each other across a cour-tyard, and at al-Salih's madrasa, this form wasduplicated. We do not know exactly how the lateralsides were treated, but the madrasa of Sultan Qalawunis rather similar in plan. There, the lateral sides eachhave a small room in the form of a recess, rather thana true iwan. In later madrasas, these recesses becomelarger, forming small iwans. This plan is very similarto the qa'-a, or reception hall, of Mamluk and Ottomanresidences, the only difference being that in the classicmadrasa, the courtyard is not roofed or domed as it wasin the residential qaca.

Hypostyle mosques continued to be built in the BahriMamluk period, but were no longer free standing. Inthe already crowded urban setting, their plansgenerally lose their regularity. For example, the mainentrance is no longer on the axis of the sanctuary.

With Shajarat al-Durr, who initiated the rule of theBahri Mamluk sultans, it became traditional for thefounder of a religious institution to add his ownmausoleum to the building. The mausoleum dome wasbuilt to enhance the founder's prestige, and its locationwas therefore important. Ideally a mausoleum attachedto a religious building had to be oriented to Mecca andat the same time accessible from the street. The for-mula succeeds at the mausoleums of Qalawun, al-NasirMuhammad, and all others located on the west side ofthe street. Where the Mecca orientation does not coin-cide with the street, the street orientation was givenpreference.

Mausoleums were given large windows with irongrills, where a shaykh sat and recited the Quran bothfor the soul of the dead and to attract the attention andblessings of passersby. Often, mausoleums were muchmore richly decorated than the buildings they wereattached to, a good example being that of Baybars al-Jashanklr.

FACADES

Mosques and madrasas since their earliest historyhad primary schools for boys (maktab or kuttab) attachedto them, which were usually dedicated to the educationof orphans. Other boys could take private lessons withteachers who taught in shops within the city, as thetales of "The Schoolmaster" and "The Split-MouthSchoolmaster" of the Arabian Nights tell us. Judging

16 INTRODUCTION

from the number of kuttabs that survived, most men inmedieval Cairo must have been literate.

By the end of the Bahri Mamluk period, an archi-tectural device was developed for such structures. Aloggia occupying a corner with a double arch on eachside surmounted the sabil or water-house. The sabllwas another pious foundation that could be attached toa mosque. It was a place where the thirsty passerbycould get a drink of water. A man especially employedfor that purpose would serve him behind the large sabllwindow. Since the madrasa of Amir Iljay al-Yusuff, thecombination of a sabll with a kuttab became a standardfeature of the facades, always at the corner, of religiousfoundations.

Bahri Mamluk facades standardize the panel-and-recess pattern begun at the mosque of al-Salih Tala5^.The recesses are crowned with stalactites and havelarge rectangular lower windows with iron grills andhigher arched or double arched windows with stuccogrills and colored glass.

PORTALS

Various types of portals were used before the stalac-tite portal became typical during the mid-fourteenthcentury. The Qalawun complex has a round archdecorated in the spandrels with interlacing stripes ofblack and white marble. At the khanqah of Baybarsal-Jashankir the portal is a round arch with cushionvoussoir. At the mosques of al-Maridani and Aqsun-qur, pointed arches characterize the entrance recess.The mosques of Ulmas (1330) and Bashtak (1336) havea rectangular recess with dripping stalactites above theentrance bay. The mosque of Amir Husayn has apointed arch with moldings radiating from a centralpoint above the lintel and interlacing to form thevoussoir of the arch. The northern portal of al-Nasir'smosque at the Citadel has a trilobed shallow recess.

Eventually, the stalactite portal composed of a half-dome resting on stalactites predominates, and later isused exclusively. Creswell traces its origins to Syria,

Pl. 12. The portal of the mosque of Amir Bashtak, 1336.


where there are examples earlier than those in Egypt.This, however, is not a definitive argument, for manyearlier buildings in Cairo that have not survived mayhave had this feature. The vestibules are almost alwayscross-vaulted.

MINARETS

Minaret evolution is continuous from al-Juyushi andAbu'l-Ghadanfar toward the more slender mabkharatype such as those of Sanjar and Sunqur al-Sacdi wherethe octagonal section above the rectangular first storyincreases proportionally. The minaret of al-Maridani isthe earliest surviving example of a new type of minaretwith completely octagonal shaft and a top that is not amabkhara, but a pavilion of eight columns, carryingabove a crown of stalactites a pear-shaped bulb. Thistop is the standard for later Mamluk minarets, and themabkhara top disappears in the second half of the four-teenth century. In later minarets, the rectangular shaftis supplanted by an octagonal first story.

DOMES

Two types of dome profiles are used in the BahriMamluk period, those like Baybars al-Jashanklr's thatcurves near the base and are usually plain, and thoselike Sanjar's and Salar's that begin cylindrically andcurve at a higher level and are often ribbed. Inscriptionbands carved in stucco decorate the drums of BahriMamluk domes.

In the domes' interiors are two main types of tran-sitional zones. The earlier type has several-tieredsquinches alternating with several-tiered windows andniches; windows, squinches and niches all have thesame profile. Later, pendentives are used, first in woodas at al-Nasir Muhammad's Citadel mosque, then instone. In these, windows are arched instead of forminga pyramidal profile with several lights. There are alsoa few examples with stone squinches.

Domes are built higher, achieved primarily by in-creasing the height of the transitional zone. Stonedomes make their first appearance under the BahriMamluks, but reach the height of their beauty underthe Circassian Mamluks in the fifteenth century.

DECORATION

In decoration, stucco is increasingly used on the exte-riors of minarets and domes. Facades built of stone

Pl. 13. The prayer niche at the madrasa of Taybars attachedto al-Azhar, 1309/10 (Creswell).

have carving and also inlaid marble, especially at thejoggled lintels and in inscriptions above portals. Notmuch marble survives from pre-Mamluk times, but inthe Mamluk period it was customary to panel wallswith polychrome marble (dado), and marble graduallysupplanted the stucco used in prayer niches. Panelswith marbles and stones and mother of pearl inlaid inminute patterns characterize Bahri Mamluk wall andprayer-niche decoration. After Qalawun, use of squareKufic marble inlay decoration becomes widespread.

Voussoirs of arches are generally decorated withablaq masonry, rather than the Fatimid style stuccoinscription bands. In addition to the pre-Islamic andthe Islamic bell-shaped capital, capitals sometimes havecarved stalactites, as at Sultan Hasan's mosque. Stalac-tites on minarets decorated each ring of balcony, each

18 INTRODUCTION

ring having a different pattern. Stalactites also adornthe recesses of facades, but in interiors, we see themmainly in the transitional zones of domes.

Window grills are no longer geometric, but floralpatterned and quite intricate, often including coloredglass. There are also several beautiful wooden grills.

FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN BAHRI MAMLUK ARCHITECTURE

Architecture has always been an international craft,and medieval architects moved to where there was mostto be built and where patronage could be expected.Architectural styles thus reached far beyond politicalfrontiers.

Foreign influences on Egyptian architecture underIslam came through several channels. The concept ofthe mosque came from Medina with the Arab con-querors, and as Islam spread, the various requirementsof mosque building developed everywhere with sub-stantial similarities. We see at the mosque of Ibn Tulunreflections of a style created in the imperial Abbasidcapital of Samarra and imitated in Egypt at a timewhen a local Islamic style had not yet crystallized. Thesituation during Fatimid rule was quite different.When Egypt became a Caliphate, Egyptian architec-ture drew away from imitating the arts of the Abbasids.

Monks from Edessa coming as refugees from the Sal-juq invasion demonstrated their skills in Badr al-JamalT's fortified walls. The Persian artists whodesigned al-Juyushl's and al-Afdal's prayer nichesmight have been Shlca sympathizers or travelers eagerto visit Fatimid Egypt. North African influences werecontinuous throughout the Fatimid and Bahri Mamlukperiods. This is first seen at the mosque of al-Hakim,the minaret of al-Juyushi, and in various ornaments. Inthis case, craftsmen must have accompanied theFatimid conquerors to Egypt; later ones may havevisited in Egypt on their way to or from their Meccapilgrimage.

The Andalusian style, obvious in the Imam Shaficimausoleum, the minaret of Lajin, and several otherbuildings of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,could also have been brought by craftsmen onpilgrimage, or by refugees from the Spanish Recon-quista, when Christian dominance must havediminished opportunities for artisans in Spain.

The mosque of al-Zahir Baybars had a huge dome,the origins of which were in Saljuq Persia. The idea wasadopted in eastern Anatolia, close to the Ayyubid andMamluk sphere of power, and from there reached

Cairo. According to Creswell, Syrian elements such asthe stalactite portal and ablaq or striped masonry cameto Cairo in a similar manner. In the thirteenth century,Mongol invasions pushed masses of people out ofdevastated countries, and Egypt received largenumbers from Syria and Mesopotamia. Among themwere craftsmen who introduced new arts and tech-niques. During the reign of al-Zahir Baybars,thousands of Mongol refugees settled in Cairo.

Diplomatic exchanges often brought with themartistic imports, such as Qalawun's Byzantine andSicilian elements and, under the reign of al-NasirMuhammad, Persian techniques and patterns infaience mosaic and stucco.

Battles with the Crusaders and the presence ofCrusader prisoners also played a role in the arts inCairo. War trophies were especially esteemed: thedome of al-Zahir Baybars was made of capturedmaterials; the portal of al-N-asir came from a church,and a number of western capitals can be seen in Cairobuildings such as the khanqah of Baybars al-Jashan-sklr, the madrasa of Sunqur al-Sacdi, the mosque of al-Nasir, and the madrasa of Sultan Hasan. If they werecaptured from the Crusaders, such trophies had, inaddition to their material value, a symbolic impor-tance. Creswell detects French craftsmanship in theiron window above Qalawun's entrance that may havebeen made by a Crusader artist.

Maqrizi tells us that craftsmen from all over theworld came for the building of the mosque of SultanHasan. Muslim and Christian Anatolian influences areobvious in the mosque's architecture and decoration.Even Chinese lotus and chrysanthemum patternsappear on its walls. The art objects Cairenes enjoyedimporting from the Far East, such as porcelain andsilks, thanks to the flourishing trade routes, broughtmany objects to Cairo that inspired local craftsmen.

The madrasa of Sarghitmish and the Sultaniyyamausoleums have double shell domes with high drums,a style totally alien to Cairo but familiar in easternIslamic architecture. Not only were there foreignarchitects in Cairo, but the Mamluks themselves camefrom Central Asia, from the Caucasus, and evenEurope. Al-Nasir Muhammad had a Chinese mamluk,Arghunshah, given to him as a present by the Mongolruler of Iran. The madrasas and khanqahs of Cairohoused large numbers of foreign students and Sufis,and priority was often given to foreigners. The madrasaof Sarghitmish, for example, was frequented primarilyby foreigners.


This series of foreign elements in Cairo architectureby no means implies that the indigenous architecturewas poor or provincial in comparison; on the contrary,the adapted elements made Cairo architecture cosmo-politan and innovative. Faience mosaics applied in amosque no more made it Persian than a horseshoe archmade a building Andalusian. The mosque of SultanHasan is Mamluk in style in spite of importation ofcraftsmen "from all over the world." Mamluk hererefers not to the ethnic origins of the Mamluk rulers,but to the Cairo Mamluks, and the architectural tradi-tions that evolved in Cairo.

That foreign influence implies the opposite of cul-tural poverty is illustrated by Ibn lyas, who wrote thatthe Ottomans, after they conquered a country, cus-tomarily took some of its craftsmen home, and at thesame time introduced Turkish craftsmen to the newprovinces. The prestige of a ruler was enhanced by col-lecting and sponsoring foreign art forms. Indeed, in thelater Mamluk period, when Egypt's foreign relationswere more limited and foreign influences no longerplayed a role in the arts, innovation also diminishedand forms become comparatively static.

THE CIRCASSIAN MAMLUK PERIOD(1382-1517)

FUNCTIONS

At the end of the fourteenth century, which corre-sponds to the beginning of the Circassian Mamlukperiod, a change had taken place in the function ofreligious institutions, the origins of which had alreadystarted under the Bahri Mamluks. This was the draw-ing together of various institutions into the multi-functional religious complex. The madrasa-jamic

combination has already been mentioned in connectionwith Sultan Hasan. Under Sultan al-Zahir Barquq, thecomplex included a khanqah as well, thus forming amadrasa-khanqah-jamic. Later the functions of boththe madrasa and the khanqah were reduced, so thatevery Friday mosque is called a madrasa, even withouta teaching curriculum, and they all—whether calledmadrasa, jamic, or khanqah—had Sufi rites, thoughthe Sufis no longer had to live in them. The khanqahhad lost its monastic character. Already under theBahri Mamluks, a madrasa commonly included Sufiactivities and the khanqah gave regular courses inIslamic law for its mystic community.

Living units no longer formed an integral part of thearchitecture of the religious complex. Rather, theywere integrated into the commercial part of the com-plex, as a rabc, an apartment complex for families, to berented to persons of different professions by the endow-ment's administrator. This meant that the strictkhanqah and madrasa regulations were abandonedover time, and the original function of the mosque asa place open to all kinds of religious activities wasrevived. The main difference was that a multitude,instead of a few, congregational mosques now servedthe city. The architectural consequence of this develop-ment was the small covered mosque, instead of thehypostyle or the cruciform plan with living unitsaround the courtyard.

Architecturally less known than the khanqah and themadrasa was the zdwiya. This was a religious founda-tion of rather individual character, built by or for ashaykh to spread a particular form of Sufism or propa-gate a certain order (tariqa). The shaykh generally livedin the zawiya, sometimes along with disciples and visi-tors. When he died, he might be buried in the zawiya;when that happened, the place then became a shrine.The zawiyas and shrines continued to be the center ofthe Sufi community founded by the shaykh and wereperpetuated by his successors, who may or may not behis descendants. The community enlarged andendowed the foundation. Sometimes rulers also con-tributed, for several Mamluk sultans shared thepopular veneration of Sufi saints. A zawiya might thusgrow considerably, depending upon the importance ofits members, and be repeatedly restored and embel-lished. For this reason, few zawiyas have retained theiroriginal architectural features. Therefore, the zawiya ofShaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf is of special interest, notonly because it retained its original shape, but alsobecause it shows that a shaykh could build like a sultan.

In the fifteenth century, Sufi shaykhs are often men-tioned as sponsors of zawiyas which are also referred toas madrasas and Friday mosques.

PLANS

Two large mosques were built at the beginning of thefifteenth century, the khanqah of Faraj Ibn Barquq inthe cemetery and the madrasa-khanqah of Sultan al-Mu5ayyad in the city. The mosque of al-Mu^ayyad isthe last mosque of this size to have been built within theconfines of the crowded capital's walls.

20 INTRODUCTION

As the number of religious foundations with Fridaymosques increased, the size of the prayer hall wasreduced. Even where space was available, as in thecemetery, or in the city center where a sultan couldalways contrive to get the land he desired, the spacededicated to the mosque proper remained quite small,though other structures, for example the living unitsattached to a religious foundation, increased in size.Since the reign of Barsbay, these had acquired the char-acter of duplex apartments, each with its own latrine.

Small mosques were usually covered. While themosque of Barsbay in the cemetery is an oblong hallwith three aisles parallel to the prayer niche, the qacaplan became common in the second half of the fifteenthcentury. This is a reduced cruciform plan where thecentral courtyard is small, and covered. It is paved withmarble, unlike the large open courtyards paved withstone and sometimes planted with trees. The coveredcruciform plan resembled the reception halls, or qacas,in Mamluk and Ottoman palaces. The plan of themosque of Barsbay was repeated in other mosques suchas the mosque of Sidi Madyan (c. 1465) and themosque of Janim al-Bahlawan (1478-1510). In bothcases, a wooden lantern protruding above the ceilingprovided light to the interior.

In the reign of Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay, severalrichly decorated mosques of the qaca type were built.They were often at the junction of two streets, with thesabll-kuttab at the corner of the building. Their facadesare densely pierced with windows, as the mosques hadno open courtyards to provide light. With the qacaplan, the ablution fountain is removed from the centerof the mdsque and adjoins the building outside. Also,there is no space for the bench called the dikkat al-muballigh in the qibla Iwan; it becomes instead abalcony or loggia in the western Iwan facing the prayerniche, reached by a staircase in the wall.

The reduced facades of the late Mamluk mosqueshave no space for the large inscription band along theupper part of the walls, common on earlier buildings;it is applied instead along the covered courtyard abovethe arches of the four iwans. Moldings and keel arches,features that characterized either exterior or courtyardfacades, are now found in the roofed central space ofthe qaca mosque.

DOMES

Stone domes are a characteristic feature of Mamlukarchitecture in Egypt. They have no parallel elsewhere

in the Muslim world. Stone domes, judging from thesurviving evidence, seem to have begun their develop-ment in the first half of the fourteenth century and tohave reached their zenith in the second half of the fif-teenth century, declining soon afterward and disap-pearing shortly after the Ottoman conquest in 1517.

According to Christel Kessler, who studied the evo-lution of stone domes, the ribbed stone helmet of themabkhara-style minaret of Amir Qusun (1336) mayhave furnished the idea of repeating the same patternon a larger scale as in a dome, since the architecturalprinciple is the same.

The earliest surviving stone domes are small struc-tures and are all ribbed, except for the unidentified oneat the double mausoleum of Sanjar. The mason beganby translating into stone what he had practiced withbrick, at first without making much effort to adapt tothe new material. For example, the early domes appearto have been coated with plaster to conceal the jointsbetween the stone blocks. Later, however, the masonlearned to conceal the joints in the spaces between theribs, making plastering no longer necessary. With timeand experience, the carving possibilities that stoneoffered introduced variations on the theme of ribbing.Instead of decorating the dome surface with rows ofconvex ribs, concave and convex ribs were alternated,a device applied earlier in the transition zone ofBashtak's minaret (1336) on the stepped area and lateron the transition zone of the domes of Faraj's khanqah.

More variations followed, such as ribbing carved onoblique lines, as at Iljay al-Yusufi's and Aytimish al-Bajasl's domes (1383/4). This pattern had been usedearlier to decorate columns, as at the niches on theal-Aqmar mosque facade, the minaret of Ibn Tulunbetween the horseshoe arches, and at the corners of thefacade of Sultan Hasan's mosque.

After ribbing, the zigzag, used earlier on minaretssuch as that of al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel andseveral others, became fashionable. This pattern ap-peared on many domes, the most prominent examplesbeing the domes of Faraj Ibn Barquq's khanqah. Theseare the largest Mamluk stone domes in Cairo and areonly slightly smaller than the Imam Shafici woodendome. Faraj's domes are masterpieces of stone archi-tecture that have elegantly resisted the effects of time.

Encouraged, the architects tried a more difficultdevice, adapting a geometric star pattern, usually usedon flat surfaces, to the dome. The conch in the portalof the mosque of Ahmad al-Mihmandar (1345) has astar pattern on the concave surface, but this presented


Pl. 14. The stone dome of Amir Aytimish al-Bajasi, 1383.

22 INTRODUCTION

no serious challenge, as the conch is quite small. On alarge dome surface, the difficulty of adjusting therepetitive geometric star pattern to the diminishingarea toward the apex, while keeping its rules of com-position, is obvious.

The domes of Sultan Barsbay

Sultan Barsbay had four mausoleums built in hisfunerary complex, of which three are still standing. Hisown mausoleum, according to Kessler, appears to havebeen built first, judging from the execution of the work.The row of eight-pointed stars on the lower part of thedome change toward the top of the dome, to seven-

pointed, then six-pointed, stars resulting in theappearance of a surface divided into three zones andlacking homogeneity.

The other two domes are treated differently. The oneon the north side, that of Janibak, has a row of halvesof twelve-pointed stars radiating from the base of thedome, and ten-pointed stars above them. The ten-pointed stars do not exactly surmount the twelvepointed stars; rather the two types of stars are set in azig-zag arrangement.

The dome on the east side of Barsbay's mausoleumhas eight-pointed instead of twelve-pointed star halvesradiating from the base of the dome. Each star is sur-mounted by another twelve-pointed star, and between

Pl. 15. The domes at the religious-funerary complex of SultanBarsbay.

2. The star pattern on the mausoleum of SultanBarsbay.


A 7 pointed Star. B 12 pointed Star. C 8 pointed Star. D12 pointed Star. a 10 pointed Star. b 12 pointed Star.

Fig. 3. The star pattern on a mausoleum built by Barsbay.

them on each side is an eight-pointed star. The wholesurface appears homogeneous, if somewhat crowded,because the stars are so tightly connected. Toward theapex of the dome seven-pointed stars lead to the top. Inboth these cases, there is a consistency in the star pat-tern that is lacking in the larger, first dome. In all ofthem, however, the weak point was at the apex, and thenext step in the evolution of stone domes dealt with thisproblem.

The dome of Sultan Qaytbay

The Qaytbay period introduced new ideas on thesubject of dome construction. The small dome Qaytbayhad built before becoming sultan has a floral star pat-tern, based as usual on geometric calculations. Thelower half has twelve-pointed stars and above them full

Fig. 4. The star pattern on the mausoleum of Janibak builtby Barsbay.

eight-pointed stars, the whole executed in curves witharabesques.

The dome on the mausoleum attached to Qaytbay'smosque in the cemetery shows that the designer for thefirst time reversed these principles. Instead of basingthe pattern on the principle of a star applied on adecreasing, or triangular, base to apex surface, the starwas designed for a circular surface, the center of whichis the apex of the dome. Of course, unlike a flat circulararea, the dome surface has irregularities. In this casethey met with the star pattern not near the apex, butnearer to the base of the dome, where the lines resultingfrom the central star at the apex have to be logicallycontinued. Thus, the design of Qaytbay's dome ismade from a bird's eye view: a sixteen-pointed starcentered on the apex and covering the upper half of thedome, with the lines continued to form a row of seven-

24 INTRODUCTION

a 16 pointed Star. b 10 pointed Star.

Fig. 5. The star pat tern on the mausoleum of SultanQaytbay.

pointed irregular stars surrounding it and, at the baseof the dome, halves of ten-pointed stars. To conceal theirregularities resulting here at the middle part of thedome, arabesque patterns fill the whole space framedby the angular geometric lines.

This is perhaps the most beautiful carved stone domein Cairo, and it seems to have discouraged any imita-tions. Afterwards, masons were content with repetitivegeometric or floral patterns, such as those seen on thedomes of Qansuh Abu Sacid (1499), al-cAdil Tuman-bay (1501), Khayrbak (1502), and Qanibay (1503).

As long as brick domes were built, the transitionalzone was developed from plain to composite squinchesbuilt on several tiers with a pyramidal layout; the resultwas the formation of stalactites. In the early fourteenthcentury, triangular pendentives were also used in thetransitional zone. They were first built in wood, as atthe Citadel mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad, and later

Pl. 16. Detail of a stone dome carved with arabesque, SultanQaytbay, before 1474.

PI. 17. The mausoleum of Sultan Qaytbay.


Pl. 18. The mosque of Amir Janim al-Bahlawan, 1478-1510.

26 INTRODUCTION

also in stone. Early stone domes, such as theanonymous dome added at Sanjar's mausoleum andthe dome of Aydumur al-Bahlawan, had stone com-posite squinches imitating brick architecture. Domesmoved toward greater height rather than greaterdiameter. This was achieved by extending the transi-tional zone, so that eventually the domes looked almostlike small towers.

On the outside, the zone of transition, instead ofbeing stepped at the corners, sometimes had pyramidalstructures as on minarets leading from the rectangularto circular part. Both types are used at the funerarycomplex of Sultan Barsbay, which also used a newdecorative device. Its steps are carved concave-convexto form an undulating profile. At the dome of Qijmasthe exterior transitional zone is composed of severalsuperimposed pyramids.

MINARETS

The minarets of this period are slender and elegant.They were usually octagonal in the first story and cir-cular in the second, except in the reign of Sultan al-GhurT when totally rectangular minarets were used forthe first time since Qalawun. At their top were doublebulbs. There are four bulbs at the funerary complex ofSultan al-Ghuri. The minarets were richly carved,more so than ever before. The fashion of carved shaftsappeared by the end of the fourteenth century toreplace stone inlaid ablaq patterns previously used toadorn the middle section. Craftsmen applied their mostcareful work to the middle sections, creating a differentpattern on each minaret.

some prayer niches of this period. In the second half ofthe fifteenth century, both types of portals were usedsimultaneously.

Groin vaults became fashionable beginning in thelate fourteenth century; a fine example is found in thevestibule of the madrasa of Iljay al-Yusuff. Othermagnificent vaults of this type can be seen in the Khanal-Khalili at the portal of Sultan al-Ghuri. Later, thegroin vault will influence the architecture of domes, asin the squinches of the Rifaci zawiya of Barsbay, prob-ably redone later, and at the two domes of AmirYashbak.

DECORATION

The decoration of domes and minarets in this periodconsisted primarily of stone carving. It reached itshighest quality during the reign of Sultan Qaytbay andabruptly declined thereafter.

Marble inlay was also used extensively in facadedecoration, as at the mosque of Qijmas and the sabil ofSultan Qaytbay. Stucco decoration almost disappears,though we see it used extensively at the Qubbat al-Fadawiyya. There are also remains of stucco walldecoration at the mosque of Sultan Qaytbay at Rawda.The only area where stucco decoration shows con-tinuity, however, is in window grills. Window grillsused as decoration evolve continuously from Ibn Tulunto the Ottoman period. In the fifteenth century they areno longer repetitive geometric or floral patterns; thesurface of the grill is divided into fields with inscrip-tions, horizontal bands, and medallions with variouspatterns, and filled with colored glass.

PORTALS

In the fourteenth century, the trilobe portaldeveloped from a plain conch on stalactites to moreintricate variations on the same theme, with moldingand carvings framing the trilobed arch, carvings adorn-ing the conch, pendentives used underneath the stalac-tites, and use of various types of stalactites in differentproportions. In the fifteenth century we see a new typeof portal treatment. The portal vault is still trilobed,but its interior is carved with groins in the shape of ahalf-star. Sometimes the niches formed by the intersec-ting groins were filled with stalactites, and often theconch was adorned with an ablaq inlaid pattern as in

PRAYER NICHES

The use of marble inlay was less frequent in fifteenth-century prayer niches. It was replaced by stone, andthe conchs are either plain, decorated with ablaqmasonry, or are carved. Marble dadoes were still usedto panel the interior walls of mosques, but a new styleof marble inlay appeared at the mosque of Abu BakrIbn Muzhir. There, the marble is finely carved andfilled with red and black paste in a delicate scrollarabesque pattern that contrasts with the fourteenth-century geometric inlay patterns. The new style wasused until the early sixteenth century, though its qual-ity declined compared to the examples signed by cAbdal-Qadir al-Naqqash. An earlier example of such mar-


Pl. 19. The groin-vaulted portal at the religious-funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay.

ble inlay is found on an inscription slab on the northwall of the sanctuary of the MaridanI mosque. Themarble is carved and filled with a green gypsum paste.

ARCHES

Until the fourteenth century both round and pointedarches were used, but in the fifteenth century thepointed arch prevails, always framed by a voussoir ofablaq masonry. The iwans of cruciform mosques, withopen or covered courtyards, have pointed arches.Inside, they are no longer vaulted but covered by a flatwooden ceiling, richly decorated. An exception, how-ever, is the madrasa of Amir Qanibay al-Rammah(Amir Akhur), where a cross vault is used at the iwanopposite the prayer niche. The qibla Iwan itself iscovered by a shallow dome on pendentives carried byround arches.

THE OTTOMAN PERIOD (1517-1914)

THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES

The Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517 changed thestatus of Cairo from an imperial seat to a provincialcapital. It became a city without a sultan, governed bya viceroy called a pasha, sent from Istanbul for alimited period. Cairo was simply a stage in the pasha'scareer. There were a multitude of Ottoman governorsbetween 1517 and 1798 when Napoleon conqueredEgypt. Some of them left religious buildings of interest,but others remained only a name in a long list.Buildings, however, were erected not only by thepashas, but by amirs and members of the religiousestablishment. The Ottoman period has left us nearlyone hundred sabil-kuttabs in various styles.

The Ottoman conquest did not radically disturb theevolution of Cairene architecture. It introduced some

28 INTRODUCTION

Pl. 20. The minaret of the mosque of Amir cUthmanKatkhuda.

new architectural and decorative patterns that resultedin innovations when incorporated into the local reper-toire.

The Ottomans built three types of mosque architec-ture, .in Cairo: buildings totally Ottoman in style,though not necessarily in decoration, such as themosques of Sulayman Pasha and the mosque of MalikaSafiyya; buildings of hybrid style, such as the mosqueof Sinan Pasha, and a Mamluk style of mosque with anOttoman style of minaret, such as the mosques ofMahmud Pasha and cUthman Katkhuda. In place ofthe Mamluk khanqah, the takiyya, an institution whereSufis lived, studied, and worshipped, appears with theOttomans. A new plan came with the takiyya, a cour-tyard surrounded by cells that is independent of the

PL 21. Detail of a molding typical of the Ottoman period.

mosque. The Takiyya Sulaymaniyya and the takiyya ofSultan Mahmud (1750) are both, however, called"madrasa" in their founding inscriptions.

The dome and minaret were the most characteristicfeatures of Mamluk architecture, and they were bothaffected by the new political situation. The mausoleumdome nearly disappeared from religious architecture.Governors did not stay long enough in Cairo to diethere, or at least did not plan to remain until the endof their lives. There are, however, a few funerarydomes, that of Amir Sulayman, built shortly after theconquest (1544), the mausoleum of Mahmud Pasha,and the stone dome of the shrine of Athar al-Nabidedicated to objects attributed to the Prophet, not to aperson, built in the seventeenth century (1662). Themosque of Yusuf al-Hin had a family mausoleum nextto it that was pulled down in the nineteenth century.Amir cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda built onto themosque of al-Azhar, when restoring and enlarging it,a mausoleum for himself. In general, sponsors ofreligious buildings were buried in a corner of themosque and not even near the qibla, as were Muham-mad Bey Abu'l-Dhahab and Muhammad CAli.

The tradition of domed mausoleums for rulers wasrevived again in the nineteenth century when Muham-mad CA1T built a funerary complex for his family nearthe mausoleum of Imam Shafici. Later, the mother ofthe Khedive Ismacil erected the Rifaci mosque, whichincludes other royal tombs.

When the funerary dome disappeared, the domedmosque, which had existed in Cairo before theOttoman period, reappeared. It had been typical of


Ottoman architecture, followed and developed theByzantine tradition. The mosque of Sinan Pasha fol-lowed the pattern of the Fadawiyya dome, and waslater imitated by Muhammad Abu'l-Dhahab at hismosque near al-Azhar. All these domes were built onsquinches without an exterior transitional zone. Theprofiles of Ottoman domes, unlike those of the Mamlukdomes, are round and lack the exterior transitionalzone enhancing their height. With the Ottoman con-quest, the round arch, used earlier by the Fatimids andBahri Mamluks, again became common.

An abrupt change is observed in minaret architec-ture. The Mamluk shaft was replaced by the provincialversion of the pencil-shaped minaret, rather squat, withonly one balcony, and usually decorated with verticalmoldings to enhance the faceted structure of the shaft.Ibn lyas writes that Ottoman conquerors traditionallytook home craftsmen from conquered countries andintroduced their own craftsmen, and it must have beenin this way that the Ottoman minaret reached Cairo. Inthe Egyptian hinterland, however, minarets continuedto be built in the pre-Ottoman style.

With the loss of domed mausoleum architecture andMamluk minarets, the art of stalactites declined inCairo, since the transitional zone of the funerarydomes, the balconies of minarets, and portals were thefeatures that best displayed Mamluk stalactite carving.Portals of the Ottoman period were often simpleshallow trilobed recesses without a vault. When theywere vaulted, the trilobed groin-vaulted type wasusually adopted.

Mamluk-style windows continued, as did the Mam-luk tradition of paneling interiors with polychromemarble dadoes. The prayer niche of the mosque ofcUthman Katkhuda, built in the early eighteenth cen-tury, looks totally Mamluk. Turkish elements wereintroduced, such as the use of Ottoman tiles with floralpatterns, as at the mosque of Aqsunqur restored byIbrahim Agha, the sabll-kuttab of cAbd al-RahmanKatkhuda, and the Sihaymi house. Their quality wasusually inferior to the tiles in Istanbul, and theirinstallation showed that local craftsmen did not becomefamiliar with the technique. Blue-green Turkish tileswere often used to decorate the lintels of mosqueentrance doors.

An interesting evolution in this period appears in thestyle of moldings and in their more extensive use. In theBahri Mamluk period there were two parallel lines con-nected with circular loops placed in a few spots, usuallyat the apex of arches, and they often framed portals and

Pl. 22. The sabil-kuttab of Amir cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda.

arches. Later moldings show an increase in the numberof loops. In Ottoman moldings, the loops are placed atsmall intervals and are angular instead of circular.

Ottoman floral elements are sometimes used in stoneand marble carvings. A prominent example is the por-tal of the al-Azhar mosque added by cAbd al-RahmanKatkhuda, with the typically Ottoman cypress tree.

The cushion voussoir of Byzantine origin, used inthe Fatimid and early Mamluk periods, also reappearsin the Ottoman period. We find it at the entrance to themadrasa of Qalawun, rebuilt by cAbd al-RahmanKatkhuda, and at an Ottoman gate of the Citadel. Infact, Ottoman architecture in Cairo shows a revival ofseveral Byzantine and Anatolian patterns including theround arch and spherical pendentive. These patterns,

30 INTRODUCTION

Pl. 23. The portal of the sabil-kuttab of cAbd al-RahmanKatkhuda.

abandoned in the late Mamluk period, were rein-troduced to Cairo architecture by the Turks, who hadpreserved them from Byzantine heritage.

THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURYcAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda (died 1776/7) was an

amir who made notable contributions to Cairo's archi-tectural heritage. He restored or rebuilt almost all theimportant shrines of the city and a number of oldmosques, the most prominent one being the al-Azhar.A certain style with several characteristic featuresdeveloped during these works of building, restoration,and rebuilding. The use of wide round arches, some-times scalloped, with a row of small round and lobedarches, is seen at Katkhuda's mosque in the Musk!

quarter (1754/55) and at his zawiya at Mugharbilm(1729). Round arches also characterize the triple facadeof his sabil on Mucizz street (1744).

Bands of stone carved in repetitive arabesques hadno local precedent in Cairo. Such bands frame thedouble arch at the al-Azhar entrance (1753/54), theentrance to the Taybarsiyya madrasa at al-Azhar, theentrance of the zawiya at Mugharbilm (1754), and thefacade of cAbd al-Rahman's mosque in the Muskiquarter.

The stalactites decorating the buildings of cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda show considerable improvement inquality compared to those of the previous century. Wesee this quality at the sabll-kuttab in Mucizz street, the

Pl. 24. The portal at al-Azhar built by cAbd al-RahmanKatkhuda.


Pl. 25. The facade of the mosque of cAbd al-RahmanKatkhuda near al-Muskl. Pl. 26. The sabil-kuttab of Ruqayya Dudu, 1761.

balcony of the zawiya of Mugharbilm, and the portalof the mosque he rebuilt near the madrasa of Barsbay,known as the Jamic al-Mutahhir (1774), whose hand-some stalactite portal, rare during this period, is signedby the craftsman in the middle of its fluted conch. Thestalactites are carved and pierced. Another innovationof this period is seen in the iron grills of mosque andsabil windows. Instead of plain rectangles, they areoften more elaborate, with geometric or floral patterns.A good example is the window at the Taybarsiyyamadrasa at al-Azhar restored by cAbd al-RahmanKatkhuda, and the sabils of Ruqayya Dudu (1761) andNafisa al-Bayda (1796).

A feature characteristic of late Ottoman architectureare the cartouches with inscriptions in nastacliq, later

also rihani, scripts. They usually contain either versesof poetry or the foundation date.

THE OTTOMAN PERIOD SABILS

Sultan Qaytbay had built a free-standing sabil-kuttab in the city when all others of the period wereattached to the corner of a mosque. The Ottomanperiod left a great number of these structures.

The sabil-kuttab of Khusraw Pasha (1535) near themausoleum of al-Salih Najm al-Dln and opposite themadrasa of Qalawun is an imitation of the sabil-kuttabof Sultan al-Ghuri that protrudes as a rectangularbuilding with three facades on the street, decoratedwith marble inlay and joggled lintels. The upper struc-

32 INTRODUCTION

ture, which is the kuttab, is shaped like an arcadedloggia, like all Mamluk sabil-kuttabs. Not far away isthe sabil-kuttab of cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda occupy-ing the corner of two intersecting streets, a landmark ofthe medieval city. It also has three facades and a portalon the eastern side. Mamluk-style marble inlay deco-rates the spandrels of its round arches which alsoinclude Ottoman floral patterns carved in marble. Anelaborate stalactite cornice separates the upper andlower parts on the exterior. The windows of the sabil,instead of being rectangular as was usual, are round-arched like the arches including them. Their iron grillsare more elaborate than the Mamluk grills. At thecorners, flanking the windows, are engaged marblecolumns carved with flutes half oblique and half verti-cal. The kuttab on the upper floor is built entirely ofwood. The interior of the sabil is paneled with Iznikstyle blue and green tiles. Some are floral, and some

form a stylized representation of Mecca. Others carryinscriptions.

In the course of the eighteenth century, the sabilform developed from three angular facades into asemicircular shape with three facets, each including awindow. The round arches on marble columns thatgive a relief decoration to the facade include round-arched windows with elaborate bronze grills, oftenframed with dense moldings and loops and sometimesincluding bits of blue-green Turkish tiles and Turkishflower motifs.

ARCHITECTURE IN THE TIME OF MUHAMMAD cALi

The architecture of the first half of the nineteenthcentury, corresponding to the reigns of MuhammadCAli and the Khedive cAbbas, is characterized by a stylethat was totally alien to Cairo architectural traditions.

Fig. 6. The sabil-kuttab of Sultan Mahmud, 1750 (Coste).


Turkish architecture and decoration, already influ-enced by Europe, was introduced into Cairo.

We no longer see stalactites, arabesques, or geo-metric designs, nor Mamluk naskhi or thuluth script.Instead, there are vases with acanthus-like leaves andrealistic flowers forming oval rings, applied repeti-tively. Epigraphy is also treated differently, set in car-touches in nastacliq or rihani script; carved or paintedpoetry passages are sometimes written in Turkish.White marble is often combined with carved, paintedand gilded wood.

The round arch predominates and is often curved atthe springings. Window grills are made of cast bronzeand are often the most attractive feature of facadearchitecture, with their elaborate, lacy openwork pat-terns. These grills were also used for funeraryenclosures in mosques.

Funerary architecture appears again, bringing withit the onion-shaped dome, decorated with moldings orribs, as at the mausoleum of the Muhammad CAlifamily at Imam Shafici. The domed mausoleumattached to the complex of Hasan Pasha Tahir has noprototype in Cairene architecture.

Pl. 27. The sabll-kuttab of Ismacil Pasha, 1828.

34 INTRODUCTION

Pl. 28. The sabil-kuttab of Ibrahim Pasha, late nineteenth century.

CHAPTER THREE

DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO

THE PALACE

There are no remains of Fatimid or earlier palaces, andvery few Mamluk palaces have survived, none in itsentirety. However, masses of waqf documents from theMamluk period give us a wealth of written informationabout the layout of palaces and houses during thisperiod. Some palaces, such as the Iwan al-Kabir, werebuilt with columns supporting domes. Others werebuilt on the qaca plan with two Iwans facing each otherand the central space covered by a dome or a lantern.The architecture of princely city residences differedfrom royal residences in the Citadel.

The principal structure of a Mamluk residence wasthe qaca. The word originally meant courtyard, but theqaca was a reception hall, either on the ground floor ora second story. In either case, it was the highest struc-ture in a house and occupied most of its elevation. Acentral lantern protruded above roof level. The qacaalso must have occupied the optimal orientation of thehouse, dictating arrangement of the smaller, privaterooms surrounding it on different levels.

The qaca arrangement is documented from theFatimid period. The descriptions indicate that foldingdoors closed each of the two Iwans and that the centralarea was not roofed, though it most likely was protectedby tents or awnings. The central area, as in Mamlukresidences, had doors to the other rooms, to thelatrines, and to the exterior, as well as doors leading tothe mezzanine loggias overlooking the qaca. These arecalled maghdni (Mamluk) or agham (Ottoman), sug-gesting that they were intended for musicians entertain-ing the audience below in the qaca. In the Mamlukperiod, they were decorated with turned-wood screenscalled mashrabiyya.

In houses excavated in Fustat, a Mesopotamian planwas identified. A courtyard was surrounded by fourunequal Iwans, the principal one having a tripartitearrangement with the central space wider than thelateral rooms. A fountain stood in the middle of thecourtyard. Multistoried houses also are described byseveral visitors to Fustat, and these had precedents inpre-Islamic Egypt.

Domestic architecture appears to have undergone adevelopment parallel to that in religious architecture,as courtyards became reduced and roofed and lateralTwans became mere recesses. There was, however, invery large residences another type of courtyard that wasnot the center of daily life as was the qaca, but whichplayed the role of a vestibule.

The covered qaca was high with a protruding lanternor dome, and a marble jet fountain in its center. InMamluk and Ottoman qacas, both the lantern andfountain were octagonal in shape, and the fountain wasusually inlaid with multicolored marbles. In some halls,water flowed from an opening in the Iwan, down a mar-ble slab called the salsabil to be collected in the basin ofthe central fountain. This running water cooled the hallin summer, aiding hot air to move upwards and escapefrom the wooden lantern on the roof, and thus improv-ing ventilation. An air shaft, the malqaf, had been usedin Egypt since Pharaonic times. This shaft was behindthe wall of the main Iwan and connected at roof levelwith a sloping vent oriented to the north. The qacasthat survive from the Ottoman period are similar inplan to those of the Mamluk period, though their pro-portions are different.

FENESTRATION

The windows of great residences are described ashaving iron grills surmounted by arched windows withstucco and colored glass, as in the mosques. Iron grillswere precious and less wealthy people used wood. Thepalaces of the Citadel were famous for their gilded irongrilled windows overlooking the entire city.

The palace of Bashtak on Mucizz Street is describedby MaqrTzI as overlooking the street through its irongrills. Speaking of a dilapidated palace, he notes that itsmarble was replaced by stone and its iron by woodenwindows. Often, the iron grills of mosque windowswere taken down and melted to provide funds to main-tain the rest of the premises, another proof of the valueof iron. Like the mosques, residential architecture wasextroverted, with windows onto streets whereverpossible.

36 INTRODUCTION

PI. 29. Houses of Cairo (Description de I'Egypte).

The mashrabiyya or latticework panel of turnedwood is an art typical of Cairo. The name is derivedfrom the mashraba, the niche made of turned wood tohold the porous clay jugs that cool water by evapora-tion. The advantage of mashrabiyya work is that itfilters light while increasing ventilation, and allows oneto look outside without being seen. City streets thatwere very narrow made such devices necessary for ven-tilation, and nineteenth-century illustrations showthese mashrabiyya loggias, supported by corbels,almost touching each other over the narrow streetbelow. The Islamic Museum in Cairo has a multitudeof these mashrabiyya patterns on display.

As no Mamluk palace has survived complete, it isdifficult to know what their doors, or portals, were like.The palace of Qusun, however, has a stalactite portalthat is surpassed in magnificence in Cairo only by theportal of the mosque of Sultan Hasan. We know thatimportant amirs were entitled to have a loggia ortablakkdna for a ceremonial orchestra, performingaccording to the amir's rank. This tablakhana musthave resembled the loggia of a kuttab, and the amir puthis carved and painted emblems, with his name andtitles, on the exterior of the residence. Some residenceswere occupied by the amirs during their lifetimes, butnot inherited by their families. Rather, they went to theinheritor of the amir's function, as did the royal resi-dences at the Citadel.

Bent entrances were used for residences, as might beexpected, leading into a courtyard. This courtyard wasnot a gathering place or reception area, but a semi-private place for the inhabitants and visitors to dis-mount. Around the courtyard were storerooms and theentrance to the stable. The courtyard was generally notpaved, and might have a well and trees. A residencemight have another courtyard for a garden. From thecourtyard, several doors led to the qaca and its apart-ments. Important residences had more than one qaca.

The facade of the courtyard in extant Mamluk andOttoman houses has a high portal like that of contem-porary mosques and its rich decoration is in the styleapplied on exteriors rather than interiors, confirmingthe character of the courtyard and the maq^ad asextroverted and connected to the street, rather than asthe center of private life.

The semi-public function of the courtyard is com-plementary to the street pattern of medieval cities,where only a few wide thoroughfares existed. The restwere narrow winding lanes that protected the privacyand security of the inhabitants. The small lanes haddoors that were closed at night. The entrance courtyard

DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO 37

Pl. 30. The palace of Amir Bashtak at Bayn al-Qasrayn, 1334-39.

was a source of air and light, and a place where visitorscould dismount, a merchant offer his goods, and waresbe loaded and unloaded. Women would not be seen inthis semi-public area.

THE MAQCAD

The maqcad, or sitting room, common in houses ofthe late Mamluk and Ottoman periods, is an arcadedloggia overlooking the residence's courtyard from thefirst floor and facing the prevailing breezes from thenorth. It had smaller rooms and a latrine attached.This is where the master of the house sat to oversee hisstables and storerooms and receive visitors. In housesalong the Khalij or ponds, the maqcad opened onto theview of water and gardens. In the earlier Mamlukperiod, the maqcad is described as a mezzanine loggia

built to overlook the stables of the residence. Theimportance of stables in the Mamluk cavalry societywas also seen at the Citadel, where palaces overlookedthe royal stables. A homeowner's wealth was also evi-dent in the saddlery kept in the stable area. Later, itappears that the maqcad developed into a part of thecourtyard, facing north and at the same time overlook-ing the stables.

Domes inlaid with-colored glass over bedrooms areoften mentioned in waqf descriptions of Mamlukhouses. A fifteenth-century European traveler, FelixFabri, describes the house of an amir as having a me-nagerie of wild animals and exotic birds. He stressesthe beauty of the stable's horses and the luxuriousdisplay of saddlery. He also mentions a prison foundwithin the confines of the palace and a domed towerused as a private apartment.

38 INTRODUCTION

Pl. 31. Mashrabiyya window at the house of al-Razzaz. Pl. 32. The portal of the palace of Amir Qusun (palace ofYashbak), 1337.

DECORATION

Palaces were decorated in the same style as religiousbuildings of the same period. Windows, as mentionedbefore, were treated the same way. Polychrome marbledadoes covered the lower parts of walls; stalactites andinscriptions in painted and gilded wood were used onthe upper walls; the ceilings were painted and gilded.Inscriptions of poetry might be found instead ofQuranic texts. At the Suhayml house, these arepresented in cartouches in nastacliq script, as they arein contemporary religious buildings. The inner portalsof Ottoman houses, trilobed and framed with heavymoldings, recall the facade decoration of mosques andsabils. Turkish style tiles are also found in some

PL 33. The maqcad at the house of al-Razzaz, fifteenth-eighteenth century.


Pl. 34. Nineteenth century painting showing the interior of ahouse (Frank Dillon).

Ottoman interiors, including the Suhaymi house, justas they are in contemporary mosques and sabils.

Houses were furnished mainly with carpets and wallhangings. Silk was used for summer carpets, wool inthe winter. There was no dining room; food wasbrought on trays that coned be carried away aftermeals. In the bedrooms, covers were stored in casesduring the day. Wooden shelves held china placed asdecoration, and the wall cupboards themselves weredecorated with inlaid work. Numbers of bronze lamps,with inlay and openwork, and candlesticks inlaid withgold and silver in the Mosul technique that reachedEgypt after the Mongol invasion of Baghdad, displayedin the Islamic Museum, give us an idea of how interiorswere lit.

Pl. 35. Wakala and rabc of Sultan al-Ghun at Khan al-Khalill, 1511.

THE RABC

A rabc is an apartment complex with living unitsrented by the month. It was composed of a row ofapartments reached from a gallery on the first floor.Each apartment was a duplex on two floors, with aprivate section of roof space. The lower floor had thelatr ine, a niche for water jugs, and a reception hall; theupper floor included the sleeping area. Usually therewas no kitchen. Large houses had private rooms (hanm)and other rooms where women were not allowed, butthis degree of segregation could not be afforded in smallhouses or in the units of a rabc.

A rabc was usually the structure above a row ofshops, though shop people did not necessarily inhabitthe rabc above. A rabc might also be built above awakala, or a khan where there might be up to four suchcomplexes on four sides, corresponding to the rectan-gular plan of such buildings around a courtyard. Ingeneral, the wakala and khan were commercial centers,while the qaysariyya was industrial. There also, how-ever, those working in the ground floor areas did notnecessarily inhabit the rabc above.

These dwellings were extroverted, meaning thatwhenever possible windows opened onto the street,otherwise onto the courtyard. There are rabcs abovethe wakala of Sultan al-Ghurl, not far from his religiouscomplex in the city, and at the wakala of Sultan Qayt-bay near Bab al-Nasr. Remains of the khan of Sultanal-Ghurl at Khan al-Khalill suggest that it wasmultistoried. It is a large complex used today byartisans. The commercial center at Jamaliyya was

40 INTRODUCTION

Pl. 36. Interior of the wakala of Sultan al-Ghuri near al-Azhar, 1504/5.

Fig. 7. Ground plan of the wakala of Sultan al-Ghun near al-Azhar (Department of Antiquities).

crowded with such structures, many of them rebuilt inthe Ottoman period.

HOUSES

Between a grand residence and the rabc apartmentunit were other levels of housing, of which very littlehas survived from the Ottoman period and nearlynothing from the Mamluk. These small, or mediumsized, houses are described in their waqf documents asfollowing the same principles of the qaca complex andthe living unit of the rabc, that is, a reception hall onthe ground floor surmounted by smaller rooms on the

Fig. 8. Detail of mashrabiyya.

upper level. In the Bahri Mamluk period, each of theelements, hall and upper rooms, had a separateentrance from the street, and sometimes there was athird entrance to the stable. Later, however, it becamecommon to have one door into a vestibule, from wherethe other doors led. The vestibule might be open to thesky, forming a small courtyard that in the Ottomanperiod included a maqcad. In Ottoman houses, theopen courtyard was more common than in Mamluktimes, probably because the city had become moredensely built and public thoroughfares more limited, sothat open courtyards became necessary for light andair. This also explains the extensive use ofmashrabiyyas in Ottoman Cairo.

KITCHENS

Whereas large residences had their own kitchen,small houses did not. Common people bought theirfood ready-cooked. It could be that the lack or highexpense of fuel, as the traveler von Harff tells us, wasthe reason common people could not afford to cook athome.

Maqrlzl's descriptions of Cairo streets mention stallsand markets for cooked food, which in modern termswould be regarded as small restaurants. Travelers in


Fig. 9. The wakala of Dhu'l-Fiqar, 1673 (Coste).

Egypt have always been struck by the number of suchstalls, the medieval equivalent of "fast food" outlets.Travelers relate that cooks wandered the streets withtheir stoves and utensils or settled along the pavements,offering a large variety of foods—chicken and meatgrilled or boiled, fish and vegetables. Fried cheese isoften mentioned in Arabic accounts as the popular dishof Cairenes. A German fifteenth-century traveler esti-mated that 12,000 cooks with their portable kitchens,as well as 48,000 bakers, provided food to Cairo'spopulation, and another contemporary travelerestimated their numbers at 24,000 cooks, 48,000bakers, and 30,000 water carriers, commenting, "Nowreckon how many people there must be to eat and drinkall this!"

Large Ottoman houses had, apart from the usual kit-chen, a kitchen for coffee. Coffee was introduced to

Egypt in the first quarter of the sixteenth century,under Ottoman rule, and soon became the popularbeverage. Coffee houses, found in all quarters of thecity, also became places to smoke tobacco, while enter-tainment was offered by storytellers, musicians andsingers. Coffee houses were a favorite investment forthe wealthy, and were often endowed to religious foun-dations, even though coffee was at first banned by thereligious establishment. The coffee houses also becamethe locale of narcotics smoking, hashish and opium,particularly by Ottoman soldiers.

BATHS

While large houses frequently had a kitchen, a bath-room was less common. The fourteenth-century juristIbn al-Hajj deplores the fact that people who built

42 INTRODUCTION

luxurious houses failed to provide a room for washing.MaqrizI, who gives the list of Cairo's hammams,describes them as usually located near princely resi-dences, implying that they were not only used by theamir's household, but also by the public, and were builtas a commercial investment. These were Roman-stylesteam baths, common in Egypt in pre-Islamic times. Inthe Ottoman period, however, waqf documents referregularly to a hammam in large residences and amustahamm in smaller dwellings, which seems to havebeen a small room lacking the sophistication of thelarger bath. The private hammams surviving in Cairoare all from the Ottoman period. The Ottoman periodthus brought an obvious improvement in domesticarchitecture.

Provision of private houses with hammams did not,however, diminish the role that public baths had playedin Egypt since Roman times and whose functions werefar wider than hygiene. Their primary aspect wassocial, particularly the women's baths, which werecomparable to clubs. Women in particular enjoyed theopportunities the hammams offered to gather, awayfrom their houses, and their only opportunity to go outwithout their husbands. Marriages were often arrangedin the hammams where the matchmakers went to lookfor potential brides. Further, a bride's visit to the ham-mam was an obligatory part of wedding ceremoniesand festivities. Ibn al-Hajj criticized women's visits tohammams, saying they merely led women to show offtheir clothes and jewelry, adding that such femalegatherings were harmful. On the other hand, in the taleof Abu Sir and Abu Qlr in the Arabian Nights, is thecomment, "Your city is not perfect unless it has a ham-mam." Ibn Khaldun wrote that hammams are a markof highly civilized cities, since luxury reveals wealthand prosperity.

The hammam had not only social and hygienic, butalso medical functions, as heat was believed to cureillnesses. Public baths were lucrative businesses and areoften mentioned in waqf documents as endowments.They had sections for men and others for women, andwere sometimes attached to religious foundations.When establishing a khanqah in a Fatimid palace,Salah al-Dm added a bath for the use of Sufis; this sug-gests that there had been none before. The khanqah ofAmir Shaykhu had a hammam nearby, most likelyendowed upon the foundation, as was the bath with thecomplex of Sultan al-MuDayyad. Religious foundationsoften provided the Sufis with the fee for their visits tothe hammam and for soap as well. Because of their

PL 37. The hammam of Sultan al-Mu3ayyad (Pauty).

sophisticated infrastructure, the hammams had localcontinuity; new ones were always built on the site ofprevious structures to make use of its infrastructure.This often makes them difficult to date.

A traveler to Fustat in the Tulunid period gives usthe following account: He arrived at Hammam al-Rum(the Greek Bath), very popular at the time, and foundno one to serve him, though there were at least seventyattendants, each with three assistants, to serve cus-tomers. He left the bath and went to another, with thesame experience. Only at the fourth bath did he find anavailable attendant. He was astonished to imagine thepopulation of Fustat, when told that the city had 1,170baths! This most likely was an exaggeration, though itis also reported that Fustat's atmosphere was highlypolluted primarily from the smoke from the multi-tudinous bath ovens. Until the last century, Cairo's


hammams flourished and often impressed travelers,scholars and orientalists. There are still a few tradi-tional baths operating, though they have quite lost theirglamor.

The thirteenth-century physician cAbd al-Latifwrites that the hammams of Egypt were the best in theOrient. He mentions their decoration, the marbles,columns, vaults, painted ceilings, and vivid colors. Theremains of stucco stalactites, once in a Fustat ham-mam, showing a dancer and a man seated with a cupin hand, is displayed at the Islamic Museum in Cairo.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE HAMMAM

According to Pauty, hammams are difficult to dateas they bear no inscriptions and have been throughouttheir long history often restored and remodeled. TheEgyptian hammam is based upon Roman bath tradi-tion, with some modifications. In general, the tradi-

tional hammam was entered through a narrow doorlike that of a shop, having no facade except for theentrance; the rest of the building was usually behind arow of shops. Next to the entrance was a small room fora doorman, and the entrance was bent. The first hall,the maslakh, for undressing, was paved with marble andhad a central fountain.

This hall was surrounded by recesses with benchesspread with carpets and mattresses. Marble columnsflanked the recesses, and latrines were nearby. The hallwas similar to a residential reception hall. The nexthall, bayt awwal (first room), was rectangular andvaulted, with openings in the vault filled with glass tointroduce light. The hall was slightly warmed, andincluded mattresses for guests to relax upon. A narrowdoor led to the next room, the center of the hammam,the bayt al-hardra (hot room). Its center was enhanced bya dome and marble inlaid floor. Here the customer gothis massage. From the hot room, corresponding to the

Fig. 10. Hammam al-Tanbah (Coste).

44 INTRODUCTION

caldarium of Roman baths, one passed to the maghtas(Roman laconicum) equipped with water taps inrecesses and basins for bathing. The maghtas hadwarm-water basins set into the floor, usually with twodifferent temperatures, and this was the most highlydecorated part of the hammam. Near the maghtas wasthe heating-equipment room, the bayt al-ndr. Its hugewater containers were heated by fires fed by garbagecollected in the neighborhood.

The plans of Cairo's hammams studied by Pautyshow great variations in layout, size, number of rooms,and decorations. The hammam that Sultan al-Mu3ayyad built near his religious complex has amagnificent dome on stalactites, surrounded by fourunequal Twans facing the domed area through pointedarches, similar to a madrasa plan. While the maslakh orvestiary was treated with great lavishness, the rest wasmore modest and reduced.

PART II

THE MONUMENTS

CHAPTER FOUR


THE MOSQUE OF CAMR IBN AL-CAS ATAL-FUSTAT (641/2)

The mosque of cAmr, the first mosque to be built inEgypt, was founded by the commander-in-chief of theconquering Arab troops, cAmr Ibn al-cAs. Arab medie-val historians call it Taj al-Jawamic, or the Crown ofthe Mosques.

The mosque of cAmr in its present form is of no par-ticular interest for the art historian, for its configurationis the result of a series of enlargements, restorations andreconstructions that include only one wall from themedieval period, and even that is not original but aninth-century addition. For the historian in generaland the urban historian in particular, the mosque'simportance today is that it indicates where cAmr'shouse, built near the original mosque, once stood.

Although medieval historians are usually silent onthe subject of architecture and its development, theyalways mention religious foundations of special historicor religious importance. Thus, the history of the firstmosque of Egypt is fairly well documented in theiraccounts.

THE FIRST MOSQUE

The mosque was founded in 641-42 as a place ofprayer for the Arab troops in their garrison city, al-Fustat. The original building, much smaller than thepresent one, measured no more than fifty by thirtycubits, or about twenty-nine by seventeen meters. Onits northeastern side, separated from it by a lane, wasthe house of cAmr and nearby, that of his son.

The original mosque was unpretentious, without acourtyard, plaster, or decoration. Its floor was notpaved, it lacked a minaret, and the qibla or Meccaorientation was not, as in all later mosques, indicatedby a concave niche. Creswell assumes that it must havebeen built of mud brick and palm trunks, like theProphet's mosque attached to his house at Medina.This predecessor of all mosques established onlyminimal requirements for those to follow. Not even theminaret was essential, for Bilal, the Prophet's muezzin

(mu'-adhdhin), had called the faithful to prayer from arooftop. Indeed, the only indispensable feature of amosque was its orientation toward Mecca, dictated byMuslim prayer ritual. However, the fourteenth-century historian Ibn Muyassar says that a convert toIslam, the nephew of the Patriarch of Egypt, al-Muqawqis, contributed to the design of cAmr'smosque. This implies that as far as architectural designwas concerned, the mosque could not have been anentirely primitive building, as it was planned by a localcraftsman familiar with sophisticated architecture.

It appears that the idea of enhancing the Meccaorientation by a concave prayer niche was not adoptedimmediately by the first mosque designers. Qal-qashandl, the fifteenth-century Egyptian historian,writes that in the original mosque of cAmr, four col-umns were inserted on the qibla wall to point out theMecca orientation. The presence of four columns sug-gests that a flat niche might have existed, composed oftwo pairs of columns with an arch drawn betweenthem. Each of the three other walls of the mosqueincluded two entrances.

ADDITIONS

Only thirty-two years after the mosque's foundation,the growing Muslim community found it too small. Itwas pulled down and replaced by a larger one that hadmats on its floors and plastered walls. Creswell's recon-struction shows the enlargements the mosque under-went throughout its history.

During the expansion works in 673, the UmayyadCaliph of Damascus, Mucawiya, ordered minarets tobe added to each of the four corners of the mosque.They were reached by an outer staircase, indicatingthat the mosque had no interior staircase leading to theroof. Creswell interprets this addition as being inspiredby the prototype of the Great Mosque at Damascus.There, where the mosque was built on the temenos orenclosure of a Roman temple, preexisting towers at thefour corners became the minarets. The arrangementwas quite practical, allowing the adhdn, or call to

48 THE MONUMENTS

19o-CUBITS

FEAHABA OF flUS/H A.H. 17 5

I TRUE ORIENTATION!

1

I i. IRAHABA OF ABU AYYDBl A.H. 258

[ADDITION OF!

.A.H.53

A.H.79

..A.M.93

.A.H.133

.A .H.212

Fig. 11. Plan showing the consecutive enlargements at the mosque of cAmr (Creswell).

prayer, from the mosque of cAmr to be heard on allsides and taken up by the other mosques of the city.The name of the governor of Egypt who carried out theworks, Maslama Ibn Mukhallad, was written on theminarets. Minarets were then added to all othermosques at al-Fustat, which had formerly announcedprayer times with a ndqus, a kind of bell used by theCopts.

The southern wall of the present mosque is attributedby Creswell to the reconstruction by cAbd Allah IbnTahir (827) that enlarged the mosque to its presentsize. It shows the remains of windows, now walled up,alternating with niches whose conches are carved in ahooded shell motif. All windows and niches are flanked

with colonnettes and have round arches. The windowshave colonnettes on the outside wall as well as on theinside. Inside the mosque, this south wall shows theremains of the springing of arches that once ran parallelto the qibla wall. They are joined to columns bywooden beams carved in a late Hellenistic pattern thatis unique in Cairene medieval architecture and recallsthe cornice on the piers of the Dome of the Rock inJerusalem. Because of the orientation of these archspringings, Creswell concludes that the original arcadesof the mosque were all parallel to the main wall. Thisside of the mosque today has perpendicular arcades,attributed to a nineteenth-century reconstruction of themosque.

EARLY ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN CAIRO 49

THE PRAYER NICHE

Several additions and restorations were made at themosque of cAmr, apart from the enlargements. Theoriginal flat prayer niche was replaced by a concaveprayer niche, a device that predominated in all reli-gious architecture from then on. Medieval historiansgive different dates for this innovation. Some attributeit to the governor Maslama Ibn Mukhallad (667-81) orto the governor cAbd al-cAziz (684-703); others,including Creswell, to work done in 711. In the lastcase, it would be the second concave prayer niche inIslamic architecture, coming after the one added to themosque of Medina by cUmar Ibn cAbd al-cAziz duringthe reign of the Caliph al-Walld (707-709). The originof the concave prayer niche was of considerable interestto medieval Arab historians, one of whom, al-Suyutl,states that it was at first avoided because it was used inchurches. Coptic craftsmen from Egypt were employedin the works at Medina at the time the first concaveprayer niche was introduced. By the fifteenth century,the mosque of cAmr had three prayer niches.

THE PULPITcAmr Ibn al-cAs used a pulpit for the Friday sermon.

In this matter, also, the historians give differentaccounts. One says that this pulpit was taken from achurch, while another says it was a gift to cAmr froma Nubian Christian king, a wooden structure made bya carpenter named Buqtur. The Caliph cUmar Ibn al-Khattab at Medina, hearing that cAmr was preachingfrom a pulpit, disliked the idea of the leader standingabove the believers, and prohibited cAmr from using it.It is reported, however, that he continued to use it afterthe Caliph's death.

The pulpit, or minbar, in time became an integralpart of the furniture of all mosques, though its use wasrestricted to the jamic, or mosque where the Fridaysermon was held. In the early period of the Islamicempire, each city had only one congregational, or Fri-day, mosque where the Friday sermon, or khutba couldbe preached. Subsequently, Friday mosques increasedin number until each quarter and even each street hadone. In 777, the Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi gave ordersto lower the height of pulpits in all mosques in theempire, and to abolish use of the maqsura, an enclosurenear the prayer niche in which the ruler prayed inprivate. The maqsura seems to have originated as asafety precaution, as more than one leader had been

murdered during prayer, and the Caliph's decree wasnot honored for long. The mosque of cAmr acquired amaqsura in the first century after its foundation. In1050, a wooden maqsura and wooden prayer nichewere built for summer use, indicating that the struc-tures must have been portable and used outside thesanctuary.

OTHER STRUCTURES

During the reign of Ibn Tulun, in 870, a structurecomposed of wooden columns with horizontal sticks forawnings was added to the mosque when people com-plained about the heat inside. This feature wasremoved by the Caliph al-Hakim, after the structurehad been painted with red and green paint that failedto stick.

The traveler Muqaddasi, visiting the mosque ofcAmr in the tenth century, reported that the walls of themosque were decorated with glass mosaics. Along withthe four minarets, this would have been another featurein common with the Great Mosque of Damascus, manyof whose exquisite glass mosaics can still be seen. In997, by order of the Caliph al-Hakim, some of themosaics of cAmr's mosque were removed and the wallswere plastered. The caliph also donated a giganticbronze chandelier.

Among the various structures in the mosque of cAmrthat were common to many early mosques was the baytal-mal, or treasure for the needs of the community. Itwas a domed structure on columns. In 989, a decora-tive fountain was installed under the columns. A simi-lar bayt al-mdl structure can be seen today at the GreatMosque of Damascus.

Gold and silver were used to embellish the mosque,though this was condemned by orthodox interpreters ofIslamic tradition. In 1046-47 the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustansir added a silver belt to the prayer niche andsilver to its columns. Under the Ikhshidids in 937 thecapitals of the mosque's columns were gilded, and in989-90, the Caliph al-cAziz ordered a gilded pulpit.

During the Fatimid period (969-1171) the mosque ofcAmr had five minarets, four at the corners and one atthe axial entrance. Each had a name: al-Ghurfa (orcArafa), al-Kablra (the big one), al-Jadida (the newone), al-Mustajadda (the newly made), and al-Sacida(literally, the happy one, but this could refer to a spon-sor's name, al-Sacid). All these have disappeared andthe two present minarets, one near the main entranceand another on the southwest corner, were built by

50 THE MONUMENTS

Murad Bey who rebuilt almost entirely the mosque in1800.

In the early history of the mosque, the roof isreported to have been crowded with various rooms,some for the muezzin and some for the equipment forcalculating the time for the call to prayer. The roof wasalso used as an ambulatory, as ritual walks around asacred place were believed to bring blessings. Later,these structures were removed. Waterwheels were usedto lift water to the roof for the mosque's drinking water,ablution fountains, latrines, and cleaning.

One of the most prominent restorers of the mosqueof cAmr was Salah al-Dln al-Ayyubl (1171-93), whorestored it after the fire set in al-Fustat to repel theCrusaders. He built a belvedere underneath one of theminarets and removed the silver belt from the prayerniche. The Mamluk sultans al-Zahir Baybars and al-Mansur Qalawun contributed to the upkeep of Egypt'sfirst mosque, and after the earthquake of 1303, AmirSalar restored the building and sponsored a stuccoprayer niche on the outer wall which disappeared onlya few years ago.

Between the restorations carried out by Sultan Qayt-bay in the late fifteenth century and those of MuradBey in 1800, no interest in the mosque is reported, andits neighborhood must have been all but abandonedduring this period. Murad Bey's restorations weredamaged shortly afterward by Napoleon's troops.

The mosque of cAmr, like all medieval mosques, wasa place not only for prayer but for important civilgatherings as well, particularly in the early days whenthe community leader's functions were both religiousand political. Tribunals for religious and civil caseswere held in the ziyada, the enclosure between themosque and the street. Above all, it was a center forteaching theology, law, and all other subjects of interestto medieval society. At one time, more than a hundreddifferent classes were held, and in the Fatimid periodthere were also classes for women. Imam Shafici,founder of one of the four rites of Islamic Sunni law,taught there in the eighth century. Recent excavationsin the prayer hall have brought to light some of thestructures referred to by Maqrizi as zawiyas, or chapelsbuilt within the mosque for teaching, each with its ownlatrine.

At this cultural and religious center, the wholepopulation of the city met, especially on Fridays forprayer. It is thus not surprising that the most pres-tigious markets were also concentrated around themosque, making it also the commercial center ofal-Fustat.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab, Hasan. Tarikh al-masajid al-athariyya. Cairo, 1946,

pp. 23 ff.Ahmad, Muhammad. The Mosque of '-Amr Ibn al-'-As at Fustat. Cairo,

1939.Ahmad, Yusuf. Jami1* Sayyidna '•Amr Ibn al-'-As. Cairo, 1917.Crcswell, K. A. C. Early Muslim Architecture (E.M.A.). Oxford

University Press, 1932-40, II, pp. 171 ff.Ibn Duqmaq. Kitdb al-mlisdr li wdsilat ^iqd al-amsdr. Bulaq, 1314 H.,

IV, pp. 59 ff.MaqrTzT. Kitdb al-mawd^iz wa'l-i^tibdrfi dhikral-khitat wa'l-athdr. Bulaq,

1306 H., II, pp. 246 ff.Mubarak, CA1T. al-Khitat al-jadida al-tawfiqiyya. Bulaq, 1306 H., IV,

pp. 3 ff.al-Qalqashandl, Abu al-cAbbas Ahmad Ibn CA1I. Subh al-A^shd fi

Shid'at al-Inshd. Cairo, 1963, III, pp. 337 ff.Whelan, Estelle. "The Origins of the mihrdb mujawwqf: A Reinter-

pretation." International Journal of Middle East Studies, 18 (1986),pp. 205 ff.

THE NILOMETER AT RAWDA (861)

The Milometer (in Arabic miqyas, or measurer) atRawda is the oldest structure in Egypt built after theArab conquest that survives in its original form. Its all-important function was to measure the annual Nileflood in August-September, to regulate distribution of

Fig. 12. The Nilometer (Creswell).


water and the levy of taxes paid as tribute by Egypt tothe Caliph.

The Umayyads had built a Nilometer of the simpletype used earlier in Egypt, a graduated wall in the Nile.The Nilometer we see today was built in 861 by orderof the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-61). It is arather sophisticated instrument, based on the principleof communicating vessels.

The Nilometer consists of a pit on the southern tip ofRawda Island, facing al-Fustat to the east, com-municating with the Nile through tunnels dug on threelevels on its eastern side. The pit itself is circular at thebottom and rectangular at the top and is lined withstone. On its walls are four recesses with pointedarches, flanked by colonnettes showing two types ofvoussoir decoration. Creswell points out that thesearches are the same type as those used in Gothicarchitecture, but they preceded the Gothic arch by fourhundred years. In the middle of the pit is a marble col-umn squeezed between a millstone at the bottom of thepit and a wooden beam spanning the Nilometer at thetop. The column, which has a Corinthian capital, isgraded and divided into 19 cubits (a cubit is slightlymore than half a meter).

The walls of the Nilometer have carved inscriptionsin plain Kufic, the earliest surviving example of archi-tectural epigraphy in Egypt. They are Quranic textsreferring to water, vegetation and prosperity (SuraXIV:37) and thus have a talismanic meaning. A his-toric inscription referring to the founding of the Nilo-meter by al-Mutawakkil has been removed. Accordingto Creswell, this was done by Ibn Tulun who restoredthe Nilometer in 872-73, removing the name as part ofhis campaign to assert his independence from theCaliphate. The inscriptions were originally on a back-ground of blue; they were themselves left in the naturalstone color. The wooden painted conical dome coveringthe Nilometer is part of a modern restoration.

What the Nilometer announced was vital to rulers aswell as to the whole population of Egypt. An ideal floodfilled the Nilometer up to the sixteenth mark; nineteencubits meant flood catastrophe; and less than sixteencubits spelt drought and famine.

Throughout the medieval period and until the end ofthe nineteenth century, the Rawda Nilometer was thedeparture point of the greatest of Cairo's celebrations,Path al-Khaly, the Festival of the Opening of the Canal.The Khallj, starting opposite Rawda Island, borderedthe medieval city to the west and irrigated its outlyinggardens and fields. The Nile summer flood filled the

Khahj and many ponds, whose beds in winter weregreen with vegetation. During the hot summer months,the Khallj and the ponds were filled with pleasure boatsand its shores were lined with entertainments. TheKhalij was blocked with an earth dam and cleanedbefore the flood, then opened when the Nile floodreached the sixteen-cubit level. The caliph, and latersultans and pashas, came out to open the Khalij and,in celebrations lasting several days, decorated boatscrowded the waters, the most splendid of them beingthe caliph's, or sultan's, boat. Today, the Nile sailinghouseboat called a dhahabiyya, or golden one, recalls thesplendor of the ruler's boat. This festival, which ceasedin 1899 when the Khalij was filled in, was described byall who witnessed it as Cairo's most spectacular event.Near the Nilometer was a mosque for prayers accompa-nying the flood celebrations and a palace for banquetsheld by the rulers. In the days spent waiting for theflood, the columns of the Nilometer were annointedwith saffron and musk to induce a good water level. Ifthe Nile flood waters failed to reach the sixteen cubitsmark, celebrations were canceled and prayers andfasting were held instead to ward off the comingdrought and famine. After one delayed flood, Sultan al-Mu^ayyad (1412-21) himself took a dip in theNilometer as a token of gratitude.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creswell. E.M.A., II, pp. 200 ff.Behrens-Abouseif, Doris, "Fetes populaires dans le Caire du Moyen-

Age". Quaderni dell' Istituto Italiano di Cultura per la R.A.E. Cairo,1982.

Ghaleb Bey, K. O. Le Miqyas ou Nilometre de I'lle de Rodah. Cairo,1951.

Popper, William. The Nilometer: Studies in Ibn Taghribirdi's Chronicles ofEgypt (Part 1). Berkeley, 1951.

THE MOSQUE OF IBN TULUN (876-79)

Ibn Tulun was sent from Samarra, the Abbasid capi-tal, as governor of Egypt, where he soon founded hisown capital, al-Qata:>ic. The new city was situated inthe area known today as Saliba street and the areabetween the Citadel and Sayyida Zaynab. Nothing butthe mosque and an aqueduct has survived from IbnTulun's city.

Al-Fustat and al-cAskar no longer had room for IbnTulun's large garrisons, and the mosque of cAmr wastoo small for the whole Muslim population of the grow-ing capital. Ibn Tulun built a very large mosque on a

52 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 38. The mosque of Ibn Tulun.

hill called Jabal Yashkur; today it is the oldest mosquein Egypt in its original form.

An original inscription slab on one of the piers in thesanctuary bears the foundation text of the mosque andthe completion date 265 (879) written in plain script,and another is now at the Islamic Museum. MaqrlzTfurther indicates that the mosque was started threeyears earlier in 876. The Mamluk Sultan LajTn orderedimportant restorations at the mosque that were carriedout in 1296/97.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Architecture in the Egyptian province of the AbbasidCaliphate followed the royal style of the Muslimempire's capital, and the architecture of Ibn Tulun'smosque and most of its decorations follow the Samar-ran style of the period.

The mosque of Ibn Tulun is built around a courtyardwith four arcaded halls (riwaq), the largest being thesanctuary on the qibla side. It is built of brick exceptfor the stone minaret, and as a novelty, its arcades aresupported by piers instead of columns. These piers arerectangular, decorated with four masonry engaged col-umns at the corners. Their capitals have the same bellshape as the bases, and both are plastered and carved.The arches of the arcades are pointed. Because pierswere used instead of columns, a feature alien to localtradition, it has been said that the architect, a Chris-tian, wanted to avoid having columns taken fromchurches as spoils to build the mosque. The true inter-pretation, however, is easily found at Samarra, wherethis device was used because brick was the naturalbuilding material in Mesopotamia. There are twoByzantine-style pairs of marble columns flanking theprayer niche, the only spoils used in Ibn Tulun'smosque.


Pl. 40. Side arcade at the mosque of Ibn Tulun.

Pl 39. The mosque of Ibn Tulun, view of the interior. Pl. 41. Stucco window grill at the mosque of Ibn Tulun.

The sanctuary, or qibla riwaq, of the mosque has fiveaisles parallel to the prayer niche; the other three sideshave three aisles each. On the three minor sides, themosque is surrounded by an enclosed space (ziyada)separating and protecting the mosque from the noiseand bustle of the streets. Outside the mosque on theqibla side, there used to be a palace, the dar al-^imdra,from which Ibn Tulun could enter the sanctuarydirectly through a door near the prayer niche.

Both the walls of the mosque and the ziyada arecrowned with a most peculiar and intricate type ofcrenellation made of open brickwork, which uponcloser inspection turns out to be a repetition of theSamarra stucco motifs decorating the walls of themosque.

DOORS AND WINDOWS

The mosque has nineteen doors on three sides, eachdoor corresponding to another door in the ziyada.There are three more doors on the qibla side.

The upper part of the mosque wall is pierced withpointed-arch windows flanked with colonnettes. Thewindows alternate on the outside wall with blind nicheswith a shell conch, an arrangement already seen on awall of the mosque of cAmr and attributed to a ninth-century addition. Creswell attributes only four of thewindows' stucco grills to the Tulunid period, those witha plain geometric design; the rest, displaying a largevariety of more complicated geometric patterns, datefrom the Fatimid and Mamluk periods. There are

54 THE MONUMENTS

altogether 128 windows and their arrangement on thewalls is independent from the arcades«so that not everyarch has a centered window. The arched windows ofthe arcades fill the double function of providing lightand reducing the weight carried by the arches.

THE FOUNTAIN

The ablution fountain covered by a dome in thecenter of the courtyard was added to the mosque in thelate thirteenth century by Sultan Lajin. Originally,there was a fawwara in the center, a decorative fountainwith a dome on ten columns surrounded by sixteenother columns, all made of marble and gilded. Thisfountain structure had a sundial used by the muezzinfor the second call to prayer (iqama), the prayer per-formed inside the mosque. The fawwara was destroyedby fire in 986. The present ablution fountain's inscrip-tion band carries the Quranic text on the duty of ablu-tion. The domed rectangular room, open on four sides,was built by Sultan Lajin when he restored the mosque.The profile of its dome resembles that of al-Salih Najmal-Din Ayyub built in 1243, with the curve beginningat its lower part. Ablution fountains originally were notwithin the mosque at all, but outside in the ziyada,where latrines and even a clinic for treating the sickwere located.

PRAYER NICHES

The mosque of Ibn Tulun has six prayer nichesdating from various periods. The main one, in themiddle of the qibla wall, is also the tallest. Its stuccomolding and two stucco bosses on each side of the archare original. The inner decoration of the niche wasredone by Sultan Lajin; it consists of an upper decora-tion of painted wood, a band of glass mosaics with thetext of the shahada, and a lower part made of marblepanels. This prayer niche is the only concave one; theother five are flat. There is a small prayer niche on theqibla wall to the left whose stalactite cresting and naskhiscript assign it to the early Mamluk period, so that itis possible that it also was sponsored by Sultan Lajin.

On one of the piers leading from the courtyard to themain prayer niche is to the right a prayer niche ofwhich only the upper Samarran style stucco decorationhas survived. A chain from which a medallion with astar is hanging; it is the only decoration of its kind inCairo.

The style of the Kufic script of the shahada text is

similar to that of the prayer niche on the opposite sideof the aisle, with which it must be contemporary. Thelatter is also decorated with Samarran stucco motifsand, like the first, carries the text of the shahada with-out the Shica reference to CAli. It can thus be assignedto the pre-Fatimid period, either Tulunid or Ikhshidid(935-69). A very similar niche was found in a Tulunidhouse in excavations at Fustat and is now in the IslamicMuseum. The curved Kufic script differs, however,from the original inscriptions at Ibn Tulun, resemblingmore the inscriptions of the Ikhshidid period. On theprayer niche to the right, the reference to CAli is carvedin small characters, like graffiti, as a later, obviouslyFatimid, addition.

The most remarkable prayer niche at the mosque ofIbn Tulun is that of al-Afdal Shahinshah, a vizier of theFatimid Caliph al-Mustansir (s. Pl. 6). It is lavishlydecorated in stucco and carries an inscription in ornateKufic script with a historic reference to the Caliph whosponsored it. Creswell attributes the style of this prayerniche, with its arrangement of one frame insideanother, to Persian influence. The prayer niche is areplica; the original is in the Islamic Museum of Cairo.

On the left side of the aisle, opposite al-Afdal'sprayer niche, is another, less well preserved one that isa copy of al-Afdal's, the only difference being that thetext refers to Sultan Lajin. The shahada also lacks theShica reference to CA1i. This prayer niche is a copy ofmuch older one, a rare occurrence in Cairo's medievalarchitecture.

THE DIKKA

In the sanctuary near the courtyard there is awooden bench on marble columns. It is called dikkat al-muballigh and is used for Quranic recitations, chantsand calls to prayer inside the mosque (iqama). Nearly alllater mosques have this feature.

THE MINARET

The minaret of Ibn Tulun stands on the north sideof the ziyada, slightly off the axis of the main prayerniche. It is an unusual stone structure with an outerstaircase and a Mamluk top of the type named mabkharaby Creswell. This minaret is the subject of controversyamong Cairo's architectural historians; it is attributedby some, most prominently by Creswell, to SultanLajin and by others to Ibn Tulun. The sources do notyield enough information to determine its date.


We know that Ibn Tulun built a minaret with anouter staircase, a feature found in Samarran minaretarchitecture. The shape of the minaret is connectedwith a legend: Ibn Tulun was sitting with his officialsand absentmindedly winding a piece of parchmentaround his finger. When asked by someone what thegesture meant, he answered out of embarrassment thathe was planning the shape of his minaret. At Samarra,surviving minarets do have the exterior staircase, butare built of brick and are totally circular. The IbnTulun minaret begins as a rectangle and then becomescircular, and is built entirely of stone.

We know also that Sultan Lajin restored the mosqueof Ibn Tulun, which at the time was abandoned buthad provided him shelter from some enemies. The topof the minaret and the ablution fountain are in a styleunmistakably of this period (1296).

There are several arguments for attributing thewhole structure to Lajin. Apart from the minaret'sbeing built in stone while the rest of the mosque is ofbrick, the manner in which the bridge of the minaretabuts on the mosque is quite awkward, blocking one ofits windows, an aesthetic mistake that would not havebeen made by the Tulunid architect. The style of thebridge, with its Andalusian horseshoe arch and corbels,and the style of the double arches on the minaretitself refer it to the late thirteenth century, as doesthe top with its ribbed helmet. Moreover, analysisof the masonry reveals only one type of stoneworktechnique.

To these arguments, it can be answered that thetraveler al-MuqaddasT in the tenth century reportedthat the minaret of Ibn Tulun was built in stone. Thestyle of the bridge and the arches on the minaret are infact late, of an Andalusian style that occurs in earlyMamluk architecture. The bridge is not original andthe arches on the minaret, which have no structuralfunction, are also not original. They must have beenpart of a restoration that included a new stone facing,together with the bridge and the top of the minaret, inother words with Sultan Lajin's restoration.

The fact that the minaret was built in stone does notpreclude its being original. Egyptian, unlike Mesopota-mian, craftsmen had been building in stone since thedawn of history, so it is not surprising that they pre-ferred to build the minaret in stone. Moreover, beinga solid stone structure, without an inner staircase, it isunlikely that it could have been so shortlived. Had itbeen demolished, historians certainly would have men-tioned it, as they did the destruction of the originalfountain. Furthermore Lajin would have at least left an

inscription commemorating his construction, or hisbiographers would have referred to it. Medievalarchitects repeatedly restored and added to buildings,incorporating the style of their particular period. HadLajin rebuilt the minaret totally, it would have been aMamluk minaret. The fact that the outer staircase wasleft is an argument in favor of the survival of IbnTulun's original structure which was then restored byLajin.

The whole structure lacks the harmonious propor-tions of a Mamluk building. The shape of the top, quitealien to the rest of the structure, suggests that theminaret as we now see it was not built at one time.

It is recorded that the architect made a drawing toshow Ibn Tulun the plan and appearance of themosque, so we know that drawings were made byarchitects, though none from the medieval period havesurvived. Such drawings must have been particularlynecessary when local craftsmen were confronted withhaving to execute a design or architectural devicealien to their experience.

RESTORATIONS

An inscription slab above the entrance of the mosquerefers to restorations done by the Fatimid vizier Badral-Jamali in 1177. His son, al-Afdal, sponsored theprayer niche described above. In the Fatimid period,the mosque of Ibn Tulun was one of the four mosquesin which the caliph led Friday prayers, the others beingthe al-Azhar, al-Hakim, and cAmr mosques.

The restoration works of Sultan Lajin thus includedthe minaret, the new ablution fountain in the court-yard, and the wooden dome above the main prayerniche. He also introduced teaching of the four rites ofIslamic law at the mosque, and even the teaching ofmedicine. A primary school for boys, or kuttab, forteaching writing and reading of the Quran, wasattached to the mosque. Lajin also sponsored a sabil, orpublic fountain. Of these additional structures, how-ever, only the ablution fountain and the prayer nichedome survive.

In the thirteenth century, when the neighborhoodhad fallen into decay, the mosque of Ibn Tulun wasused as a caravanserai for North African pilgrims ontheir way to Mecca. In the nineteenth century themosque was used as a factory, and later as a lunaticasylum. During the fourteenth century, a qadi (Islamicjudge) attached to the mosque added two minarets atthe corners of the main prayer hall. One of these wasremoved some years ago as it was unstable.

56 THE MONUMENTS

Pl. 42. Stucco carved soffit at the mosque of Ibn Tulun.

DECORATION

The decorations of Ibn Tulun's mosque show boththe remaining influence of Byzantine rule and theSamarran political hegemony of the time. The windowgrills identified as originals by Creswell are similar toUmayyad window grills in the great mosque of Damas-cus, and are based on geometric compass work typicalof the late classical Byzantine tradition. The largevariety of designs in the soffits of the arches around thecourtyard, though having Samarran floral fillings, nodoubt also belong to Byzantine tradition. Creswellnotes a design here that is found as a window grill inthe mosque of Damascus.

In addition to the stucco soffits and voussoirs of thearcades, there are rosettes decorating the outer andinner facades. A wooden frieze with Quranic inscrip-tions runs around the entire mosque just under theceiling, in the same plain Kufic script in which thefoundation slab was carved. The stucco band framingthe arches and the wood carvings on the doors areobvious adaptations of a mixture of the Samarrandecorative styles known as Samarra B and C.

SAMARRA STYLE

The Abbasid Caliph al-Muctasim first resided in thepalace of his predecessor, al-Ma:>mun, at Baghdad, thecapital of the Caliphate. When his soldiers, Turksrecruited from Central Asia, began molesting the city'spopulation, he decided to move his residence andfounded the new city of Samarra, 110 kilometers north


of Baghdad on the eastern bank of the Tigris. Begin-ning his gigantic scheme in 836, al-Muctasim gathereda multitude of craftsmen from all parts of his empire,including many from Egypt, to erect and decorate thegreat buildings that suited his aspirations as emperor.Samarra was soon abandoned, in 863, and because itwas no longer inhabited, its ruins have preserved agreat deal of the stucco carved and painted decorationswhich could not be moved or plundered. They havethus come down to us as an invaluable document of theorigins of Islamic decoration.

Just as Byzantium dominated the arts of theUmayyads at Damascus, so Sassanian culture inspiredthe works of the Abbasids. Both influences were theresult of the geographic location of each capital. In allperiods, however, Islam, which rejected animate repre-sentations in religious art, contributed to the evolutionof abstract and floral decorative patterns. The use ofscript, particularly in Quranic texts suited to the mean-ing or dedication of an architectural structure, whetherreligious or secular, was also peculiar to its building.

The building of Samarra, a huge undertaking com-pleted within a short period of time, involved intensivework in a new, homogeneous style adapted to theimmediate needs of the Caliph. This style is character-ised by its abstract, symmetrical and repetitive formbased on floral and geometric elements. Its origins werevarious including Central Asian influences introducedby Turks. Samarra decorative styles are termed A, B,and C.

Style A, the earliest, includes geometric figures filledwith floral patterns, primarily vine leaves, grapes,palmettes and stalks. The floral patterns contrast withthe background by having their surfaces carved in smallgeometric patterns of various types—zigzags, chev-rons, roundels, and triangles.

In style B, the rosette shape dominates, and there areno stems or stalks. This is the predominant style at themosque of Ibn Tulun. The floral representations arenot naturalistic, and are thus the origin of arabesque—that is, geometrically arranged representations ofplants. Both styles A and B are derived from Sassanianart.

Style C differs from the others in its regular use ofmolds. The strong contrast effect of styles A and B isthus lacking in this style, where hand carving is mini-mized. The varied and primarily abstract motifs of

Fig. 13. Carved stucco bands in the Samarra style on thearches of the Ibn Tulun mosque.

style C are attributed by Creswell to influences intro-duced by the Abbasid Caliphate's contacts with CentralAsia, where they recruited soldiers for their armies.

The method of using molds, in style C, to which onlysmall touches needed to be made by hand, was timeand labor saving and thus quite appropriate for theconstruction and decoration of the new city. Thestuccos were painted in vivid colors.

The Samarran style, like any other Islamic style ofarchitectural decoration, was not confined to religiousarchitecture but was adopted in secular architecture aswell. Many excavated houses of the Tulunid periodhave Samarra-style stucco panels.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 32 ff.Creswell. E.M.A., II, pp. 348 ff.Hautecoeur, Louis, and Wiet, Gaston. Les Mosquees du Caire. Paris,

1932, pp. 208 ff.Maqrizl. Khitat, II, pp. 265 ff.Yusuf, Ahmad. Jdmi'- Ibn Tulun. Cairo, 1917.

CHAPTER FIVE


THE AL-AZHAR MOSQUE (970)

Al-Azhar is today the most celebrated of all Cairo'smedieval mosques, more because of its historic and reli-gious importance than its aesthetic value. It was thefirst mosque built in Fatimid Cairo and the firsttheological college, and has played a continuous role inthe history of the city from its foundation to the presentday. The mosque of cAmr, though important asIslam's first mosque in Egypt, did not retain its rolethough the centuries.

Like the mosque of cAmr, al-Azhar was establishedas the central mosque of a new urban foundation. Itdoes not carry the name of its founder, the FatimidCaliph al-Mucizz. Al-Azhar is an epithet meaning"The Flourishing". Some medieval sources call itsimply the Great Mosque ( jamic) of Cairo.

Caliph al-Mucizz li-Dm Allah, after conqueringEgypt and founding al-Qahira, assigned his generaland vizier Jawhar al-Siqilli the task of building al-Azhar. The first prayers were held in the mosque in972, and in 989 it acquired the status of a college withthe appointment of thirty-five scholars to teach theIsmacili Shica theology to which the Fatimids adhered.A hostel was built for them near the mosque.

Following the mosques of cAmr, al-cAskar, and IbnTulun, al-Azhar was the fourth congregational mosquein Egypt. After the Ottoman conquest, when theMamluk colleges (madrasa) were in decline, al-Azharbecame the center of Islamic scholarship in Egypt andone of the principal theological universities of theMuslim world.

Because of its importance, the mosque of al-Azhar,like the mosque of cAmr, has undergone a series ofenlargements and restorations throughout its history.Today, all styles and all periods of Cairo's history arerepresented in its architecture.

The original mosque of al-Azhar was much smallerthan the present building, and it was not at the exactcenter of the capital. Al-Qahira itself did not occupymuch more than one square kilometer. The great Fati-mid palace complex dominated the entire city. Al-Azhar is at a short distance from what was the main

The al-Azhar mosque and its dependencies

Fig. 14. Plan of the al-Azhar mosque (Creswell).

avenue, Bayn al-Qasrayn (lit., "between the twopalaces").

THE ORGINAL MOSQUE

As reconstructed by Creswell, the mosque origi-nally had only three arcades around the courtyard;today it has four. This plan was common in NorthAfrican and Andalusian architecture. The arcades areall carried on pre-Islamic columns with Corinthiancapitals. Its original arches are round. The sanctuaryhad five aisles parallel to the qibla and a transept withan aisle wider and higher than the rest that runsperpendicular to the main wall, thus enhancing theprayer niche to which it leads from the court-yard to the prayer niche.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE FATIMID PERIOD 59

PI. 43. The al-Azhar mosque.

There were three domes, one over the prayer nicheand the two others at the corners of the qibla wall, butnone has survived. This feature of three domes in thesanctuary was also found in North African architectureand must have been introduced to Egypt by Fatimidcraftsmen. The two other arcades had only three aisleseach. The mosque is said to have had a ziyada.

The original minaret was a small construction stand-ing above the main entrance and built of brick.

Of the original mosque the arcades, part of the stuccodecoration, including the conch of the prayer niche anda few window grills have been preserved.

FATIMID ADDITIONS

In 1009 the Caliph al-Hakim restored the mosque,donating a new wooden door which is now in the CairoIslamic Museum. In 1125, the Caliph al-Amir donateda wooden prayer niche, now also at the museum. The

most important Fatimid works, however, were carriedout during the rule of the Caliph al-Hafiz li-Dln Allah(1129-49), who added an arcade around the courtyardto give the mosque four arcades, the fourth composedof only one aisle on the northwestern side. The archesof this new courtyard facade differ from the originalarches. They are called keel arches, as their profileresembles a ship's keel pointing upwards. Al-Hafiz alsoadded a dome in front of the transept. It is hidden tothe viewer from the courtyard by a screen wall(pishtaq)—a portion of the facade wall taller than therest which is meant to enhance the entrance to the sanc-tuary through the transept. This dome is richlydecorated in carved stucco.

FATIMID DECORATION

Original decorations include the conch of the prayerniche and the stucco inscriptions and arabesques on the

60 THE MONUMENTS

Pl. 44. The original prayer niche of al-Azhar with Marnlukstucco carving in the spandrels.

arcades. The conch of the prayer niche is decorated ina style very similar to that of the two unidentifiedprayer niches at the mosque of Ibn Tulun, which couldbe either Tulunid or Ikhshidid. This decoration is notin pure Samarra style, but is combined with the scrollsof palmettes typical of Byzantine decoration. Slightlyornate curved Kufic script frames the various arches ofthe prayer niche, windows, arcades and panels.

It appears that different periods of Fatimid decora-tion are represented in the stuccos of al-Azhar, butscholars have not yet sorted them out. On the wall fac-ing the prayer niche, a naturalistic representation of apalm tree is repeated. Windows with geometric grillsframed with bands of Kufic inscriptions appear to datefrom the foundation of the mosque. The stucco decora-

tions added by al-Hafiz adorning the walls and thedome are quite different from the original style, whichis not surprising, as they were done more than a cen-tury later. The dome in front of the transept isdecorated with a ring composed of lobed arches poin-ting toward the center. These arches carry ornateinscription bands. Interestingly, one of the stucco grillsof the transitional zone of the dome of al-Hafiz includesbits of green and yellow glass, the earliest known exam-ple of such a window decoration. This late-periodFatimid decoration shows a more ornate type of Kuficscript and more composition in surface designs, involv-ing less repetition of patterns.

AYYUBID AND MAMLUK RESTORATIONS

Salah al-Diri, who followed the Shafici rite in whichonly one congregational or Friday mosque within anurban agglomeration is allowed, cancelled Fridayprayers at al-Azhar and permitted them only at themosque of al-Hakim, which he no doubt preferredbecause of its larger size. He also removed the Fatimidsilver belt from the prayer niche. The mosque of cAmrcontinued to serve as al-Fustat's congregationalmosque during Salah al-Din's reign.

Under the Mamluks, the Hanafi rite had priority,and Sultan al-Zahir Baybars reestablished the Fridaysermon at al-Azhar in 1266. He also replaced theminaret at the entrance with a higher one, and carriedout other restorations.

The 1303 earthquake, significant in Cairo's architec-tural history because of the restorations of monumentsthat followed, also damaged al-Azhar. Amir Salarrestored the prayer niche and redecorated its spandrels.It was he who also added a beautiful prayer niche onthe exterior wall of the mosque of cAmr, which we nowknow only from early photographs. Both of Salar'sprayer niches are decorated in the same style, with arow of niches filled with stucco geometrical ornamentsand surmounted by delicate arabesques, a device wesee also at the smaller Lajin prayer niche at Ibn Tulun.

Sultan Barquq found al-Azhar's minaret too short,and in 1397 replaced it with a taller one in stone. Itsstructure, however, was defective, and it had to bedestroyed a few years later. Sultan al-Mu-'ayyad builtanother minaret in the same place in 1424, but it alsoleaned and had to be removed. Sultan Qaytbay, whosearchitects were more skillful, ordered several restora-tions at al-Azhar, in 1468, 1476, and 1495. Amongthese were the main portal and the minaret above it,


PI. 45. Stucco panels on the western wall of the sanctuary atal-Azhar.

both fine examples of the golden age of stone carvingthat characterizes Qaytbay's architecture. Sultan al-GhurT built a huge minaret in 1510, also near the mainentrance. It has a double bulb and its shaft is decoratedwith pieces of blue faience.

In addition to restorations of individual structures,new buildings were added regularly to al-Azhar, forexample the three madrasas of the Mamluk period.The madrasa of Taybars on the right side of the mainentrance has not survived in its original architecturalform, but it has a magnificent prayer niche with carvedand inlaid marble, one of the finest in Cairo, withrepresentations of trees in mosaics in the spandrels.

The madrasa of Amir Aqbugha, built in 1340 on theleft side of the entrance, has its original portal, a mina-ret, and qibla wall decoration, including glass mosaicsin the prayer niche and window recesses, where a vase

and stylized plant motif is repeated. Both these madra-sas are on the site of a former ziyada of the mosque.

The madrasa of Jawhar al-Qanqaba3!, built in 1440on the northern side of the sanctuary, is fully preservedin its original architectural form, along with its decora-tions and a carved stone dome covering the mausoleumof the founder.

OTTOMAN RESTORATIONS

In the Ottoman period, a long series of restorationsand enlargements were made at al-Azhar. The mostimportant of these was Amir cAbd al-RahmanKatkhuda's enlargement in 1753, when the area of themosque behind the original prayer niche was widened.He added a new facade, the one we see today, with itsdouble round arches and the typical Ottoman cypress

62 THE MONUMENTS

Pl. 46. The dome of the Caliph al-Hafiz li-Dln Allah atal-Azhar.

tree carved above them. He also had three minaretsbuilt, two of which have survived on the southern andeastern walls. On the southern facade, he added a por-tal similar to the Gothic portal of al-Nasir Muham-mad's madrasa at the NahhasTn mosque. He rebuilt thefacade of the Taybarsiyya and erected for himself amausoleum dome on the southeastern corner of theenlarged mosque. Still more additions and restorationswere carried out in the nineteenth and twentieth cen-turies.

MINOR STRUCTURES

Over the centuries, al-Azhar acquired severalmaqsuras, one of them built by the founder Jawhar,and more than one prayer niche. There was a talisman

to prevent birds from nesting in the mosque. Water-wheels served the fountains and latrines with waterstored in cisterns.

There was a kitchen attached to the mosques wheremeals were prepared that were provided by charitabledonations. At one time a large number of poor peoplewere attached to the mosque and lived there on analmost regular basis. In 1415 a count was made of 750such people, representing all the provinces of Egypt,along with foreigners. Orders were given to expel themfrom the mosque along with all their furniture andeffects, as it was reported that forbidden things weregoing on in the mosque. Later, however, al-Azhar wassurrounded by living quarters for a multitude ofstudents and poor visitors.

Like the mosque of cAmr at al-Fustat, al-Azhar at al-Ojihira led the calls to prayer to be followed by theother mosques. It therefore had a number of sundialsand a number of astronomers serving the mosque forthe calculation of prayer times.

INSTRUCTION

Al-Azhar has been famous above all as a teachingcenter for Muslim theology. This tradition was begunsoon after its foundation, with the teaching of Shlcatheology. Salah al-Din's overthrow of the Fatimids ledto the abolition of Shlca teaching in Egypt, and Sultanal-Zahir Baybars introduced Shafici teaching when herestored the mosque. Later, Sultan Hasan added theHanafi rite, and eventually, all four rites were rep-resented at al-Azhar.

During the Mamluk period, many madrasas inCairo taught law and theology, but their decline afterthe Ottoman conquest raised the status of al-Azhar toits role of primary seat of Muslim learning in Egypt.Under the Ottomans (1517-1914), who, like theMamluks before them, adhered to the Hanafi rite, thehead of al-Azhar nonetheless remained a Shaficischolar, in common with the majority of the Egyptianpopulation. In the Ottoman period, students camefrom all parts of the Ottoman Empire and the rest ofthe Muslim world to study at al-Azhar. The rulers andmembers of the ruling establishment were generous inendowing al-Azhar. Several kuttabs, primary schoolsfor boys, were also attached to the mosque.

Today, Cairo's al-Azhar University is a modernuniversity where all topics are taught. It is housed inbuildings in the vicinity of the mosque.


BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 47 ff.Creswell. The Muslim Architecture of Egypt (M.A.E.). Oxford University

Press, 1952-60. I, pp. 36 ff.Flury, Samuel. Die Ornamente der Hakim und Ashar Moschee; Materialen

zur Geschichte der aelteren Kunst des Islam. Heidelberg, 1912.Maqnzi. Khitat, II, pp. 273 ff.Mubarak. Khitat, IV, pp. 17 ff.

THE MOSQUE OF CALIPH AL-HAKIM BIAMR ALLAH (990-1003)

The circumstances in which the mosque of Caliph al-Hakim was built are rather unusual. It was founded in990 by the Caliph al-cAziz, al-Hakim's father, and ayear later the first prayer was celebrated there,although the building was still incomplete. There isnothing unusual about this. The direction of Meccadictates the orientation of every mosque, so the sanc-tuary is generally built first, followed by the rest of thestructure. However, it was not until twelve years later,in 1002-3, that the Caliph al-Hakim is reported to haveordered completion of the mosque. The inscription onthe southern minaret carries his name and the date393/1003. In 1010 important alterations were made tothe minarets, and in 1013 the furniture of the mosquewas added and prayers again inaugurated.

Originally, the mosque stood outside the city walls ofJawhar. When Badr al-Jamali later rebuilt the walls instone, he enlarged them slightly so as to include themosque of al-Hakim within the confines of the city, andthe northern wall of the mosque was incorporated in the

city's wall. Like al-Azhar, this mosque has a epithet, al-Anwar, "the Illuminated".

The mosque of al-Hakim suffered much throughoutits history, in the 1303 earthquake and later.Nineteenth-century artists show it in an advanced stateof ruin. It was recently restored.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The mosque is an irregular rectangle with fourarcades surrounding a courtyard, and its architecturecombines features of both the Ibn Tulun and al-Azharmosques. Like Ibn Tulun's mosque it has pointedarches supported by rectangular brick piers, but thearcades are higher and the mosque is smaller than IbnTulun's, giving the whole a more vertical appearance.Like al-Azhar, it has a transept crossing the prayer hallperpendicularly and three domes at the qibla wall, oneover the prayer niche and two at the corners. The newfeatures are the building of two minarets protruding atthe facade corners of the mosque, and the monumentalportal. The whole facade configuration is inspired bythat of the mosque in Mahdiyya (Tunisia), the Fatimidcapital in North Africa. The facade and the minaretsare built in stone; the rest is of brick.

THE MINARETS

MaqrizI, the fifteenth-century historian, writes thatin 1010, alterations were made to the minarets of al-Hakim, adding to them two arkdn (sing, rukn, "cor-ner"), 100 cubits (about 60 meters) high. These are the

Fig. 15. Reconstruction of the mosque of al-Hakim(Creswell). PI. 47. The mosque of al-Hakim.

64 THE MONUMENTS

two minaret structures we see today; they resemblepropylons of an ancient Egyptian temple, wrapping theoriginal minarets.

Creswell misinterprets the 100 cubits indicated byMaqrlzl as referring to the circumference of the cubes.But the word tulan means "in height" as opposed tocardan "in width," even if Maqrlzi's 100 cubits is anexaggeration. The cubes originally must have totallyhidden the original minarets except perhaps the verytops.

Al-Hakim is presented by medieval historians as themost eccentric and whimsical man who ever ruledEgypt. He is popularly known for having forbidden thepreparation of mulukhiyya, the favorite meal of theEgyptians. In architectural matters, he was certainlynot always pragmatic. He demolished a belvedere builtby his father and ordered it to be plundered. He alsomore than once tore down and rebuilt the mosque ofRashida at Fustat. The possibility cannot be excludedthat he disliked the minarets built by his father andtherefore decided to hide them behind the cubes. Themosque was in use long before al-Hakim carried out hisalterations. The fact that the original minarets wereonly hidden, not pulled down, may have been thearchitect's device to preserve these two masterpieces ofstonework, which are unparalleled in Cairo's minaretarchitecture.

THE OUTER MINARETS

The two square minarets of al-Hakim are not iden-tical. The southern minaret has a lower band of foliatedKufic inscriptions carved in stone. At roof level, it isadorned with crenellations very similar to those at IbnTulun's mosque, the only surviving imitation of thisremarkable and intricate type of cresting. It is possiblethat the mosque, so largely inspired by that of IbnTulun, had more of these crenellations, destroyed inthe 1303 earthquake, which severely damaged themosque. The upper story is adorned at its top with aband of interlaced geometries in stucco similar to thosethat crown Fatimid prayer niches.

The northern cube's lower part was incorporatedinto the masonry of Badr al-Jamall's wall adjoining themosque. The upper story's eastern side has a band ofMamluk naskhl script of Quranic text which must beattributed to Amir Baybars al-Jashankir, who restoredthe mosque after the earthquake. Both mabkhara styleminaret tops are also attributed to Baybars al-JashankTr, and do not quite fit with the rest of the struc-

Pl. 48. Crenellation on the outer southwestern minaret ofal-Hakim.

ture. They are similar, but not identical, and are oflight brick construction replacing the originals toppledby the earthquake.

THE ORIGINAL MINARETS

Inside the cubes, the original minarets of al-Hakim'smosque were found well preserved in their wrappingswhen discovered in modern times. As the spacebetween the inner and outer structures is rather small,the best way to admire these original minarets is to lookat Creswell's photographs and drawings.

Pl. 49. Detail of the inner southwestern minaret of themosque of al-Hakim (Creswell).


The two towers are differ from each other in shapeand decoration. The southern shaft begins as a rec-tangle that turns octagonal above the roof level, whilethe northern tower is a tapering cylinder whichCreswell compares to a stethoscope, standing on a rec-tangular base. The northern minaret is decorated withhorizontal carved bands and with lozenges, and its win-dows are decorated with carved frames. Its decorationis similar to that of the minaret of Sfax in Tunisia.

The southern minaret's decoration resembles that ofthe entrance, with a large band of Kufic inscriptionscarrying al-Hakim's name and the date. It also has aband of alternating rectangles, one protruding and thenext receding, the first example of a pattern thatappears later at the mosque of al-Salih Tala:)ic and themausoleum of al-Salih Najm al-Din. At the level of theroof there is a small room inside this minaret withcarved niches, a carved ceiling, and carved entrance. Itis possible that the roof of the mosque was used forsome religious purpose. So was the roof of the mosqueof cAmr, as it once had a small brick prayer niche. Itwas photographed by Creswell before it disappeared.

DECORATION

As in al-Azhar, but unlike the mosque of Ibn Tulun,the windows of the al-Hakim mosque are set in such away that they correspond to the position of the arcades,so that there is a window on the axis of each arch.

Only a few of the original window grills have sur-vived. Among these is a window with a stucco grillmade of elongated Kufic letters forming the word"Allah," repeated symmetrically from right to left andleft to right, as if reflected in a mirror. This style, whichis North African but of later date, may have been donein a later Ayyubid or early Mamluk restoration.

The inscriptions of Ibn Tulun are on a wooden friezerunning along the arcades, hardly visible beneath theceiling, but al-Hakim's mosque, like al-Azhar, has astucco band running along the arches of the mosquewith ornate Kufic inscriptions of Quranic texts. In thetransept stucco panels show a stylized tree motif ofmixed Byzantine and Samarran style. The woodenbeams between the arches are carved with Samarranpatterns. The original decoration of the prayer nichehas not survived.

The mosque of al-Hakim had a ziyada added later.It was begun by the Caliph al-Zahir (1021-36) andcompleted by Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Dm at the end ofthe Ayyubid period (1240-49), and by Sultan al-MucizzAybak (1250-57) at the beginning of the Mamluk

period. This ziyada, on the southern side of themosque, has an entrance which Creswell assigns to thelate eleventh century.

LATER ADDITIONS

At the time of the restorations carried out by AmirBaybars al-Jashankir in 1303, teaching of the four ritesof Islamic law was introduced at al-Hakim, along witha kuttab for boys.

The mosque was restored in 1360 by Sultan Hasan,and in the fifteenth century a merchant added aminaret to the sanctuary which is no longer extant. Inthe nineteenth century it was restored by ShaykhcUmar Makram, who added a prayer niche inlaid withmarble. The first Islamic Museum was housed in themosque at the end of the nineteenth century.

Descriptions of the Caliph's Friday sermons at al-Hakim have survived. The Caliph arrived riding undera golden umbrella, wearing white silk and holding ascepter. Five thousand guards and an orchestra accom-panied the procession. The Caliph entered the mosquefrom an entrance near the pulpit, his ministers carryingcarpets and curtains to spread before him. In front ofthe mihrab were carpets, and curtains with Quranicinscriptions hung on both sides of the prayer niche. TheChief Qadi perfumed the pulpit with incense as theCaliph arrived accompanied by drums and horns andgreeted his officials gathered around the maqsura inorder of protocol. He rose to the pulpit and his vizierkissed his hands and feet while standing on a lowerstep, and closed the curtains, hiding the Caliph's face,at the top of the pulpit, which resembled a litter toppedby a dome. The Chief Qadi stood at the foot of thepulpit while the Caliph read a short sermon preparedby the office of protocol. The Caliph recounted hisancestors descending from the Prophet's daughterFatima, one by one. The vizier then opened the cur-tains and backed down the steps, and the Caliph stoodon the silk rugs of the prayer niche to lead the prayer,his officials arranged behind him in proper order. Somestood round the maqsura with their backs to the qibla,as security guards. Trumpets and drums accompaniedthe procession back to the palace.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bloom, Jonathan M. "The Mosque of al-Hakim in Cairo".Muqarnas, \ (1983), pp. 15 ff.

Creswell. M.A.E., I, pp. 68 ff.Flury, S. Ornamente.Maqrm. Khitat, II, pp. 285 ff.

66

Pl. 50. The mashhad of al-Juyushi.

THE MASHHAD OF AL-JUYUSHI (1085)

On top of the Muqattam hill, overlooking thecemetery of the city, the city itself, and its environs,stands a small mosque. It is known as the mosque of al-Juyushl, after the title of its sponsor, Amir al-Juyush(Chief of the Armies), the Armenian vizier of theFatimid Caliph al-Mustansir (1036-1094), Badr al-Jamali. The mosque has a foundation inscription aboveits entrance identifying it as a mashhad, or shrine. Inwhose memory was it founded? Neither the inscriptionsof the mashhad nor the historians tell us.

While Farid Shafici interprets the mashhad al-Juyushl as a watchtower disguised as a mosque, Grabarsees it as a memorial to the victories of Badr al-Jamaliover the rebellions and disorders that had long plaguedthe Fatimid Empire. A small domed chamber project-ing on the northern side of the sanctuary could havebeen intended as a mausoleum, but the mashhad is notthe tomb of Badr al-Jamali, who according to MaqrizIwas buried outside Bab al-Nasr. There is indeed aFatimid mausoleum there, marked on the map of theDescription de I'Egypte as the "chapel of Shaykh Badr,"which would have been the popular version of al-Jamall's name. A street in the same area is calledShaykh Najm, and Abu'1-Najm was one of thehonorific titles of Badr al-Jamali.

The building is the most complete mashhad that hassurvived from the Fatimid period, probably because itwas not dedicated to a person of religious importance,and therefore was not the center of a cult, which wouldhave subjected it to restorations and embellishments by

the cult's followers. In the Ottoman period, the mosqueof al-Juyushi was used by dervishes as a monastery.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The small structure is built around a courtyard. Oneenters it from a plain door without a portal, underneaththe minaret situated on the axis of the prayer hall. Onthe lateral sides and on both sides of the minaret arerooms. The facade of the courtyard is composed of a

Fig. 16. The mashhad of al-Juyushi, plan and elevation(Creswell).


large keel arch supported by two pairs of columns andflanked by two smaller arches, giving the facade thetripartite composition frequently found in Fatimidarchitecture. The prayer hall itself is roofed with cross-vaults except for the bay above the prayer niche, whichis crowned by a dome on plain squinches. A smalldomed room on the northeastern side of the sanctuary,projecting outside, was thought by Creswell to be alater addition, but Farid Shafic!'s investigation of themasonry showed that it is part of the original construc-tion.

The prayer niche of this mashhad is lavishly deco-rated with stucco carving in the spandrels of the nichearch. The conch itself has eighteenth-century Ottomanpainting that covers other parts of the sanctuary aswell. The decoration of the JuyushT prayer niche wascompared by Creswell to Persian stuccoes. The prayerniche at the mosque of Ibn Tulun added by al-AfdalShahinshah, son of Badr al-Jam all, also resembles Per-sian prayer niches in composition and decoration.

The dome's interior is decorated with stucco carvingand at the summit is a medallion with the names ofMuhammad and CAli; on the square part of the domean inscription band carries a Quranic text.

THE MINARET

The minaret is a rectangular shaft with a second,receding story topped by a dome similar to the oneabove the prayer niche. The shape of the minaret isreminiscent of the minaret at the great mosque ofQayrawan in Tunisia, erected in the ninth century. Avery special feature of this minaret is the stalactitecornice on the upper edge of the rectangular shaft. It isthe earliest surviving example of stalactites on abuilding in Egypt.

Stalactites or muqarnas are honeycomb-like carvingsin stone or stucco in which a multitude of smallembedded niches are repeated in an intricate geometricarrangement. Muqarnas are characteristic of Islamicarchitecture; they are found almost everywhere in themedieval Islamic world, and nowhere outside the realmof Islam. When and were muqarnas was invented hasnot yet been determined by art historians orarchaeologists, though east Iran seems to be the mostlikely place.

Another interesting feature of the al-Juyushl mosqueis the presence of two small domed structures on theroof, like small kiosks, less than one meter in width,with prayer niches carved on their southeastern sides.

These kiosks, and the presence of a minaret in such aremote place, prompted Farld Shafici to intepret theJuyushT mosque as a watchtower disguised in the shapeof a mosque; the small domed structures were forguards. Badr al-Jamall was commander of the armies,and a successful one, who built the fortifications ofCairo whose surviving three gates and parts of the citywalls are testimony to the power of their sponsors. Awatchtower on the Muqattam hill, according to Shafici,would have served to give early warning of any suspectmovements from outside the country or from within,such as the rebellion from the south that al-Jamall hadto suppress. However, one may question why a watch-tower should be disguised. The presence of the prayerniches in the domed structures on the roof suggests thatthese small rooms were intended for the meditation andseclusion the location of the mosque obviously pro-vided. Grabar's interpretation, supported by Ragib, isthat it commemorates Badr al-Jamali's militaryachievements. Ragib sees the building as part of thegroup of shrines built by the Fatimids in the cemetery.

During the vizirate of al-Afdal, son of Badr al-Jamali, the observatory which used to be at anotherplace on the Muqattam further to the south wastransferred to the neighborhood of the Juyushi mosque,because it was thought to be more appropriate forastronomic observations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creswell. M.A.E., I, pp. 155 ff.Grabar, Oleg. "The Earliest Islamic Commemorative Structures,"

Ars Onenlalis, 6 (1966), pp. 27 ff.Ragib, Yuisuf. "Un Oratoire Fatimide au Sommet du Muqattam."

Studio hlamica LXV (1987), p. 51 ff.Shafici, Farid. "The Mashhad al-Juyushi: Archeological Notes and

Studies." Studies in Islamic Art and Architecture in Honor of ProfessorK. A. C. Creswell. Cairo, 1965, pp. 237 ff.

THE WALLS AND GATES OF BADRAL-JAMALI (1087-92)

When it was founded by al-Mucizz and his generalJawhar al-Siqilli, the city of al-Qahira was surroundedby brick walls with several gates on each side of the rec-tangle. Later, Badr al-Jamall, vizier of the Caliph al-Mustansir and Amir al-Juyush (commander of thearmies), replaced these walls with walls of stone. Thenew enclosure was only slightly larger than the first,and most of the new gates carried the names of thosethey replaced.

68 THE MONUMENTS

Substantial portions of these walls on the northernside of the city and the gates, Bab al-Futuh and Babal-Nasr, have survived. On the south side are remainsof the walls and the gate called Bab Zuwayla. None ofthe several other city gates has survived, but MaqrizT'saccounts show us that they were Badr al-JamalT's out-standing achievements. The gates and walls of Badr al-Jamall are considered masterpieces of stone architec-ture. Many pharaonic temples were destroyed to con-struct them, and we can see large blocks of stonebearing pharaonic inscriptions and motifs. Marble, cutstone, and wood were always expensive materials inEgypt; quarrying old monuments for buildingmaterials is as old as the Old Kingdom, and still goeson today.

Badr al-Jamall's walls are built on three levels. Thestreet level, including the vestibules or entrance halls ofthe gates, was originally higher than the street, and thegates were reached by ramps. Between the stoneblocks, horizontally set columns were used to consoli-date the masonry in the lower part of the walls. Thesecond level consists of galleries connected with vaultedrooms and halls with arrow slits on the outside andlarger openings on the city side. These run along theentirety of the walls except at the junctures of the gates.The gates are solid up to the level of two-thirds of theirheight, and thus block the passage from one section tothe other, for the sake of better defense.

Towers are interspersed along the walls with hallsand rooms. They protrude, with slits on three sides, toallow the guards a full view of the exterior. The thirdlevel forms a terrace, protected by the upper part of thewalls and their round topped rectangular crenellations.During the Fatimid period there was an observatory onthe terrace above Bab al-Nasr.

The outstanding features of Badr al-Jam all's fortifi-cations are the quality of the stone treatment, unparal-leled in Cairo, and the variety of vaults used in thewalls and gates: shallow domes, barrel vaults, crossvaults, and also a spiral vault in a staircase at Bab al-Nasr. Only round arches are used in the architecture ofthe whole wall complex.

BAB AL-NASR (GATE OF VICTORY)

Bab al-Nasr is composed of two rectangular towers,which are solid stone up to the second level. Theentrance vestibule is cross vaulted and a pair of shallowdomes on spherical pendentives cover the upper level of

the towers. At Bab al-Futuh, the arrangement is theopposite, with the entrance vestibule having a shallowdome and the towers each with a cross vault with acarved medallion at the intersection. Above theentrance arch an inscription slab in Kufic carries theshahada with the Shlca reference to CA1T.

A very significant feature of decoration at Bab al-Nasr are the shields and swords that Creswell identifiesas Byzantine in shape. Some point downward and someare circular; they are no doubt symbolic of the walls asbeing the shields of the city, protecting it againstinvaders. The name, "Gate of Victory," like Bab al-Futuh, "Gate of Conquest," should also be understoodas talismanic. Interestingly, these fine walls were neverchallenged by invaders, and by the late medieval periodwere so encroached upon by other buildings that trav-elers often reported that Cairo had no fortifications atall.

During the reign of the Caliph al-Amir, his vizier, al-Ma3mun al-Bata^ihi who built the al-Aqmar mosque,transferred the observatory from the Muqattam hilland established it at Bab al-Nasr. The transportation ofthe heavy metal observatory was an extremely difficulttask that needed scaffolds and wheels, a large team ofworkers, and an architectural structure to support it.Al-Ma-'mun, however, fell in disgrace before the obser-vatory could be used, and the angry Caliph ordered itto be dismounted because it had been named al-rasad al-ma^mum, which attributed it to the vizier instead of theCaliph.

Bonaparte's troops (1798-1801) used Badr al-Jamali's fortifications to protect themselves from therebellious Cairo population. The Husayniyya quarter,famous for its untamed character, was not easy to sub-due. After a French officer of Polish origin,Schulkowsky, was killed by a Husayniyya resident, theFrench troops bombarded Husayniyya from the wallsand entirely demolished the quarter. French officers'names can still be seen carved near the upper level ofthe gates. The French blocked up the crenellations atthe top and enlarged the arrow slits for canon holes.Creswell also attributes the machicoulis at Bab al-Nasr,a protruding structure used to spill burning liquids onattackers, to the French. It was not until the twentiethcentury that the walls were cleared and made visibleagain.

Between Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh, a handsomeKufic inscription of Quranic texts carved in stone runsalong the wall. The northern wall of the mosque of al-Hakim is incorporated in this part of the fortifications.


PI. 51. Bab al-Nasr.

BAB AL-FUTUH (GATE OF CONQUEST)

Bab al-Futuh's towers are semicircular; its decora-tion is both different and more extensive than that atBab al-Nasr. The towers each have a carved round archand above each arch is a carved rectangle with threearrow slits, lighting the upper rooms. A carved moldingrunning along the facade of the towers, two parallellines with loops between them, is the earliest exampleof such decoration in Cairo but it later became typicalin Mamluk architecture.

The inner flanks of the towers on both sides of theentrance have round arches with cushion voussoirs (s.Pis. 68 & 72), and the entrance itself is decorated witha row of carved lozenges filled with crosses and rosettes.Atop the entrance arch are carved brackets, two ofthem with a ram's head. The ram is the sign of thezodiac related to the planet Mars, or al-Qahir, the sign

in ascendancy when the city was officially founded.Following an ancient oriental tradition, particularly inEgypt, the rams' heads obviously had talismanic mean-ing. The only Islamic motifs on the walls apart from theQuranic inscriptions are the carved rectangles with aneight-pointed star found between the carved brackets.

The vestibule is covered with a shallow dome and thetransition between the rectangular room and the spher-ical dome and the transition between the rectangularroom and the spherical dome are formed by penden-tives rather than squinches. Squinches are more typicalof eastern—Persian and Mesopotamian—architecture;pendentives were used in Byzantine dome architecture.

BAB ZUWAYLA

Bab Zuwayla is on the southern wall of the city, andis dated 1091-92. The Fatimid armies included mem-

70 THE MONUMENTS

Pl. 52. Bab al-Futuh.


PL 53. Bab Zuwayla.

72 THE MONUMENTS

bers of the Zuwayla, a North African tribe. Like Babal-Futuh, it has a pair of semicircular towers, solidstone for two-thirds of their height. The inner flanks ofthe towers near the entrance are decorated with lobedarches (s. Pl. 4). These arches had been used earlier inNorth African architecture and must have been intro-duced by craftsmen accompanying the Fatimids' con-quest of Egypt. This type of arch is often seen in laterFatimid and Mamluk architecture. Inside the vestibuleto the right, coming from the south, there is a half-domed recess with two exquisitely carved arches at thecorners. They have a trilobed curve and the upper partis treated like a shell. The left-hand side was modifiedwhen Sultan al-MuDayyad built his mosque near thegate and had his minarets placed on the towers.Between the two towers and facing the southern out-skirts of the city is a loggia that Creswell identifies asthe place for the ceremonial orchestra announcing royalprocessions to the accompaniment of music. Thepresence of an orchestra at the city gates was an oldoriental tradition.

Looking at Bab Zuwayla from within the city, we seea gabled roof between the two towers that clearly showthe Byzantine origins of the gate architecture. In fact,as noted above, most features of the walls and gates areentirely foreign to Islamic art, apart from someQuranic inscriptions. Maqrizi comments that Bab al-Futuh, Bab al-Nasr and Bab Zuwayla, the only gatesthat did survive, were built by three Christian monksfrom Edessa (eastern Turkey) who came to Egypt flee-ing from the Saljuq conquest of eastern Anatolia.

Unfortunately, nothing similar in that area, or inArmenia, the homeland of Badr al-Jamali, whereCreswell believes prototypes of the Cairo gates shouldbe found, has survived. The only analogous architec-ture is in Hadrian's tower in the Coptic quarter of OldCairo.

As the Byzantine Empire covered a large area ofAnatolia and the eastern Mediterranean, includingnorthern Mesopotamia where Edessa is situated, thereis little reason to question Maqrizi's account of theorigins of Badr al-Jamali's fortifications. Round archeswith spherical pendentives, Byzantine-style shields,lozenges filled with rosettes, and cushion voussoirs allbelong to Byzantine architectural tradition.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creswell. M.A.E., I, pp. 161 ff.Hautecoeur and Wiet. Mosquees, pp. 232 ff.MaqrTzT. Khitat, I, pp. 127; II, pp. 380 ff.

THE AL-AQMAR MOSQJJE (1125)

In the heart of the Fatimid city, north of the site onceoccupied by the great Fatimid palace, stands a smallmosque known as al-Aqmar. This again is not thename of its founder, but an epithet that can betranslated as "The Moonlit." It was founded by thevizier of the Caliph al-Amir, MaDmun al-Bata:>ihi.

THE EXTERIOR

This building is of major importance for Cairo'sarchitecture, for several reasons. One is the lavishdecoration of its facade. Though the mosque has itsown unique features, it also inspired the decoration ofmany buildings of subsequent periods. Another reasoncan be seen in the architectural plan of the mosque.The facade is aligned with the street, while the interiorof the mosque is properly oriented toward Mecca andhas an otherwise regular layout. The adjustment ismade in the facade wall, which is thicker on one endthan the other. Small rooms are inserted in the thickerpart of the wall. This device is typical of later urban

PI. 54. The al-Aqmar mosque.


religious architecture and expresses the great carearchitects took to avoid disturbing the street alignmentwith mosque facades set askew.

The facade of al-Aqmar mosque is brick faced withstone and has a highly sophisticated decoration scheme.Originally, the portal must have been in the center ofthe facade. A later building hid the right side, but it isassumed that the right side was decorated like the left.The middle of the tripartite composition is dominatedby a protruding portal decorated with a large keel archniche carved with fluting radiating from a centralmedallion, like a sunrise or shell motif. The medallionhas the name Muhammad repeated in a circular inter-lacing pattern forming a circle, with the name CA1T atthe center.

On both sides of the main niche, smaller niches,-alsowith fluted hoods, are surmounted with recessescrowned with stalactites, the earliest extant stalactiteson a facade decoration.

To the left of the portal another shallow niche repeatsthe sunrise or shell motif with a medallion in the center.Above it, a circular clean cut in the stone reveals thebrick wall, indicating that a medallion once existedthere. Two lozenges, one with geometric carving andthe other with a vase and plant motif, are surmountedon both sides of the missing medallion by two strange,carved panels. The one to the right represents a closeddoor, similar to the door of al-Hakim (in the IslamicMuseum), and the one to the left shows a niche with ageometric grill resembling a window, from whose apexhangs a lamp.

The al-Aqmar mosque no doubt has a highly sym-bolic meaning within the ShTca context. CarolineWilliams has interpreted the two plants standing in thevase as symbolic of Hasan and Husayn, sons of theCaliph CA1I by his wife Fatima. This pattern is frequentin Coptic art, with many examples in the CopticMuseum in Old Cairo. The niches with the hanginglamp and closed door placed symmetrically on eachside of the missing medallion might be more than meredecoration.

Two inscription bands run along the facade. The oneat the top has a historic text referring to the Caliph al-Mustansir in whose reign the mosque was built, andthe lower band underneath the hooded portal niche hasa Quranic text. Another special feature of this facade isa chamfered corner carved with the names of Muham-mad and CAli.

The original minaret did not survive. Today we seeon the left door jamb of the portal the circular base of

10 m.

Fig. 17. The al-Aqmar mosque (Creswell).

the minaret built in the late fourteenth century by AmirYalbugha al-Salimi. It is a brick construction coveredwith stucco chevron carving and a molding with open-work bosses and a stalactite cornice. The structureabove the balcony is of more recent date.

THE INTERIOR

The interior of the mosque has not retained much ofits original form. The small sanctuary has three aislesand faces the courtyard with only a triple arcade; thethree other arcades have only one aisle each.

74 THE MONUMENTS

A special feature of the interior architecture is thateach bay's ceiling is covered by a shallow brick dome,instead of being flat, except for the aisle parallel to theqibla wall, which is wider than the rest and is coveredwith a flat wooden ceiling. As the mosque was in ruinswhen the Mamluk Amir Yalbugha al-Salimi restored itin 1397, Creswell assumes that he also restored theceiling, which originally could have been flat. This typeof roofing is not known from the Fatimid period, but isused in the early fifteenth century at the mosque ofFaraj Ibn Barquq.

Except for some wood carving on the beams anddoors and a stucco inscription band along some of thearches, nothing of the original interior decorationremains.

The mosque was again restored in the nineteenthcentury during the reign of Muhammad CAli by AmirSulayman Agha al-Silahdar, who also built the mosqueacross the street from al-Aqmar.

THE SHOPS

The mosque of al-Aqmar was not at street level, asit is today, but much higher than the street level of thetime, standing above a row of shops. The rising levelhas buried the shops; at the mosque of al-Salih Tala:>ic,the shops have been excavated.

The shops had an important functional purpose. Theincome of their rents were waqf, endowments for thebenefit of a pious institution to maintain the institutionand pay its personnel long after the founder's death.The founding of a religious institution was alwaysaccompanied by an endowment of land or commercialstructures in the city such as apartment buildings,public baths (hammdm), shops, or factories. Thefounder himself also thereby secured tax-free incomefrom the rents collected.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 69 ff.Creswell. M.A.E., I, pp. 241 ff.Maqrizi. Khitdt, II, p. 290.Williams, Caroline. "The Cult of cAlid Saints in the Fatimid Monu-

ments of Cairo. Part I: The Mosque of al-Aqmar." Muqarnas, I(1983), pp. 37 ff.

THE MASHHAD OF SAYYIDA RUQAYYA(1133)

The shrine, or mashhad, of al-Juyushi most likelycommemorates a secular person or idea, but the

Pl. 55. The dome of the mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya.

mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya built in the Fustatcemetery is a religious building. Sayyida Ruqayya, adescendent of the Caliph CAli, son-in-law of theProphet, never came to Egypt, so this shrine is not amausoleum, but what is called a mashhad ru^ya, a visualmemorial.

The architecture of the shrine recalls that of al-Juyushi, except that this building appears truncated:the facade through which we enter today must origi-nally have overlooked a courtyard or enclosure, but isnow open to the cemetery.

A dome above the prayer niche forms the center ofa hall wider than it is deep, and the side rooms are notvaulted as they are at al-Juyushi, but have a flatwooden ceiling. The two side rooms flanking thedomed area each have a prayer niche; the third, thecentral one, is the main prayer niche. Two more prayerniches are carved on either side of the entrance, outsidethe sanctuary. The dome is larger than any previousdome and is also fluted, inside and out, with the profileof a curved keel arch.

Instead of a plain squinch as in previous domes, theoctagonal transitional zone of this dome is more com-plex. It is higher, and has four two-tiered squinches atthe corners subdivided into keel-arch niches, thus form-ing large stalactites. The windows set between thesquinches repeat the outline of the squinches them-selves, a device used earlier in plain domes where thesquinch arch alternates with a similar blind arch.

Above the transitional zone is an octagonal drum,the space just underneath the spherical part of thedome. This drum is unique in Fatimid architecture.Each side of the octagon is pierced by a pair of lobed


Pl. 56. The prayer niche at the mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya(drawing, "The Mosques of Egypt").

windows with stucco geometric grills, a feature occur-ring in Cairo architecture only at the mosque of SinanPasha (1571). Similar lobed arches are found at BabZuwayla, where they are carved in stone on each sideof the entrance, and inside the dome added at al-Azharby the Caliph al-Hafiz, where they also appear as deco-rations carved in stucco. This type of window is foundin earlier North African architecture.

The glory of Sayyida Ruqayya's shrine, as Creswellcalls it, is its main prayer niche, one of the greatmasterpieces of stucco in Egypt, carved in a mannertotally different from that of the mosque of al-Juyushi.Here, the conch is filled with flutes radiating from acentral medallion in the lower part of the conch like asunrise motif, whose origin is the shell of classicalniches. The flutes, or ribs of the niche, form along thearch's edges a large stalactite frame. This was no doubtinspired by the niches decorating the facade of the al-Aqmar mosque. Fluted niches can be seen at the ninth-

century outer wall at the mosque of cAmr and at themosque of Ibn Tulun. Fluted domes were built at themosque of Qayrawan in the ninth century. The twosecondary prayer niches are minor in size and decora-tion, but follow the same pattern. The fluted domeseems to have been inspired by the use of fluted niches,which themselves are half domes. An interesting fea-ture is the complicated interlaced band of geometricaldecoration that crowns the whole decorative field of themihrab, a feature also found on the southern minaretof the mosque of al-Hakim, and in many Fatimidprayer niches. A concave band of Kufic inscriptioncurves forward to allow easier reading of the inscriptionset above the prayer niche. This feature, also of NorthAfrican origin, is used in the inscription band of themosque of al-Hakim and the prayer niche of themashhad of al-Juyushl.

In the Islamic Museum is a wooden portable prayerniche that was found at the shrine of Sayyida Ruqayya.Its style is Fatimid, with geometric work, and it showstraces of green paint. It is also decorated on the back,suggesting that it was to be freestanding, perhaps in acourtyard for special congregational occasions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creswell. M.A.E., I, pp. 247 ff.

MAUSOLEUM OF YAHYA AL-SHABIH(c. 1150)

In the southern part of the cemetery, not far from thedome of Imam Shafici, is the mausoleum of Yahyaal-Shabih. At first glance, its dome, which dominatesthe whole structure, looks much like that of SayyidaRuqayya. It is also ribbed and has a similar profile, butit lacks the octagonal drum with lobed windows ofSayyida Ruqayya's dome. The plan of the building isalso different. The dome stands above a chamber thatis open on four sides and thus connected to a corridoror ambulatory surrounding it on three sides. On thesoutheast side of this ambulatory are three prayerniches, the central and larger one of which is on the axisof the domed chamber and crowned by a small plaindome.

The prayer niches are decorated in the style ofSayyida Ruqayya, but are plainer and inferior in qual-ity. According to Creswell's reconstruction of thisbuilding, an adjacent space on the northeastern sidecould have included a courtyard with rooms on the

76 THE MONUMENTS

qibla side. This type of plan was applied in othershrines, such as those of Qasim Abu Tayyib and UmmKulthum.

The domed chamber of Yahya al-Shabih includesseveral wooden cenotaphs (tdbui) with plain Kuficinscriptions that belong to tombs of earlier date, abovewhich this mausoleum was erected. Yahya, a descen-dant of the Prophet, was called al-Shabih, "TheSimilar One," on account of his supposed resemblanceto the Prophet.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Crcswcll. M.A.E., I, pp. 264 ff.Ragib, Y. "Lcs sanctuaircs des Gens de la Famillc dans la Cite des

Morts au Caire." Rivista Degli Studi Orientali. Vol. LI, Fasc. I-IV(1977), pp. 47 ff.

THE MOSQUE OF VIZIER AL-SALIH TALADIC

(1160)

Like al-Aqmar, the mosque of al-Salih Talari*- wasbuilt by a vizier. Originally it was intended as a shrinefor the head of al-Husayn brought from Askalon toCairo by al-Salih. The Caliph, however, decided thatsuch a sacred relic should not be placed anywhere butin the Caliph's palace itself. The relic is still on thesame site, today in the mosque of Sayyidna al-Husayn;the palace itself disappeared long ago.

The mosque of al-Salih was built outside BabZuwayla, facing it from the south. When it was built itwas not a Friday mosque. It became so only in 1252,when the mosque was first renovated.

Again like al-Aqmar, the mosque of al-Salih Tala->ic

was built above a row of shops. The shops have beenexcavated and are now more than two meters beneaththe street level. They are again being used. A few stepslead to the mosque itself.

THE EXTERIOR

The mosque has several noteworthy features. Likeal-Azhar, it was originally built with only three arcadesaround the courtyard. Instead of a fourth arcade on thenorthwest, the mosque had an arcade outside, formingpart of the facade, a feature unique in Cairo mosques.The arcade, used here as a portico, is composed of fourcolumns carrying five keel arches flanked on each cor-ner by a small room. The ceiling of this arcade has itsoriginal decoration and is the only Fatimid ceiling stillextant.

The mosque was damaged by the 1303 earthquake,and restored in the late fifteenth century. When it wasrestored at the beginning of this century by the Com-mittee for the Preservation of Islamic Monuments, anorthwest arcade was added inside the mosque, a mis-reading of the original plan. The mosque, which at thattime was very dilapidated, had to be almost totallyrebuilt. Only the original qibla wall remained, but oldstones with original decorations were reused when pos-sible. The original minaret must have been at the mainentrance. The mosque also has two other sideentrances.

A carved molding runs along the arches of the stonefacades on all four sides of the mosque, as well as thesimilar arches of the recesses, and the four walls wereoriginally free standing. Each of the four arched re-cesses had a large iron grilled window, now walled up,placed near the floor level of the mosque. Cairo archi-tects adopted this facade treatment in nearly all latermosques.

As in Badr al-Jamali's city walls, horizontally placedcolumns have been used to strengthen the masonry.Remains of a stepped and stucco-carved crenellationcan still be seen on the northern facade. The northwestcorner of the building is chamfered, a device alreadyused at al-Aqmar, though here the treatment is dif-ferent.

Other facade decorations include a band with alter-nating rectangles, one receding, one protruding, as onthe southern minaret of al-Hakim. There are two morebands with inscriptions, the upper one at the top of thefacade.

The northern facade is prolonged beyond the qiblawall, suggesting that another structure was onceenclosed here, perhaps the shrine for al-Husayn.

The magnificent carved and lathed wooden screen, amodern copy of an older one, was not originally outsidethe mosque, but inside, to screen the prayer hall fromthe courtyard, as in many medieval mosques.

THE INTERIOR

While the outer walls are of stone, the inner arcadesare of brick, also with keel arches. These were origi-nally framed with a carved band bearing stucco KuficQuranic inscriptions. The Kufic script here is of theornate, late Fatimid type, with curved letters on a back-ground decorated with scrolls representing stylizedstalks with floral motifs.

The prayer niche, not original, was redecorated withpainted wood in the Mamluk period. Some of the


PI. 57. The mosque of al-Salih Tala°ic

original window grills have survived. A very interestingone is that near the prayer niche showing the earliestextant use ofnaskhi script in architectural decoration inCairo. From then on, both Kufic and naskhi scriptswere used, but naskhi predominated in the Mamlukperiod. Next to the prayer niche is a rectangular open-ing framed with stucco decoration. This opening is nota window, but a malqaf or windcatcher connected to ashaft in the qibla wall that goes to the roof. It was oncetopped by an enclosure with a sloping lid that openedto the north to catch fresh breezes.

DECORATION

In addition to the stucco band framing the archesand the Corinthian capitals, which were once gilded,the mosque is decorated with rosettes carved on thearcaded walls. They are fluted, and the rosette's centeris below the true geometric center, compensating for

distortion when seen from below, a device used in clas-sical art. Rectangular openings above the arches aredecorated with beautifully carved stucco grills, and thetie beams between the arches are carved in a repetitivefloral pattern.

The door of the mosque, a replica, is wooden, carvedon the inner side and covered on the outside with sheetbronze that has an applied geometric star pattern. Theoriginal door is at the Islamic Museum.

The wooden pulpit in the mosque of al-Salih Tala3^is the second earliest Mamluk pulpit in Cairo, dated1299 and commissioned by Amir Baktfmur al-Juqan-dar. The oldest is that commissioned by Sultan Lajinat the mosque of Ibn Tulun.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 97 ff.Crcswell. M.A.E., I, pp. 283 ff.MaqrTzI. Khital, II, p. 293.

CHAPTER SIX


THE CITADEL (1183-84)

Salah al-Din (1171-93), an Orthodox Sunni Muslimfrom Syria sent to rescue the Fatimids from the Cru-saders, contributed to the development of Cairo onseveral levels. After repulsing the Crusaders andseizing power from the Fatimid ruler, he expanded thecapital city to include all elements of the native andruling population (al-Fustat and al-Qahira), and dealtalso with subversive Shlca movements. Salah al-Din isa hero in the Muslim world because of his victoriesagainst the Crusaders and the liberation of Jerusalem.

In Egypt, he unified the two capitals into one largecomplex that was to be encompassed by an enormousset of walls, thus abolishing the exclusive nature ofFatimid al-Qahira. To meet the Crusader threat, headded to the city's fortifications, founding the Citadelon the Muqattam hill to serve both as a fortress andresidence of rulers and their garrisons.

The foundation of the Citadel, like all major archi-tectural works, is associated with a popular story. Salahal-Din, having ordered that several pieces of meat behung in various places in the Egyptian capital, foundthat the meat hung on the Muqattam hill remainedfresh much longer than the rest, and this prompted himto choose this site as having the healthiest air. This is,of course, an anecdote, and later interpretation. TheCitadel was built on top of a hill because Salah al-Dincame via Syria, and it was traditional in Syria at thetime to build hill fortifications. The Muqattam hill wasalso Cairo's only natural site for the fortificationsrequired in medieval warfare.

Salah al-Din assigned his vizier Badr al-Din Qara-qush to begin the works in 1183-84, according to aninscription slab over the mam entrance, Bab al-Mudarraj, but he did not live long enough to occupythe residence. A successor, al-Malik al-Kamil, was thefirst to use the Citadel as a royal residence, in 1207-8,and from then until the nineteenth century, the Citadelwas the residence of the rulers of Egypt.

The main function of the Citadel was of course toconnect and fortify the city's walls, which Salah al-DTn

had ordered built to encompass all parts of the capital.Situated between al-Qahira and al-Fustat, the Citadelformed a sort of joint between the northern andsouthern part of the walls. The Citadel was neverbesieged. It did, however, fulfill its residential role byhousing the royal palace and its dependencies, just asthe Fatimid's walled al-Qahira was exclusively theresidence of the Caliph and his entourage.

The Citadel of Cairo is a gigantic complex of wallsand towers to which all periods of Cairo's history havecontributed. Its present configuration is in two parts,the earlier northern enclosure, and the southern partconstructed primarily by the Mamluks.

THE NORTHERN ENCLOSURE

The northern part, an independent enclosure, wasbegun by Salah al-Din and completed by his Ayyubidsuccessors, though later periods of history have also lefttheir traces on its walls. This enclosure is an irregularpolygon, whose walls and towers measure some 1,700meters. Some towers are circular, built of dressedstone; others are rectangular and built of embossedstone. The differences of shape and type of stone cut-ting are Creswell's argument for attributing the roundtowers to Salah al-Din and the rectangular ones to hissuccessor, al-Malik al-cAdil. To build the Citadel,several small pyramids at Giza were demolished, andCrusader prisoners put to work on the construction.

Like the walls of Badr al-Jamali, the walls and towersare built on three levels. The lower parts are buriedtoday, and excavations are currently underway toexpose them. Each tower is composed of several im-pressive halls large enough for several hundred sol-diers. The function of each rectangular tower was toallow for the separate defense of each section of thefortress.

Originally, the northern enclosure had two mainentrances. The one facing the city, Bab al-Mudarraj, istoday incorporated in the walls and gates of Muham-mad CAli and is accessible only from within theenclosure, though the original ramp, cut in rock, still

ARCHITECTURE OF THE AYYUDIB PERIOD 79

Pl. 58a. The Citadel of Cairo, Ayyubid walls.

Pl. 58b. The Citadel of Cairo, Ayyubid walls.

leads up to the gate. The gate has its original founda-tion inscription naming Salah al-Din and his vizierQaraqush. The vestibule of this gate has a paintedblazon added later by Sultan al-Nasir Muhammadwhich is the earliest surviving painted blazon. Otherlate Mamluk inscriptions can also be seen there, com-memorating later restoration works. The second gate,Bab al-Jabal, also called Bab al-Qarafa because itoverlooks the cemetery, is located on the same axis asBab al-Mudarraj, on the southeast side of the enclo-sure.

The architects of the Citadel produced some innova-tions. Unlike the earlier Fatimid walls of Badr al-JamalT, the Citadel had bent entrances for betterdefense, and the arrow slits reached to the floor, givingarchers more flexibility. There are also machicoulis,projecting structures in the walls above the entrancefrom which hot liquids could be poured on invaders.Military improvements in the architecture were theresult of long campaigns against the Crusaders.

80 THE MONUMENTS

THE DOUBLE HEADED EAGLE

On top of one of the walls of the Citadel facing westbarely visible from below is an eagle carved in stone,which is popularly attributed to Salah al-Din. This nowheadless bird, reported by travelers to have once had adouble head, must originally have been located else-where, for its present location is atop a wall that wasrebuilt several times. Casanova, the primary historianof the Citadel, notes that al-Malik al-Kamil had a coinstruck in his name with a double-headed eagle on oneside, which might have been the sultan's emblem,

though Creswell believed, without indicating hisreasons, that the eagle was of later date. The double-headed eagle is a common motif in Islamic art.

Al-Malik al-Kamil was the first to dwell in the Cita-del, and its first residential structures are thereforeattributed to him, but very little is known of them andnothing has survived. He is reported to have built theroyal stables, which of course were an important andintegral part of the Citadel complex, due to the impor-tance of cavalry in both Ayyubid and Mamluk armies.He also most likely introduced the homing pigeon post,in the tower called Burj al-Matar.

Fig. 18. The Citadel in the Mamluk period (after Casanova).


WATER SUPPLY

Elevated and remote from the Nile, the Citadelrequired special arrangements for the provision ofwater. Salah al-Dln built an aqueduct to raise waterwith the help of waterwheels from the Nile to the hill.The one we see today was built later and further northby Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad and restored by Sultanal-Ghuri. The large hexagonal building on the Nile cor-niche at Fum al-Khalij once had on its top the water-wheels operated by oxen. The water went by slightlysloping channels to the next set of waterwheels andfinally to the numerous cisterns of the Citadel, a totalwaterlift of more than one hundred meters. Salah al-Din also carved the famous ninety-meter deep wellcalled Bir Yusuf (his full name was Salah al-DinYusuf), an impressive achievement that always hasastonished visitors. It was built in two levels, withwaterwheels and a cistern midway and more water-wheels at the top. Baby oxen were taken down to workthe waterwheels, remaining there until they died. TheCitadel had a number of such wells, but this survivingone is most famous. There are remains of two otherwaterwheel complexes attached to the Citadel, one onthe northeast side and the other on the southeast sidewith the name of al-Nasir Muhammad carved on it.

THE SOUTHERN ENCLOSURE

The northern enclosure, built into solid rock, was themilitary section of the Citadel, where troops were gar-risoned. The southern enclosure was partly erectedupon landfills to give the royal inhabitants of the palacecomplex a view over the whole capital and beyond tothe surrounding villages. Its architecture is usually des-cribed as extroverted, luxurious buildings overlookingthe city, in contrast to the introverted nature of themilitary fortress.

The two enclosures were connected by a gate calledBab al-Qulla, or Gate of the Tower, built by Sultan al-Zahir Baybars. The site of this gate is the same as thatwhere Muhammad CA1I rebuilt it in the nineteenth cen-tury. Coming from the northern enclosure through thisgate, we face the mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muham-mad, probably erected on the site of an older mosque.One can assume that the Citadel had a mosque datingto its earliest foundations. The mosque stands on anesplanade, to the south of which is now the mosque ofMuhammad CAli, itself erected on the site of the formerGreat Hall, or al-Iwan al-Kabir.

Pl. 59. Sculptures representing lions on a tower of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars at the Citadel.

The Mamluk palaces within the Citadel did not sur-vive, but we know they were located on the south andwest sides, overlooking the horse market. This, alongwith the royal hippodrome for equestrian sports,parades and ceremonies such as prayers on feast daysperformed by the Sultan and his court, were all strate-gically located beneath the Citadel from its earliestdays. No spoils from ancient pyramids were used in thesouthern buildings; stone was cut on the site and thedepression that resulted had to be filled in with earthand was then turned into a green park, al-Hawsh, forroyal entertainments. The Mamluk sultans contributedregularly to the buildings, embellishing and refiningthe palatial complex of the Citadel.

SHAJARAT AL-DURR (1250)

Shajarat al-Durr, the widow of the last Ayyubidsultan, al-Salih Najm al-Dln Ayyub, was the firstsultan of the Bahri Mamluk dynasty. Her first hus-band, al-Salih, did not stay long at the Citadel, butconstructed a new citadel for himself and his troops onthe Nile island of Rawda. The Nile was popularlycalled al-bahr; hence the name Bahri Mamluks. He did,however, add a hall at the Citadel which before itburned in 1285 was used as the sultan's residence. Sha-jarat al-Durr built a hall at the Citadel called the "Hallof the Columns," in the residential compound near theprivat apartments. It was the harem's main hall andremained for several centuries.

82 THE MONUMENTS

The sultana, a quite remarkable if briefly reigningqueen, introduced a new musical ceremony at the Cita-del: flute players and drummers were conducted by anamir in ceremonial garb, holding a golden rod and per-forming acrobatic movements by torchlight to therhythm of the music. Shajarat al-Durr was fond ofceremonies. The historic funerary procession carryingal-Salih's body from his residence at Rawda to themausoleum she built for him has been carefullyrecorded by historians.

SULTAN AL-ZAHIR BAYBARS (1260-77)

Al-Zahir Baybars reconstructed some of the walls ofthe Citadel and added new towers, among others theone at Bab al-Qulla. He also erected a new palace over-looking the horse market, further evidence of theimportance of the cavalry in Mamluk armies. A Palaceof Justice, Dar al-cAdl, was built outside the Citadel onits northwest side, where he held audience and per-formed his judicial functions. A tower with carvedlions, Baybars' emblem, has recently been excavated atthe Citadel.

SULTAN QALAWON (1279-90)

Qalawun restored the Great Hall (al-Iwan al-Kabir),whose founder is not identified, though it might havebeen al-Malik al-Salih, in the southern enclosure. Healso enlarged its functions to include those of al-Zahir'sPalace of Justice outside the walls, which was thenabandoned. He is credited with the building of a largedome standing on columns of marble with gildedcapitals. On the walls was a figurative map of theMamluk empire with the names of its cities, forts,rivers, seas, and mountains. A dome at Bab al-Qullareplaced the tower of al-Zahir Baybars between the twoenclosures. Qalawun also added various palaces andliving quarters for his officers and mamluks.

AL-ASHRAF KHALIL (1299-93)

Al-Ashraf, son of Qalawun, built an elevatedpavilion with a view of the city, Glza and the pyramids.Curiously, this pavilion had wall paintings of variousamirs and their private guards, and a richly decorateddome on columns.

AL-NASIR MUHAMMAD(1293-1294; 1298-1308; 1309-1341)

Al-Nasir Muhammad was the most prolific builder(also a great rebuilder) in Cairo's history, and his con-tributions to the residential architecture of the Citadelwere by far the most important. He was not only fondof architectural projects, but ruled long enough torealize many of his ambitions, practically rebuildingthe entire southern enclosure.

He built a new royal mosque near the Iwan al-Kablr,the ceremonial center of the residential complex. Al-Nasir often destroyed buildings and built his own ontheir sites, thus glorifying his own name and eclipsingthose of his predecessors. His new palace survived untilthe beginning of the nineteenth century and wasdepicted by the French Expedition in the Description deI'Egypte. Although by that time abandoned anddecayed, its remains still were evidence of itsunparalleled grandeur. For the construction of thepalace huge pharaonic granite columns were broughtfrom Upper Egypt to support the dome—over forty redgranite columns, according to the French consul in1696. His mosque at the Citadel has such columns. Ascholar of the Description found al-Nasir's palace moreimpressive than both the mosques of Ibn Tulun andSultan Hasan.

An explanade, where the senior amirs sat beforegoing on duty, separated the Great Hall from the othergreat palace nearby on the south, the Qasr al-Ablaq,named for its striped light-and-dark stone courses.

This palace was less ceremonial, and composed oftwo halls facing each other, the qaca plan that was used

PL 60. The Great Iwan of Sultan al-Nasir at the Citadel(Robert Hay).


in Mamluk and Ottoman residential palaces of Cairo.Between a huge dome covered with green tiles and sup-ported by a number of columns, the larger northerniwan was oriented to the northwest breezes, facing thesmaller southern Iwan. Both had large windows withiron grills, overlooking the cemetery to the south andthe whole city and its environs to the west and north.This palace has been recently excavated, together withsome of the famous granite columns.

Al-Qasr al-Ablaq communicated with three otherpalaces, two built higher than the rest and reached bystairs. The palaces all had facades of striped yellow andblack stone, and interior communications between theprivate apartments of the sultan and the harem. Inside,the palaces had marble dadoes of various colors whilethe floor was paved with imported white marble. Glassmosaics with mother of pearl and painting decoratedthe upper walls, as well as large gilded inscriptions.Some remains of these can be seen in the excavatedparts. The gilded iron window grills were surmountedby other windows decorated with colored Cypriot glass.Foreign travelers mentioned wall paintings repre-senting houses and trees, and private apartmentsroofed by domes. Today, a close look at the remains oflavish decoration at Sultan Qalawun's mausoleumgives us a taste of this vanished architectural fantasy.

All that has survived of the Mamluk palaces are aseries of vast vaulted halls built on piers, in proportionsrecalling the pharaohs. The enormous projecting cor-bels facing the Citadel's square make us wonder whatgreat structures they supported.

The park in the private part of the complex called al-Hawsh was green with grass and trees. Horses, sheep,cattle, ducks and chickens were kept for the use theharem. Each of the official wives of the sultan had herown apartment. A staircase led from the private apart-ments to the stables, and the sultan also had a passagefrom al-Qasr al-Ablaq, where he held audiences twicea week, to the Great Iwan.

Al-Nasir Muhammad died before the completion ofthe palace called Duhaysha overlooking the park. Itwas completed by his son, al-Salih Ismacil.

SULTAN HASAN (1347-51; 1354-61)

Sultan Hasan, son of al-Nasir Muhammad, built thegigantic mosque facing the Citadel, to flatter royal eyeswith its imposing dome and double minarets. He alsobuilt a domed palace called Baysariyya, attached to theprivate apartments. Its walls were gilded and its height

was eighty-eight cubits, or over fifty meters. It had atower with a private apartment for the sultan,decorated with ivory and ebony, and its windowsopened onto a garden.

As nothing of these residential structures has sur-vived, an important, if not major, part of the Mamluks'architectural achievements is difficult for us to imagine.Two interesting points come from these accounts:paintings and portraits decorated the walls, and privateapartments had domes. Nothing similar in Cairoarchitecture has survived.

During the Mamluk period, the northern enclosurecontinued its important function, as the officers' andarmies' quarters, and important officials and amirs hadtheir residences in the Citadel. A prison set up in a cavewas later abandoned because of the bad smells, andbecause al-Nasir Muhammad preferred to keep theprisoners in the towers.

Beneath the Citadel, on the site of Baybars' palace ofJustice, al-Nasir established the tablakhdna, a placewhere the royal ceremonial orchestra performed atintervals throughout the day.

The Citadel is often described as a city in itself,lodging tens of thousands of people, with quarters andstreets. It even had a Tatar quarter with a church until1321. Several mosques and madrasas were located inthe northern and southern enclosures, and there wasalso a great library. It burned in 1296. Remains of theoriginal mint where coins were struck are still visible inthe southern enclosure.

SULTAN QAYTBAY (1468-96)

Sultan Qaytbay, was as fond of construction as al-Nasir Muhammad. He enjoyed a fairly long reign,during which he restored the Great Palace and otherstructures at the Hawsh. Van Ghistele, visitor to thecourt of Sultan Qaytbay in 1482/3, describes what hefound at the Citadel:

Arriving at the palace, they were led through nine or tengalleries and halls, until they reached a lovely summerresidence, built with beautifully cut stone and decoratedwith paintings in gold and blue and other rich colors. Theresidence looked from two sides through handsome grilledand gilded windows upon courtyards, gardens andorchards with all kinds of plants and fragrant fruit trees.There were many fountains, not natural ones, but artifi-cial ones to water all the gardens. Finally, in the residence,they found the most sumptuous thing that can beimagined. The walls, like the floors, were covered withpolished stones such as black, white and pink marble,

84 THE MONUMENTS

serpentine, porphyry, and other precious stones. Thewalls and hallways were decorated with moldings, knots,geometric shapes, and arabesques, as well as with mosaicsand other things difficult to explain. In the middle of theresidence is a rectangular basin knee-deep and three orfour steps wide with fresh water and small fishes. Thesultan can cool his hands and feet there whenever he likes!The floors of this place were covered with rich carpets andcushions, some covered with linen, others with silks andvelvets, and others with golden draperies, or Indianleather of nice color and good smell. The sultan sat in thisplace on a cushion, his legs folded like a tailor, playingchess with one of his courtiers.

Another visitor, von Harff, described Sultan Qaytbayin the same year:

There sits the Sultan at a man's height from the groundbeneath a tent with exquisite hangings, on fine carpets, hisfeet tucked under him as tailors in our country sit workingat their table.

SULTAN AL-GHURI (1501-16)

Qaytbay was not the last Mamluk sultan to embellishthe Citadel. Al-GhurT loved luxury, jewelry, richclothes and good food. He ordered the renovation of theRoyal Kitchen, the Harem, the Qasr and the Hippo-drome in the last of which where he spent the majorpart of his time. There, belvederes and loggias sur-rounded a pool forty cubits long, which on occasionssuch as receptions of embassies or the Prophet's Birth-day was filled with roses. The pool received its waterfrom an aqueduct repaired by the sultan, and its waterflowed down to irrigate the hippodrome gardens. Treeswith fragrant fruits, carrying cages of exotic singingbirds as well as kiosks and sumptuous tents pitchedwithin the gardens, provided shade. There was also aHall of Justice which al-Ghurl did not much use. Atower connected al-Ghurl's plaisance quarters with theCitadel through an elevated passage. The sultan wouldgive banquets, with food served on Chinese porcelain,enjoying his last days, while Sultan Selim marchedtoward Syria and Egypt. The next sultan Tumanbay,threatened by the advancing Ottomans, fortified thewalls of the Citadel — in vain!

THE OTTOMAN PERIOD (1517-1805)

Sultan Selim, despite the great receptions thathonored his ambassadors at the Hippodrome of al-GhurT, conquered Egypt in 1517. From that date untilmodern times, Egypt was reduced to the status of a pro-

vince paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire. It was nolonger ruled by sultans, but by governors who changedevery two years or so, sometimes more frequently. TheCitadel of course lost its imperial splendor. SultanSelim, conqueror of Egypt, took most of the Citadel'smarble to Istanbul, and adopted the whole system ofceremonies, including the running of the kitchens, tothose of the Ottoman court, on the sca'le of a gover-norate.

The governors, or pashas, appointed from Istanbuldid not use the Great Iwan of the Mamluks, and it wasabandoned. They stayed in the private quarters of thepalace and established the offices of notables andofficers there. Al-Qasr al-Ablaq was used as a factoryfor weaving the cloth to cover the Kacba in Mecca. Thenorthern enclosure was used by the Janissary corps,and the western dependencies by the cAzab corps.Sulayman Pasha built an elegant mosque, totallyTurkish in style, in the northern part in 1528, andAmir Ahmad Katkhuda built a mosque for the cAzabcorps in 1697 on the site of a Mamluk mosque. Adouble circular gate, Bab al-cAzab, facing the mosqueof Sultan Hasan and imitating the architecture of Babal-Futuh, was built in 1754.

In the northern enclosure, the arsenal and ammuni-tion stores were kept as well as workshops of carriagemakers and other shops. There was also a large bath.

The large circular tower near the mosque of al-NasirMuhammad was built by Ibrahim Pasha in 1520. Healso built other towers and restored the city walls nearthe Citadel. The towers he built were crowned withdomes covered with lead. During the Ottoman period,some additions were made in the southern enclosure,where the pashas resided. A Turkish visitor to Egypt,Evliya Celebl, who worked at the Citadel for severalyears, writes that from the towers the pasha could bekept under control in case he made any attempt todeclare his independence.

MUHAMMAD cAlI (1805-1848)

Muhammad CA1T rebuilt major parts of the westernwalls of the Citadel, including the gates on the city side.The original gate of Salah al-Din was incorporated ina new gate and in the process became invisible from theoutside. Several structures were added in bothenclosures, including the Jawhara Palace, a Palace ofJustice, and a new mint which can still be seen today.In fact, most of the secular buildings inside the Citadeltoday are the works of Muhammad CA1T. Muhammad


cAh himself did not reside at the Citadel, having builtother palaces in the city, but the Citadel continuedunder his rule to be a center of government.

To many Egyptians, and visitors, the Qalca, orCitadel is associated with the imposing building withlarge domes flanked by a pair of very slender minarets,the mosque of Muhammad CA1I. This purely Turkishbuilding became a landmark of Cairo after Muham-mad CA1T pulled down the remains of the Great Iwan.That act and his massacre of the Mamluks inside theCitadel ended an important phase of Egyptian historyand culture. Muhammad cAH's mosque and otherstructures all belong to an alien style, inspired fromTurkey and Europe. The art and architecture of theMamluks that had prevailed until his reign began in1805 had become a thing of the past.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Casanova, Paul. Histoire de la Citadelle du Caire. Paris, 1894-97 (Arabictransl. Darraj, Ahmad. Tarikh wa wasf qalcal al-qahira, Cairo,1974.

Celcbi, Evliya. Seyahatnamesi X, Misir, Sudan, Habes.. Istanbul, 1938,pp. 63 ff.

Creswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 1 ff.Description de I'Egypte. Etal Moderne, II (2), M. Jomard, "Kaire," pp.

347 ff.Garcin, J. C., Maury, B. R., Revault, F., Zakarya, M. Palais et

Maisons du Caire I: Epoque Mamelouke, Xllle-XVIe Siecle. Paris,1982, pp. 35 f., 95 f.

von Harff. Pilgrimage, pp. 107 ff.Ibn lyas, BaddY al-zuhur fi waqdV al-duhur. Ed. M. Mustafa.

Cairo/Wiesbaden, 1961-83.Maqrizi Khitat, II, pp. 201 ff.Meineckc, Michael. "Zur mamlukischcn Heraldik". Mitteilungen des

Deutschen Archaologischen Institute Abteilung Kairo. 28 (1972),pp. 213 ff.

al-cUmari, Ibn Fadl Allah. Masalik al-absar fi mamalik al-amsar. Cairo,1985, pp. 79 ff.

Van Ghistele, de Joos. Le Voyage en Egypte, 1482-83. Cairo 1976,pp. 23 ff.

Wiet, Gaston. Cairo, pp. 138 ff.

THE MAUSOLEUM OF IMAM SHAFICI (1211)

We have noted before that the Fatimids erected anumber of memorial buildings to celebrate saints of theProphet's family from whom the Fatimid Caliphsclaimed descent. The Ayyubid rulers, who workedsystematically to abolish all traces of Shicism in Egypt,destroyed the palaces of the Fatimid Caliphs, but theycould not destroy the shrines, for they were sacred to allMuslims. They used the madrasas to consolidate Sun-

nism, and built in turn their shrine for Imam Shafic,founder of one of the four rites of Islamic law. Thismausoleum was larger than any earlier shrines, and itcan be considered as symbolic of the reinstatement ofSunni Islam in Egypt.

Salah al-Din built a madrasa for the Shafic1 rite in thecemetery near the tomb of Imam Shaficl, and also spon-sored a magnificent wooden cenotaph, one of the greatmasterpieces of medieval Cairo woodwork. Al-Malikal-Kamil, a later Ayyubid ruler, erected the dome overthe grave of Imam Shafici in 1211, at the southernextremity of the cemetery of al-Fustat.

THE EXTERIOR

The mausoleum of Imam Shafici has a square basewhose inner width measures about fifteen meters.Though the base consists of massive stone walls, it sup-ports only a wooden dome covered with a shell of lead.The exterior of the structure has retained much of itsoriginal appearance, though the shrine has beenembellished and restored several times.

In addition to its great size, the building differs fromFatimid shrines in the profile of its dome, which curvesimmediately above the transitional zone. Fatimiddomes begin with parallel walls and start to curvenearer the top. The transitional zone, instead of beingoctagonal and visible between the rectangular base andthe dome, is hidden behind a second rectangular,receding story with cut-off corners. Thus from theoutside, the building looks as if it were built on twolevels; inside there is no such division. The upper levelis decorated with keel-arched niches with fluted hoods,and includes elements of Andalusian-style stuccodecoration in the treatment of the carved colonnettesand of the spaces between the niches. The upper partof the lower story is decorated with a band of interlacedgeometric patterns similar to those used above Fatimidprayer niches, and to the one on the southwest minaretof the mosque of al-Hakim.

Atop the dome of Imam ShaficI is a copper boatwhich is said to have been filled in the past with grainfor birds. The minaret of Ibn Tulun had a similar finialthat has not survived. There is an Egyptian tradition ofputting small models of boats in shrines, the mostprominent example being the boat at the shrine ofAbu'l-Hajjaj in Luxor which is taken in the annual pro-cession on the saint's birthday. This is obviously a pre-Islamic tradition that survived in Egyptian Islamic

86 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 61. The mausoleum of Imam Shafici.


culture. The shrine of Sidi Sarya at the Citadel had asmall boat until the mosque in which it is located wasrecently restored.

THE INTERIOR

The interior is more complex than the exterior, withvarious styles represented. The lower part of the wallswith colored marble panels and the prayer niche at thecorner correcting the improper orientation of the threeoriginal prayer niches must be attributed to SultanQaytbay's late-fifteenth-century restorations. Thepainting of the dome and its transitional zone wasaccomplished under Amir CA1I Bey al-Kabir in thesecond half of the eighteenth century. Original decora-tion survives in the wooden frieze running along thewalls, as well as the wooden beams from which thelamps once hung.

The transitional zone of the dome reveals the restora-tions made, as the arrangement of windows alternatingwith squinches of similar profile has been disturbed bythe addition on each side of a large window with apointed-arch profile. This also must be part of Qayt-bay's restorations. Creswell attributes the whole transi-tional zone to Qaytbay because of the sophisticatedform of its multiple-tiered squinches. For the period ofQaytbay, however, this type of transition was alreadyarchaic and no longer in use. Moreover, the profile ofthe dome resembles that of al-Salih, also Ayyubid, andhas no parallel in the late Mamluk period. For theAyyubid period, this squinch style, although it maylook more elaborate than was common at that time,might well be justified by the extraordinary size of thedome that made a new transitional device necessary. Inthe Fatimid period, with increasing dome height, thesquinches had already developed from a plain to a com-posite shape.

Sultan al-Ghurl is mentioned in an inscription ashaving restored the dome; he may have covered it withthe green tiles found by Creswell under a lead sheet.This sultan's own mausoleum dome was once coveredwith green tiles (in 1503/4), and tiles of the same typefound at Imam Shafici were used at the mosque ofSulayman Pasha at the Citadel (1528), the minaret ofShahin al-Khalwati (1538), and the zawiya of ShaykhSacud (1539), all built in the first half of the sixteenthcentury.

The arrangement of the three prayer niches had beenadopted in earlier Fatimid architecture, in the mauso-leums of Akhawat Yusuf, Sayyida Ruqayya, and

Yahya al-Shabih. The present entrance, according toCreswell, is not the original one. It must have been onthe axis of the prayer niches, where a recess used todayas a window shows the earliest existing example inCairo of a wooden coffered ceiling.

The cenotaph sponsored by Salah al-Dln is one of thegreat masterpieces of medieval woodwork in Cairo. Ithas geometric designs with bands of inscriptions in bothKufic and naskhi script. The cenotaph carries the sig-nature of the carpenter-artist who made it, cUbayd al-Najjar Ibn Macali, and is dated 574 Hijra (1178/9).The marble column with Imam Shaficl's name and dateof death, topped with a turban-like structure, isoriginal. When the mausoleum was built, the textcarved on it was copied in naskhi on the back.

A second wooden cenotaph for the mother of Sultanal-Kamil, builder of the mausoleum, is less well pre-served. Salah al-Din's wife and son are buried in themausoleum though the exact location is not marked bya cenotaph. He himself is buried in a mausoleum inDamascus.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 106 ff.Creswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 64 ff.Wiet, Gaston. "Les inscriptions du mausolee de Shafici." Bulletin de

I'Institut d'Egypte, 15 (1933), pp. 167 ff.

THE MADRASA OF SULTAN AL-SALIH NAJMAL-DIN AYYUB (1243)

During the Ayyubid period several madrasas wereerected in al-Qahira and al-Fustat, many of themwithin the premises of houses and palaces. The onlyone of these surviving in a condition allowing usreliably to describe its design is that of al-Salih Najm al-Dln Ayyub, the last Ayyubid sultan.

Other madrasas built during this period werededicated either to the Malik1 or Shafici rite, but al-Salih's madrasa taught all four rites of Islamic law,Shafici, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali, the first madrasato do so in Egypt. In this it followed the example of theMadrasa Mustansiriyya in Baghdad (1233). In 1330,under the Mamluks, the Friday sermon was introducedto the madrasa of al-Salih.

THE EXTERIOR

The madrasa of al-Salih was built on part of the siteonce occupied by the Great Fatimid Palace, that is,

THE MONUMENTS

PI. 62. The madrasa and mausoleum of Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub.


within the heart of the Fatimid city. To the passerbytoday, only a minaret standing above a passage with anexquisitely decorated entrance is visible; the rest of thefacade beneath the minaret is behind a row of shops.

The minaret is the only minaret of the Ayyubidperiod to have survived intact. It is a brick constructionof the mabkhara style. It is supported by the roof of thepassage and has a rectangular shaft and a second,receding story of octagonal section. It is topped by aribbed helmet resting on stalactites.

We have seen that the minaret of the Abu '1-Ghadan-far in the late Fatimid period marks the beginning ofthis mabkhara shape in minaret architecture.

The decoration of the rectangular shaft has disap-peared on the street side, though on the back it appearsas keel-arched panels with fluted hoods of carvedstucco. On the upper level, the octagonal section isdecorated with lobed openings and stalactites. This isthe earliest example of stalactites on the helmet of a

minaret, a feature that later forms an integral part ofmabkhara minaret decoration.

The minaret stands above a public passage sepa-rating the two wings of the complex. A few woodenbeams indicate that the passage was originally covered.The entrance is crowned with a handsome keel-archedniche of carved stone with a foundation inscription innaskhi script in its center. From this center radiateflutes to form a large frame of stalactites on the bordersof the niche. The niche is flanked with smaller carvedniches on both sides, also with fluted hoods, under-neath rectangular recesses with stalactite cresting.Though not an exact copy, the facade treatment followsthe pattern established at the nearby Aqmar mosque.

The facade of the madrasa now hidden by shops ispaneled over its entire width, with keel-arched centralpanels at the entrance and rectangular panels over therest. Each panel is recessed and includes a window, adevice that appeared for the first time at the mosque of

P1. 63. Niche above the entrance at the madrasa of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub.

90 THE MONUMENTS

al-Salih Talacic. The lintels of the windows are carvedin stone.

THE INTERIOR

The plan of the madrasa was reconstructed byCreswell, who found that it duplicated the plan he iden-tified of the earlier madrasa which is today in ruins, ofal-Malik al-Kamil on the opposite side of the street.The madrasa of al-Kamil had only one courtyard withtwo Iwans. The madrasa of al-Salih had two wingsseparated by a public passage, each wing composed ofa courtyard with two vaulted Iwans facing each otheracross the courtyard, one of them with its back to thestreet, the other and larger one Mecca-oriented. Thelateral sides were occupied by two stories of living unitsfor the students. Today only the northwestern iwan,has survived; the rest of the madrasa has nearly disap-peared.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creswell, M.A.E., II, pp. 94 ff.Maqrizi, Khitat, II, p. 374.

THE MAUSOLEUM OF SULTAN AL-SALIHNAJM AL-DIN BUILT BY SHAJARAT

AL-DURR (1250)

Al-Salih died while his troops were engaged in abattle against Louis XI and his French Crusaders, whohad invaded the city of Mansura. His widow Shajaratal-Durr was clever enough to keep the sultan's deathsecret until the campaign ended with a Mamluktriumph and the capture of the French king, andthereby to prevent the troops' morale from flagging. Inthe meantime al-Salih's body was kept at his citadeland residence on the island of Rawda. Since Al-Salihhad left no heir, his mamluks decided to nominate his

Fig. 19. Plan of the madrasa of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub (Creswell).


Turkish widow and former slave Shajarat al-Durr ashis successor to the throne. She was the only woman inMuslim history ever to acquire the rank of a sultan,though only for a few months. Then she married al-Mucizz Aybak, the first Mamluk sultan. She managedfor a while to hold a powerful position, being the defacto ruler until she was killed.

Between al-Salih's death and his official burial, whileMamluk troops were occupied in fighting the Cru-saders, Shajarat al-Durr built the mausoleum for herhusband, which was to be attached to his madrasa.Once the building was completed, the body wastransferred with great pomp and ceremony fromRawda to the tomb. By that time Shajarat al-Durr hadabdicated in favor of Aybak, who consequently led theprocession. He was followed by the amirs anddignitaries, all dressed in white, their hair cut in signof mourning. They carried the banners, clothes andweapons of the dead sultan and deposited them in histomb.

Until Sultan Qalawun built his own madrasa-mauso-leum, the mausoleum of al-Salih was the place wherethe ceremony following the nomination of a new amirfor Syria was celebrated.

In the history of Cairo's architecture Shajarat al-Durr played an important role because she was the firstto introduce the tradition of attaching funerary struc-tures for the rulers to their religious foundations. Shealso built a mausoleum for herself near her own ma-drasa. Throughout the Mamluk period sultans andamirs followed this practice.

THE EXTERIOR

The mausoleum dome protrudes from the southernfacade of the madrasa of Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Dm.Like the madrasa, its facade is paneled with keel-archrecesses.

The profile of the dome, like that of Imam Shafici, isof the type that curves near the base. If the dome ofImam Shaficl proves not to be the original one, then thedome of al-Salih will become the earliest extant exam-ple of this type.

Since the domed chamber protrudes from the facadeof the madrasa, all four of its windows, that is, the threeon the facade and the one on the southern side, over-look the street. The lintels of the windows, like those ofthe nearby madrasa, are carved with intricate ara-besques.

The entrance, which lacks all architectural enhance-ment, leads to a passage parallel to the mausoleum. Itis surmounted by a slab which bears an inscriptionindicating the date of al-Salih's death (1249).

THE INTERIOR

The fact that the depth of the window recessesgradually decreases from north to south is an indicationthat the Mecca-oriented dome is set askew to adjust itto the street alignment.

The large iron-grilled windows were intended to givethe passerby visual access to the Sultan's tomb, as wellas a share in the blessing of Quran recitations per-formed at the windows for this very purpose.

The tall prayer niche preserves almost nothing of itsoriginal decoration, except a pair of marble columnswith carved bell-shaped capitals and remnants ofcarved marble panels. Traces of glass mosaics in theconch, which could be seen until some years ago,indicated that the prayer niche was once decorated inthe same manner as Shajarat al-Durr's ownmausoleum.

The transitional zone of the dome consists of woodentrilobed squinches set within rows of stalactite niches.The windows set in the transitional zone are adapted tothe profile of the squinches, each composed of threehexagonal lights, with stucco arabesque grills thatinclude colored-glass bits.

The wooden cenotaph with geometrical inlay, to-gether with some remnants of wooden shutters anddoors, are original.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 100 ff.Maqrizi. Khitai, II, pp. 374 f.

THE MAUSOLEUM OF SHAJARAT AL-DURR(1250)

The mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr at the cemeteryof Sayyida Nafisa is the only surviving structure of acomplex she built there that included a madrasa. It isdirectly opposite the mausoleum of Sayyida Ruqayyaand near the shrines of other female saints such asSayyida Sukayna, Sayyida cAtika, and Sayyida Nafisain al-Fustat's cemetery.

92 THE MONUMENTS

P1. 64. The mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr.

No Mamluk sultan's death is as famous as the deathof the Sultana Shajarat al-Durr. She continued to wieldpower during al-Mucizz Aybak's reign, but soon lostpower over her husband, who began to court thedaughter of a ruler in Iraq. She killed him, whereuponhis followers beat her to death and threw her body halfnaked from the Citadel, where it remained a few daysuntil she was buried in her mausoleum. In time, hermausoleum, located in an area full of shrines, came tobe venerated by the people living in the quarter.Today, the whole area is in rather dilapidated con-dition.

THE EXTERIOR

The most interesting feature of the mausoleum'sdome is its profile, which like that of the mausoleum ofthe Abbasid Caliphs has a keel-arch curve, thus differ-ing from that of al-Salih's mausoleum. It also has a dif-ferent facade treatment. The dome, with an entranceon every side except the qibla wall, makes an angle withthe street alignment to which it is not adjusted. Thebuilding itself, with its three openings, must have beenwithin an enclosure. The qibla wall with the prayerniche protruding outside and the southwest wall stillhave remains of ornaments: lozenges and medallionscarved with flutes and keel-arched niches with flutedhoods.

THE INTERIOR

Inside the mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr the threesides around the qibla are decorated with a stucco keel-arch niche set above each entrance. The qibla side is

decorated with a keel-arched prayer niche. The keel-arched niches above the three entrances are shallow,fluted, with the flutes carved and radiating from a cen-tral panel. The frames of the niches are composed ofstalactites, or two rows of carved small niches, and thespandrels of the niches are finely carved with floralmotifs, appearing so lacy that the details are hardlyrecognizable. The whole is framed by an inscriptionband of naskhl script on an ornate background.

The transitional zone of the dome is reduced, com-pared to that of al-Salih, since the dome itself is smaller.Painting decorates the stucco squinches.

The prayer niche is concave; its conch starts abovea wooden frieze that runs around the whole chamberabove the three entrances. A stalactite triple frameborders the prayer niche, which is decorated inside withglass mosaics forming a tree with mother-of-pearlpieces set in the foliage, an allusion, perhaps, to thesultana's name, "Tree of Pearl." The wooden friezerunning along the walls with carved inscriptions andarabesques is Fatimid in style and must have belongedto an earlier building. The upper inscription bandunderneath the transitional zone was once covered witha thick coat of black paint, no doubt by enemies ofShajarat al-Durr. It was later repainted in white, andcarries her name and titles.

PL 65. The prayer niche at the mausoleum of Shajaratal-Durr.


SHAJARAT AL-DURR'S AND AL-SALIH'S MAUSOLEUMSCOMPARED

The mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr is attributed tothe year 1250, the year she ruled, following the deathof al-Salih, whose mausoleum she also built in the sameyear. It is thus interesting to compare the two struc-tures.

The mausoleum of al-Salih was built near hismadrasa, in the very heart of the city. Its architecture,as a structure added to the madrasa and also alignedwith the street, and its facade whose keel-arch panelsand carved lintels are similar to those of the madrasaemphasize its urban character. The mausoleumoverlooks the street with large iron-grilled windowsplaced at a level that allows the passersby to look inside.

The mausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr was also part ofa complex that included a madrasa and other struc-tures, but it was built in a cemetery. The facade of the

dome is not adjusted to the street, or lane, and thechamber was not directly accessible from the road butfrom another structure to which it was attached, as issuggested by the three entrances as well as the pro-longation of the southwestern wall beyond the dome.The mausoleum chamber had three entrances andneeded no windows.

In its urban context, the dome of al-Salih is thus anexpression of the Sultan's royal status, while themausoleum of Shajarat al-Durr, located in a veneratedarea of the cemetery, has more religious connotations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 135 ff.Behrens-Abouseif, D. "The Lost Minaret of Shajarat al-Durr at Her

Complex in the Cemetery of Sayyida Naffisa." Mitteilungen desDeutschen Archaologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo, 39 (1983),pp. 1 ff.

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BAHRI MAMLUKS

THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN AL-ZAHIRBAYBARS (1266-69)

The mosque of al-Zahir Baybars is the earliest sur-viving royal mosque of the Mamluks in Cairo. Situatedoutside and northwest of the gates of the Fatimid city,in what was then the northern suburb of Cairo, it wasbuilt on the site of a polo ground, surrounded bygreenery and overlooking the Khalij. The quarter nowcalled colloquially "al-Dahir" takes its name from thismosque which, though in very dilapidated condition,still suggests the grand appearance it must originallyhave had.

THE EXTERIOR

Al-Zahir Baybars' mosque shows influences from themosque of al-Hakim: the protruding main entranceand its carved decoration; arched panels, carvedlozenges and medallions at the portal, and the pointedarches of the interior standing on rectangular piers.Here, however, the arcades framing the courtyard,another arcade inside the sanctuary separating themaqsura dome from the rest, and the aisles of the threeentrances are on piers. The other arcades were on col-umns; most of them have not survived.

The mosque was free standing, its massive walls sup-ported by buttresses. It is little wonder that Napoleon'stroops used it as a fortress. They may have contributedto its decay, but at the time they used it, most of thecolumns were already missing.

The main entrance, opposite the prayer niche, is inthe form of a protruding cube and is decorated withkeel-arched niches and lozenges. The entrance passageis covered by a shallow dome on pendentives, as at Babal-Futuh.

There are two side entrances, also protruding, butsmaller in size, and their passages are roofed with cross-vaults as at Bab al-Nasr. The arch of the main entranceis adorned with a cushion voussoir, like the side archesat Bab Zuwayla. The side-entrance arches are carveddifferently, one with zigzags and the other withscallops.

The main entrance used to have a minaret, a rec-tangular shaft decorated with keel-arch panels, whosestub is shown in an illustration in the Description deI'Egypte.

The exterior walls of the mosque have no decorationexcept for the pointed-arch windows with stucco grillsand stepped crenellation.

THE INTERIOR

The mosque's sanctuary has a remarkable feature.In front of the prayer niche, which now has none of itsoriginal decoration, is a large area, the space of ninebays or three-by-three arch widths, which instead ofbeing roofed with a ceiling like the rest of the mosque,or covered by a small one-bay dome as in earliermosques, was covered with a dome as large as that ofImam ShaficT. In royal mosques, the space in front ofthe prayer niche, called the maqsura, used to beenclosed and exclusively dedicated to the prayer of theruler and his entourage. The dome of Baybars, madeof wood, disappeared long ago. Baybars ordered thedome to be built and decorated with the wood and mar-ble he brought as trophies from the Citadel of Yaffa,captured from the Crusaders. The dome thus com-memorated Baybars' victory and the triumph of Islam.From the maqsura to the courtyard, Creswell has iden-tified a transept, or triple aisle, higher than the rest andrunning perpendicular to the qibla wall instead ofparallel to it.

A nine-bay dome over the prayer niche appearedfirst in Persian Saljuq architecture and was thenrepeated in eastern Anatolian mosques, from where itmost probably was introduced to Egypt. Anothernotable feature at this mosque is the use of ablaqmasonry, striped courses of light and dark stone, at oneof the entrances. According to Creswell, this is theearliest extant example of ablaq, which becomes typicalin later Cairene architecture. When applied on marble,ablaq masonry was made with two differently coloredmarbles. With stone, however, it was common to paintone course in red or black and leave the other with itsnatural stone color.

95

P1. 66. The mosque of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars.

The stucco window grills of the mosque are shapedin intricate arabesques covered with carving. Finelycarved stucco panels and bands can still be seen insidethe mosque though very little of this decorationremains.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bloom, Jonathan. "The Mosque of Baybars al-Bunduqdari inCairo." Annales Islamologiques, 18 (1982), pp. 45 ff.

Creswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 155 ff.Maqrizi.'Khitat, II, p. 300.

THE MAUSOLEUM-MADRASA ANDHOSPITAL OF SULTAN AL-MANSUR

QALAWUN (1284-85)

This complex, on what was the main avenue ofmedieval Cairo, opposite the madrasa of al-Salih andon the site of the western Fatimid palace, is one of themost outstanding monuments of medieval Cairo archi-

tecture and has several features without precedent inCairo. Maqrizi writes that the land on which thebuilding was erected was acquired illegally by

P1. 67. The facade of the madrasa-mausoleum of SultanQalawun with the sabil of al-Nasir to the left.

96 THE MONUMENTS

Qalawun. Jurists thus questioned its status as a piousfoundation, but Maqrizi reluctantly adds that similarsituations applied to many religious buildings. Origi-nally, the complex included a madrasa, the mausoleumof the founder, and a hospital.

THE HOSPITAL

The hospital was known by the Persian word maristanor place of illness; originally, the name was bimaristan,place of health (the prefix bi- forming the antonym),but the appellation was shortened. Having been curedat the hospital of Nur al-Din at Damascus, Qalawunincluded a hospital in his complex, though he was notthe first to do so in Cairo. Ibn Tulun, the Fatimids, andSalah al-Din had sponsored hospitals, but that ofQalawun is best known because it continued its func-tions as a charitable institution and center for studiesand practice of medicine until the nineteenth centurywhen modern medicine and hospitals were introducedby Muhammad CA1I. The hospital of Qalawun wasmentioned often by travelers. In the Middle Ages,Muslim medical knowledge and practice were veryadvanced, and Muslim medicine was taught in someparts of Europe until the eighteenth century.

As a philanthropic foundation, Qalawun's hospitalwas remarkable for its time, and even in comparisonwith modern times. Its foundation deed states that itwas dedicated to all Muslims of both sexes and all ages,of whatever social or moral position, from any place inthe world, with no distinction to be made except thatpriority should be given to those most in need of care.

The hospital was divided into sections for men andwomen, and each patient was entitled to a bed made ofwood or palm slats, with pillows and covers. Theadministrator of the foundation, who also handledfinancial matters, took care that each patient was givenproper food and medicine. He supervised thelaboratories where medicines were mixed and bottledin adequate, but not excessive, quantities. The kitchenprepared juices and broth, chicken and meats for thepatients, and each patient received his portion in anindividual, covered vessel, fanned in the summer.Drinks were served in individual cups. Each patienthad his own chamber pot. The laundry of the patientwas done by the hospital. Physicians met to discusseach patient's case and his treatment, and followed uphis progress. The ophthalmologists consulted thegeneral physician. Doctors were present at all times atthe hospital, together or in shifts. All services were

generously provided and free of charge. Even funeralexpenses, should the patient die, were assumed by thehospital foundation, and each person had a funeralaccording to his social standing. This applied even ifthe patient died in his own home after returning fromhospital.

The building itself, which aside from a few walls, hasnot survived is described as having been beautifullydecorated, with fountains trickling in marble basins.Curiously, the foundation deed itself refers to thebeauty of the building, noting that it was intended tobe one of the most magnificent in the world so that thefoundation would have the dignity it deserved, and sothat no one would be reluctant to make use of its ser-vices. The few remnants of wall decoration suggest howmuch care was lavished on this charitable institution.

P1. 68. The minaret and dome of Sultan Qalawun.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE BAHRI MAMLUKS 97

The plan of the hospital must have been cruciform,with four large halls built along the four sides of a cour-tyard connected by a number of smaller rooms. It mostlikely was incorporated into the structures of theFatimid palace. From the street only the facades of themadrasa and mausoleum were visible. A passage at theback led to the hospital.

THE FACADE

The facade of Qalawun's complex is fairly well pre-served. Approaching from the south, the madrasaappears first, then the passage on whose left is theentrance of the madrasa, and on its right, the entranceof the mausoleum. The hospital is behind both. At thenorthern extremity of the facade, the minaret stands atthe angle facing the pedestrian coming from Bab al-Futuh and Bab al-Nasr.

The facade treatment was innovative for its time,enhanced by several recesses over the length of thewhole building, and showing unprecedented verti-cality. These recesses have pointed arches. Unlikeearlier architecture, however, no keel arches or stalac-tite recesses are visible on the facade. The only stalac-tites are a small row in the wall underneath theminaret. The recessed panels include three tiers of win-dows, giving the building the appearance of havingthree stories. The lower windows are large, rec-tangular, and have iron grills; the middle windows aresmaller and pointed, and the uppermost windows aredouble windows with round arches separated by acolumn and surmounted by a small circular window.The lower part of each recess is flanked by a pair ofelegant marble columns with fine pre-Islamic capitals.This row of columns along the facade is unique inCairo's architecture.

Above the lower rectangular windows runs a band ofinscription all along the facade, deeply carved in stone.This band, originally gilded, is called a tiraz, a termborrowed from textile arts designating an embroideredband in a ceremonial robe with the name and titles ofa ruler.

The portal is composed of a round arch framed withinterlacing bands of white and black marble ablaq. Theearliest example in Cairo of this type of decoration is atone of the portals of the mosque of al-Zahir Baybars.A beautiful original bronze door with geometric pat-terns still stands at the entrance, and a small irongrilled window above the door is attributed by Creswellto French craftsmanship, most likely by a Crusader.

Fig. 20. The madrasa and mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun(Creswell).

The facade of the Qalawun complex clearly showsdepartures from local tradition. It lacks the keel-arches,stalactites, lozenges, and medallions of previousbuildings. The pointed-arched panels with double win-dows and bull's-eyes have been interpreted as influ-ences from Crusader architecture in Palestine.Creswell, however, finds their prototypes in Sicilianarchitecture of the same period. Sicily had close con-nections with the Muslim world in the medieval periodand its own arts and architecture owe a great deal to theFatimids. It is not unlikely that the transfer of stylestraveled in both directions.

THE MINARET

Qalawun's minaret is an imposing construction. Therectangular shaft and receding rectangular second storyare built in stone; the third circular story is made ofbrick and decorated with stucco. The first story hashorseshoe arches on cornices of stalactites on each sideand is crowned with stalactites. The second story hashorseshoe arches and cushion voussoirs. At this timehorseshoe arches were typical of Andalusian and NorthAfrican architecture. Lajin's minaret restoration at themosque of Ibn Tulun, done a few years afterQalawun's minaret, also shows influences of craftsmen

98 THE MONUMENTS

who had immigrated to Cairo from western Islamiccities.

The third story of the minaret was constructed byQalawun's son, Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, after the1303 earthquake had demolished the original. Its lace-like stucco carving is not in harmony with the rest of theminaret. An interesting band with vertical moldingsresembling ancient Egyptian reed motifs marks the endof the circular part. The helmet disappeared and wasreplaced at a later period by the present conical struc-ture. Al-Nasir Muhammad's restoration of theminaret, with a reference to the earthquake, is com-memorated in the inscription band carved on the firststory.

THE MADRASA

The madrasa is today entered through a windowopening. The original entrance, further back, wasredecorated with moldings in the eighteenth century byAmir cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda.

The madrasa is not completely preserved, but can bereconstructed. The courtyard was surrounded by fouriwans of unequal size and between them, on severalstories, were the students' cells. The largest of theseIwans is the sanctuary, on the qibla side, and it is thebest preserved. The hall opposite is much smaller. Onthe lateral sides two recessed spaces flank the court-yard.

The prayer hall has a new type of facade, with a tri-ple arch supporting a second story of arches, a devicefrequent in Byzantine architecture. The interior plan isthat of a basilica, a central nave flanked by two smallernaves, from which it is separated by granite columns ofancient Egyptian origin. Stucco floral patterns andgreat numbers of marble colonnettes decorate thearches and upper walls. The ceiling is of painted andgilded wood. The prayer niche is richly decorated withmarble, and its conch, like that at Shajarat al-Durr'smausoleum, is decorated with glass mosaics. Instead ofa tree, however, a vase with plants is represented. Nostucco carving was used in the prayer niche.

THE MAUSOLEUM

The mausoleum chamber is the best preserved partof the complex and is considered one of the most beauti-fully decorated medieval buildings in Cairo.

It is reached from a small courtyard surrounded byan arcade with shallow domes, perhaps of Byzantine

inspiration. In the middle of the courtyard there wasonce a fountain. An arch carved in stucco frames theentrance leading to a rectangular hall. In the middle ofthis hall the dome rests on an octagonal structure, likethe Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, composed of twopairs of piers alternating with two pairs of columns.The original dome disappeared, and the modern domeis modeled after the mausoleum of al-Ashraf Khalil, sonof Qalawun, erected in 1288. Because it is mounted onan octagon, it has no zone of transition. A well-restoredand preserved wooden screen, commissioned by al-Nasir Muhammad, son of Qalawun, surrounds theoctagonal part.

As the window recesses show, the facade of thebuilding is aligned with the street, and the inner wallsare set askew with the outer ones. Cupboards set inthese walls, are fitted with wooden doors.

From top to bottom, the walls are covered with vari-ous types of decoration. Marble covers the lower parts,where the most remarkable feature are the numerouspanels with inlaid marble, mother of pearl, and coloredstones. A great variety of patterns are found, includingfor the first time in Cairo, square Kufic script repeatingthe name of Muhammad. Bands of carved marble anda band of wood with relief inscriptions, painted andgilded, run along the walls. The coffered ceiling ispainted and gilded, composed of sunken polygonssimilar to those first seen at the mausoleum of ImamShafici

The outstanding feature of the mausoleum is thehuge prayer niche, one of the largest in medieval Cairo.It is richly decorated with marble inlay and rows ofniches with shell conchs, flanked with small colon-nettes. The madrasa prayer niche also has thesedecorative arcades. Lavish use of mother-of-pearl withmarble accentuates the decoration. As Meinecke hasshown, Byzantine craftsmen must have been involvedin these decorations, as many details, particularly themarble carving and inlay, resemble that of contem-porary buildings in Constantinople. Indeed, SultanQalawun had friendly relations with the Byzantineemperor. The plan of the sanctuary of his madrasa alsoreveals Byzantine influence.

Qalawun's tomb became the site for celebrations ofthe appointment of amirs to be sent to Syria. Earlierthey had taken place at the tomb of al-Salih, across thestreet.

Like the madrasa, the mausoleum chamber alsohoused a teaching program in the four rites of Islamiclaw. Qalawun's grandson, al-Malik al-Salih clmad al-


P1. 69. The mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun (German Archaeological Institute).

100 THE MONUMENTS

P1. 70. The prayer niche of the mausoleum of Qalawun.

Din, intended to build a madrasa but died before hehad done so, and a friend, Amir Arghun, made theendowment to establish the madrasa at Qalawun'smausoleum. Readers of the Quran recited all day in thedeeply recessed windows of the tomb. There was alsoa substantial library, and cupboards to house thesultan's robes. Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad and othersons of Qalawun are buried there.

During the reign of Qalawun and his descendantsendowments were increased and the mausoleum wasthe site of many celebrations and ceremonies. Thesultan's private guards had the honor of living in andcaring for the complex.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 114 ff.Amin, Muhammad Muh. ed. Waqf of Qalawun's hospital published

as appendix in Ibn Habib. Tadhkirat al-nabih fi ayyam al-Mansur wa

banih. Cairo, 1976-86. I, pp. 295 ff.

Creswell. M.A.E., pp. 191 ff.

Herz, M. Die Baugruppe des Sultans Qalawun. Hamburg, 1910.

Issa, Ahmed. Histoire des Bimaristans (Hopitaux) a I'Epoque Islamique.

Cairo, 1928.

Meinecke, Michael. "Das Mausoleum des Qala'un in Kairo —

Untersuchungen zur Genese der Mamlukischen Architektur-

dekoration." Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts

Abteilung Kairo, 27 (1971), pp. 47 ff.

THE MADRASA OF SULTAN AL-NASIRMUHAMMAD IBN QALAWUN (1295-1303)

This madrasa is adjacent to the complex of SultanQalawun. Its facade and minaret are visible only whenone is quite close to them. The building was begun byal-cAdil Katbugha who ruled very briefly (1295/6) andwas completed by al-Nasir Muhammad, son ofQalawun. The madrasa taught the four rites of Islamiclaw.

THE EXTERIOR

The rather narrow facade includes the minaret abovethe entrance, to the right of which is the mausoleum ofthe founder. Al-cAdil carried out the construction up tothe tiraz band, and the rest was done during the reignof al-Nasir Muhammad. The mausoleum's woodendome collapsed long ago, and only its octagonalwooden transitional zone with pendentives hassurvived.

The most remarkable feature of the facade is the por-tal, a trophy brought from a church in Akko during theCrusades by al-Malik al-Ashraf Khalil and used laterby al-cAdil Katbugha for his madrasa. It is a Gothicmarble portal with pointed arch, at the apex of whichwas added the word, Allah. Maqrizi considered it oneof the most magnificent portals in Cairo.

Above the portal stands the minaret. The first storyof the rectangular brick shaft is covered with extremelyfine stucco carving, giving a lace-like effect that con-trasts with the shape of the shaft. The decoration is wellpreserved on the facade; little remains on the back andsides.

As in previous minarets, medallions, lozenges- andkeel-arched niches and panels decorate the shaft, buthere, the whole surface is completely covered with finearabesques carved in high relief and on more than onelevel. The keel arches include lobed, smaller arches.Toward the top, there is a row of lobed arches filledwith tiny geometrical shapes like the ones seen in the


PI. 71. Stucco carving on the minaret of the madrasa-mausoleum of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad.

Mamluk restoration of the al-Azhar prayer niche,separated by pairs of colonnettes. A band of ornateKufic runs across this arcade. Above the arcade ofniches, an inscription band in naskhi commemoratesthe Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. Atop the shaft arestalactites which, unlike the simple cornice onQalawun's minaret, are heavy bunches hanging likegrapes.

The second story of the minaret is not contemporarywith the lower part. Its style indicates it was addednearly a century later. It is octagonal in section with akeel-arch panel on each side framed by a molding run-ning around the whole. We can still see remains of theblue faience balls used to decorate the loops of themolding. The faceted third story is made of wood, witha conical top, and so must be from the Ottoman period.The minaret is a light structure supported by the wallsof the passage leading to the interior of the madrasa.

THE INTERIOR

Not much has survived inside the madrasa, but thereis enough to indicate that the courtyard was once sur-rounded by four unequal halls, or that it was cruciform.The two larger Iwans are on the qibla side and the sidefacing it, which are vaulted. Between these Iwans wereseveral stories of student cells.

The only decoration surviving in the interior of themadrasa is the carved stucco prayer niche: it is adornedwith bosses, carved and pierced, that call to mind therepousse technique of metalwork. The arabesquemotifs of the background appear as carved, curvingstripes in a very complex arrangement. The prayerniche is set within a larger arch also carved in stuccowhich includes a stucco window whose grill is of laterdate.

This prayer niche, which has no parallel in Cairo, isby a foreign hand. It shows similarities to Persianstucco work, which could have reached Egypt duringthe reign of al-Nasir Muhammad. The sultan was mar-ried to a Mongol princess from Persia and had friendlyrelations with the Mongol court of Tabriz. While thetwo countries exchanged ambassadors, Persian crafts-men came to Cairo and introduced the art of faiencemosaic seen on other buildings. The minor arts werealso influenced by these contacts.

It is possible that the madrasa's prayer niche wasadded at a later date. At the time it was built (1295-1303), Egypt's relations with Persia had not yet beenfully developed, as they were later to become in al-Nasir's long, but twice interrupted, reign (1293-1341).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Crcswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 234 ff.Michael J. Rogers. "Evidence for Mamluk-Mongol Relations 1260-

1360." Colloque International sur I'Histoire du Caire (1969). Cairo,pp. 385 ff.

THE KHANQAH-MADRASA OF AMIR SANJARAL-JAWLI (1303-4)

The founder of the madrasa/khanqah of Sanjar al-JawlT was one of the most powerful amirs during thereign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. The buildingcommemorates his long friendship with Amir Salar, towhom he dedicated the large and more decorated of twomausoleums.

102 THE MONUMENTS

THE EXTERIOR

The building stands on Saliba street not far from themosque of Ibn Tulun and is one of Cairo's mostremarkable monuments. Perched on the rocks of JabalYashkur, the building is impressive to the viewercoming down from the Citadel, along one of the medie-val processional roads. The facade is dominated by theunusual silhouette of a minaret flanked by two unequaldomes, and the lower part of the building is paneledwith window recesses as is usual in Mamluk mosques.The entrance, on an angle with the rest of the facade,is not particularly enhanced but is crowned like thewindows with a stalactite cornice. A tiraz band runsalong the facade. The mosque has another entrance atthe rear with a stalactite portal.

The rectangular shaft of its mabkhara-type minaretis more slender and elongated than those built earlier.

PI. 72. The double mausoleum of the amirs Sanjar and Salarat the madrasa-khanqah of Amir Sanjar.

Fig. 21. The khanqah-madrasa and double mausoleum ofAmir Sanjar al-Jawli (Creswell).

Its decorations recall those of Qalawun's minaret, eachside having an arched panel resting on stalactites andflanked with colonnettes; the horseshoe arch and dou-ble window with bull's-eye is also used here. The typeof stalactites atop the rectangular shaft also recall thoseof Qalawun's minaret.

The upper structure is slender; the octagonalelongated section supports a cornice of stalactites andabove it a ribbed helmet on a circular pavilion. Aspecial feature of the minaret is a portal at its stairwayentrance from the roof of the mosque with a trilobedarch and two small maksalas or benches on both sides.Only the minaret of Bashtak, built in 1340, has a portalat the staircase entrance. The rectangular part of theminaret is made of stone, the upper part of brick.

The domes are similar but unequal in size. They areribbed, but only as exterior decoration (the inner sur-face is plain), and they are decorated with a band ofstucco at their drums with a Quranic inscription, adevice widely used in the architecture of Bahri Mamlukdomes. Their profile, unlike that of Baybars al-Jashan-kir's khanqah mausoleum, curves after about one-thirdof the dome's height.


THE INTERIOR

The entrance leads to a vestibule with a cross-vault,like most of the Mamluk entrance vestibules.

The interior is unusual. To the left is an irregulariwan, not oriented toward Mecca. The prayer niche,set askew on a side wall, is not the original. This Iwanfaces a courtyard (today covered) surrounded on threesides by cells. An arched, smaller Iwan faces the mainIwan. A stucco inscription band, nicely carved, runsalong the walls that frame the courtyard. The cells arelit with openings with decorative grills, some of stuccoand others of stone, pierced and carved in arabesquepatterns.

The iwan with the cells is on the left side; to the rightis a corridor, roofed with a line of cross-vaults. On theright side are the two doors of the two mausoleums, atthe back of which is a dome built of stone, undated andunidentified. Judging from the style of its transitionalzone, which resembles that of the dome added by Lajin

PI. 73a. Stone screen at the madrasa-khanqah of AmirSanjar.

PI. 73b. Stone screen at the madrasa-khanqah of AmirSanjar.

above the prayer niche of Ibn Tulun, it is one of theearliest stone domes of Cairo, if not the earliest.

On the left, the western side of the corridors, thereare three pointed arches opening onto a courtyard thathave quite special screens. There is a fourth such screenat a window between the covered courtyard and theopen courtyard overlooked by the arches. Thesescreens, which are stone panels that do not close theentire height of the arches, leaving an upper part bare,are pierced and carved. This technique is usuallyapplied to stucco window grills. Panels made of stoneand used as screens have no precedent in Cairo'sarchitecture, though this type of work continued to beused and had an impact on minaret architecture.

Minaret balconies, formerly adorned with woodenparapets, were later to have parapets made of such

104 THE MONUMENTS

stone panels, pierced and carved. The earliest extantexamples can be seen at the minarets of Sultan al-NasirMuhammad at the Citadel (1318/35). There are moresuch panels, though smaller in size, decorating thewalls of the corridor of the Sanjar double mausoleum,set between the arches as decoration. They are usedagain instead of stucco window grills to bring light intothe students' cells.

Each of the four screens mentioned is carved with anindividual, intricate floral design, one of them depict-ing grapes. Stylized palmettes, flowers and stalks arealso used.

THE MAUSOLEUMS

The two domed chambers are reached from the cor-ridor through two doors on the right side, and theycommunicate with each other through doors inside themausoleums. The first door leads to the larger of thetwo tombs which is also the more decorated. It has aprayer niche with fine geometric marble inlay designslike those in Qalawun's mausoleum. A wooden inscrip-tion band runs along the walls. The transition zone ofthe dome is made of an octagonal belt of niches andstalactites pierced by windows in niche forms. Theinside of the dome is, unlike the exterior, not ribbed,thus differing from those of Sayyida Ruqayya andYahya al-Shabih, where the flutes of the domes arestructural.

Two openings opposite the prayer niche lead fromSalar's to Sanjar's tomb. Here, the prayer niche has nocolored marble, but the conch is ribbed, the ribs endingat the bottom of the conch with a row of small niches,a rare type of prayer niche decoration in Cairo. Thetransitional zone of both domes is treated in the samestyle.

Coming back to the corridor, the first of the fourarches, which is smaller than the rest, opens onto acourtyard that includes several tombs. We do not knowthe exact function of this courtyard, today framed ontwo sides by modern buildings. On the wall that is partof the madrasa/khanqah building, there is a smallstucco carved prayer niche set in a corner, and a stuccoinscription band runs along this wall. This courtyard,which has on this side the remains of cells could havebeen part of the living quarters of the communityattached to the complex.

FUNCTIONS

The exact function of Sanjar's foundation is unclear.Its own inscriptions do not specify whether it was built

as a madrasa or a khanqah; only the vague term,makan, or "place", is used. According to Maqrizi, itwas both a madrasa and a khanqah. We find that in thethirteenth century, many mosques as well as madrasaswere already performing Sufi rites indicating thatSufism was becoming increasingly widespread and wasno longer restricted to a small, select community. Onthe other hand, many khanqahs were integrating theteaching of law into their activities, thus adopting themadrasa's functions. With time, the madrasa/khan-qahs became the main form of religious institution.

The madrasa/khanqah of Sanjar differs architec-turally, however, from all others known in that it hasno qibla-oriented main hall, while the double mauso-leum is given the optimal location that makes it bothMecca- and street-oriented. The religious part of thecomplex is thus left without the main feature of areligious building, the qibla.

A mausoleum in itself is not a religious, but a secularbuilding. By being attached to mosques, madrasas orkhanqahs, and by traditionally having a prayer niche,it acquired religious features. Thus, the double mauso-leum of Sanjar and his friend Salar should be seenabove all as a memorial building to both men and theirfriendship.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, p. 124.Creswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 242 ff.Maqrizi, Khitat, II, pp. 398, 421.

THE KHANQAH-MAUSOLEUM OF SULTANBAYBARS AL-JASHANKIR (1307-10)

In Persian, jashankir means "the taster," Baybars'position at the sultan's court before he became becom-ing sultan himself. His reign after the second reign ofal-Nasir Muhammad was very brief. During al-Nasir'sabsence to escape enemies, Baybars usurped poweronly to pay with his life when al-Nasir returned for histhird, and longest, period of rule.

The khanqah of Baybars al-Jashankir in the Jama-liyya quarter is the oldest surviving khanqah in Cairo.The one built by Salah al-Dln disappeared long ago,and from the Khanqah Bunduqdariyya (1283/4), onlythe founder's mausoleum survives.

Like the madrasa, the khanqah had living quartersattached, including a kitchen and other dependencies.The Sufis were expected to devote themselves to theirmysticism and to learning. Every khanqah also had


P1. 74. The khanqah-mausoleum of Sultan Baybars al-Jashankir (Department of Antiquities).

106 THE MONUMENTS

accommodations for visiting Sufis, who generally werenot allowed to stay more than three days.

The foundation deed of Baybars al-Jashankir'skhanqah has survived, giving a detailed description ofthe regulations to be followed by the Sufis living there.

THE EXTERIOR

From a distance, the building appears to be a har-monious combination of dome and minaret and fromnearby, the portal is impressive. The facade isdominated by the portal, composed of a great roundarch with cushion voussoir framing a recess with a half-dome resting on two pendentives carved with stalac-tites. Niches are carved on both sides of the entrancerecess and on the flanks. Their conchs are done in blackand white marble ablaq, arranged in a sunrise motif.Beautiful engaged marble colonnettes with Gothic

Fig. 22. The khanqah and mausoleum of Sultan Baybars al-JashankTr (Creswell).

capitals decorate the corners of the recess. On bothsides of the bronze door, the original door withgeometric patterns, there is an inscription in whitemarble inlaid in a black-marble background. Thethreshold has a stone block with hieroglyphics, afeature found in many medieval mosques. They werenot simply spoils from ancient monuments but hadsome kind of talismanic meaning.

The facade also has a tiraz band with the name andtitles of the founder, but Baybars' titles were under-standably obliterated by Sultan al-Nasir Muhammadafter he had recovered his throne and executedBaybars. The khanqah remained closed for twentyyears.

The khanqah was built first, and the mausoleumadded later. A protruding wall with recesses and stalac-tites including iron grilled windows forms the left sideof the facade. This is not the facade of the mausoleumitself, but a small room, or kind of vestibule, leading toit. The dome, like that of al-Salih Najm al-Din'smausoleum, curves from a low level.

The first story of the minaret is a rectangular shaftwith keel-arch niches, topped with bunches of stalac-tites very similar to those on al-Nasir Muhammad'sminaret. The second story, for the first time, is circularand also ends with stalactites. A ribbed helmet on aopen circular pavilion crowns the minaret. The helmetshows the remnants of green tiles that once must havecovered it entirely. The minaret thus lacks theoctagonal part seen in other mabkhara-style minarets,and is one of a very few minarets without an octagonaltransition between the rectangular and circularsections.

THE INTERIOR

One reaches the courtyard of the khanqah through abent entrance. The plan of the khanqah is cruciform.The main Iwan on the qibla side is vaulted, with twosmaller arched recesses on its sides, each communi-cating with an air shaft. There is no decoration on thewalls except for the two columns flanking the prayerniche, perhaps suggesting the simplicity needed for Sufiprayer.

Two smaller, unvaulted, Iwans are on the lateralsides of the courtyard, and the fourth Iwan is vaultedbut smaller than the main Iwan. Between these fourunequally sized Iwans there are three levels of cells.The upper floors' cells have windows overlooking thecourtyard. The cell windows form the main decoration


of the courtyard and their recesses are topped witheither keel- or pointed-arch niches with radiatinghoods, or with stalactites of different patterns. Somewindows are inside lobed arches. The khanqah housedtwo hundred Sufis, but the living quarters, apart fromthese overlooking the courtyard, have not survived.

THE MAUSOLEUM

The sanctuary of the khanqah is rather austere, withno wall decorations; the mausoleum of the founder, incontrast, has rich marble mainly black and whitepaneling.

The prayer niche is inlaid with two-colored marble,but, unlike the exterior niches, the radiation starts notfrom the lower part of the conch but from the apex ofits arch. The marble dadoes or lower wall panels,though less rich and colorful than those in Qalawun'smausoleum, are in the same style, as is the wood in-scription running along the walls and framing theprayer niche.

Unlike all other royal mausoleums in medievalCairo, this one does not open directly onto the street.Instead the protruding vestibule mentioned above is setbetween the domed chamber and the street, which itoverlooks from large iron-grilled windows. The largewindow of the vestibule is said to have been removedfrom the palace of the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad; itwas taken to Egypt in the Fatimid period along with theturban of Caliph al-Qa^im, who had been overthrownin a rebellion. The window had been incorporated intothe Fatimid's viceroyal palace, on the site whereBaybars' khanqah was erected. Salah al-Din hadresided in this palace before it was turned into akhanqah.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd-al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 131 ff.Creswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 249 ff.Maqrizi, Khitat, II, p. 416.

THE MADRASA-MAUSOLEUM OF AMIRSUNQUR AL-SACDI (1315)

Originally, Amir Sunqur al-Sacdi's foundation con-sisted of a madrasa, the founder's mausoleum, and aribat, a type of convent for women. In the Ottomanperiod it was used by Sufi dervishes of the Mawlawiorder.

P1. 75. The madrasa-mausoleum of Amir Sunqur al-Sacdi(Department of Antiquities).

The entrance has a stalactite portal, a half-domeresting on bunches of stalactites. The conch of the half-dome is treated with ablaq masonry in the form ofsunrise motifs that radiate from three points at the baseof the conch. There are the usual maksalas or benchesat the door. Joggled lintels like those at Baybars al-Jashankir's khanqah adorn the entrance. The windowsare typically included in recesses crowned with stalac-tites. Above the portal arch there is a band of interlacedgeometrical shapes whose origins go back to Fatimidprayer niches, which we also see on the south minaretof al-Hakim's mosque and Imam Shafici's mausoleum.

THE MINARET

The mabkhara minaret is unusually slender and isdecorated typically with stucco keel-arched niches. Itsupper structure with heavy cascades of stalactites gives

108 THE MONUMENTS

it a special character. Lobed arched openings withinkeel arches cover the octagonal zone. Its finial is in theshape of a Mawlawl turban, which must have beenadded in Ottoman times.

THE DOME

The dome is unique in its exterior stucco decoration.The entire transitional zone is framed with carvedbands forming rectangles, within each of which is amedallion. The drum of the dome is lavishly carvedwith inscriptions and arabesques that cover the wholearea of the windows. The interior is remarkable, foralthough it is covered by a dome, it is rectangular notsquare. The prayer niche is one of the largest in Cairo'smedieval buildings.

The dome inscription is not Quranic, but a carvedtext from the Maqamat of al-Hariri, the popular twelfth-century collection of stories in rhythmic prose. Thetexts selected for the mausoleum deal with death.

A further unique feature in this inscription is that thedate (721 A.H.) is given in numbers, not words, as isthe case in all other medieval buildings of Cairo. As onthe exterior, the window zone of the dome (at thedrum) is included in a ring of dense stucco ornament.

Of the madrasa, only one iwan has survived, but onemay assume that the plan was cruciform. The rest wasrebuilt in the Ottoman period by the Mawlawl der-vishes as a theatre for their whirling performances. Thebuilding is currently undergoing restoration.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 267 ff.Maqrizi. Khitat, II, p. 397.Muhammad, cAbd al-Rahman Fahmi. "Bayna adab al-maqama wa

fann al-cimara f1 al-madrasa al-sacdiyya," Majallat al-majma'- al-<ilmi al-misn, 52 (1970-71), pp. 39 ff.

THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN AL-NASIRMUHAMMAD AT THE CITADEL (1318-35)

The mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad is theroyal mosque of the Citadel, in fact, of Cairo, for it wasthere that the sultans of Cairo performed their Fridayprayers, except on religious feasts, when prayer tookplace in a large gathering at the hippodrome beneaththe Citadel walls.

The Citadel included a mosque from the time of itsfoundation, and the mosque of Sultan al-Nasir, like

PL 76. The minarets of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad at theCitadel.

most of the buildings the Sultan erected at the Citadel,was built on the site of a previous construction. Therewere several mosques within the Citadel, but this wasone of the most glamorous in Cairo until the originaldome over the prayer niche, covered with green tiles,collapsed in the sixteenth century and the marble wascarried off by the Ottoman conquerors.

THE EXTERIOR

The mosque, according to an inscription at thenorthern entrance, was founded in 1318. We are toldby Maqrizi that it was pulled down and rebuilt on alarger scale in 1335. However, its masonry shows thatit was only built higher, and its roof rebuilt. Traces of


the walled-up earlier crenellation on the exteriorindicate where the original level was.

The hypostyle mosque is built as a regular free stand-ing rectangle around a courtyard with a large domecovering the prayer niche area. There are threeentrances, one on the northeastern side with a trilobedshallow recess and another on the northwestern wallwith a stalactite portal. The third entrance is on thesouthern wall and is enhanced by a pointed archincluding a sun-rise motif in ablaq masonry. Neitherentrance has a maksala or bench making them theexceptions to the rule in Cairo. There are two minarets,at the northeast corner and at the northwest portal.

Unlike the mosques of the city, but like the mosqueof al-Zahir Baybars, its facades are not paneled andhave no decoration except crenellation. Its appearanceis rather austere except for the exotic minaretsdecorated with blue and green faience mosaics.

THE MINARETS

The positions of the two minarets and two asym-metrically located portals are dictated by the situationof the mosque, which faces the nothern enclosure of theCitadel on one side with its official and militarybuildings, and adjoins the residences of the sultans onthe west and south.

The minaret to the north directed its call to prayerto the officers and soldiers dwelling there; the otherminaret faced the sultans' palaces. The northernminaret is the higher of the two, most likely so that itcould be seen by the palace residents some distanceaway. Both minarets are built entirely of stone.

The western minaret is conical, its shaft carved witha deep zigzag motif that is vertical on the first story andhorizontal on the second. Its top is unique in Cairo; ithas no openings and has a garlic-shaped bulb resting ona ribbed, tapering cylinder. The whole upper structureis covered with green, white and blue faience mosaicslike those found at al-Nasir's sabil attached to themadrasa built by his father Qalawun. A Quranicinscription band made of white faience mosaic adornsthe neck of the bulb.

The minaret at the northeastern corner of themosque is a different shape. The base is rectangularand the second story cylindrical, and both are withoutcarving. Its upper part has an open hexagonal pavilionthat supports the top structure, which is similar to thetop of the western minaret. Both minarets havebalconies adorned with parapets made of stone panels

pierced with arabesques and carved in the same techni-que used to make the screens of Sanjar.

We know that a craftsman from Tabriz came toCairo during the reign of al-Nasir Muhammad andthat he built other minarets covered with faience, aswas then the fashion in Persia. Not only the faiencemosaic technique, but also the bulb shape, seems tohave come from Tabriz. Meinecke has found athirteenth-century miniature painting of the city ofTabriz with garlic-shaped minaret tops.

Both minarets have another feature distinguishingthem from all other Mamluk minarets: their base isbelow the level of the roof of the mosque. This indicatesthat when the roof of the mosque was rebuilt after thewalls were made higher, the minarets were alreadystanding.

On the northern wall of the mosque underneath theminaret is a small balcony reached by a staircase insidethe mosque. Its function is not known, but one mayspeculate that it was intended for prayers or recitationsaddressed to overflow crowds of worshipers outside themosque.

THE INTERIOR

The walls supported by the arcades have a row ofarched windows that give the building a special charac-ter. These windows must have been added when theroof was raised. The openings help reduce the thrustcarried by the arches, admit light, and are ornamentalas well. The voussoirs of the mosque's arcades are com-posed of ablaq masonry of the same stone, but painted.

The crenellation around the courtyard is of thestepped type, differing from the outer crenellation com-posed of rectangles with rounded tops like those of thecity and Citadel walls. At the corners near the crenella-tions of the courtyard are four decorative structuressimilar to the mabkhara minaret tops.

A special collection of pre-Islamic capitals crowns themarble columns of the mosque. The two pairs of Copticcapitals at the main entrance are most remarkable.Their white marble is carved with a basket pattern.Originally, the mosque had a number of large iron-grilled windows that are now walled up. It was alsopaneled with a high marble dado which was laterremoved by Sultan Selim and shipped to Istanbul withother marbles from the palaces. The ground level insidethe Citadel has risen, and the mosque must haveoriginally been at a much higher level and reached bya staircase.

110 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 77. The mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel.

Following the example of al-Zahir Baybars' mosque,there is a dome above the prayer niche, though this oneis much smaller and was covered with green tiles. Thepresent dome is modern. The dome is carried by gran-ite columns like those of the Citadel palaces; they weretaken from ancient Egyptian temples. As the transi-tional zone is made of wood, we may assume that theoriginal dome, like many others in Cairo, was made ofplastered wood. The transitional zone consists ofpendentives carved with stalactites. They, togetherwith the inscription band referring to the founder, werepainted and gilded.

During the later Mamluk period, we find that stalac-tite squinches are supplanted by stalactite pendentives.Pendentives are triangles at the corners of the transi-tional zone of a dome that transfer the thrust of thedome to the corners of the four walls. The squinches arearches or quarter-domes that transfer the thrust into themiddle of each of the four walls. When pendentiveswere adopted, the transitional zone no longer had the

appearance of an uninterrupted ring of niches, as isseen in earlier domes. In the absence of squinches, noniches were used in the transitional zone, and windowswere no longer divided to resemble pierced niches; anew, arched style of windows appears. In al-Nasir'smosque three arched windows alternate with eachpendentive.

Al-Nasir Muhammad's mosque has another inter-esting feature, a small loggia located above the north-western entrance, reached by the staircase that leads tothe roof. It is perhaps a dikkat al-muballigh, like thebench on columns in the sanctuary of other mosquesthat is used for call to prayer, recitations and Quranreadings.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Meinecke, Michael. "Die Mamlukischen Faience Dekorationen:Eine Werkstatte aus Tabriz in Kairo (1330-1355)". Kunst desOrients, 11 (1976-77), pp. 85 ff.


THE ZAWIYA OF SHAYKH ZAYN AL-DINYUSUF (1298-1325)

Almost all the religious buildings dealt with in thisintroduction to Cairo's Islamic architecture were spon-sored by members of the ruling class—caliphs, viziers,sultans, amirs, or governors. They functioned either asmosques, madrasas, or khanqahs, or a combination ofthese.

There are, however, a few other buildings of whichnot much survives today, founded by members of thereligious establishment, usually Sufi shaykhs. Maqrizialso mentions a few mosques, built by the wealthybourgeoisie. In his enumeration of Cairo's religiousfoundations, Maqrizi mentions a number of zawiyas ofwhich only one from the Bahri Mamluk period isextant, that of Shaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf. A few fromthe Circassian period and several more from theOttoman have survived.

The zawiya of Shaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf is the onlyfoundation of the Bahri Mamluk period to carry aninscription identifying it as a zawiya. Shaykh Zayn al-Dm Yusuf, whose genealogy is inscribed upon thebuilding, is identified as a descendant of the Umayyadcaliphs; thus he had the same Qurayshi Arab origins asthe Prophet. Originally from Mosul, he migrated toSyria where he was offered an honorary title of amirand a fief, but he rejected these and lived in a luxuriouscastle, served by mamluks and slave girls. He sur-rounded himself with treasures, owned fine horses andsumptuous clothes, and celebrated banquets in royalstyle.

The importance of his status is shown in an episoderelated by Maqrizi. Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil, son ofQalawun, once sent him two of his highest rankingamirs to solicit his oath of allegiance. The Shaykh letthem stand one hour talking with him while he re-mained seated, and when he invited them to sit, theyknelt at his feet. He then gave him his oath of allegianceand a generous gift of 15,000 dirhams. His order,called the cAdawiyya after one of his ancestors, becamepowerful in Syria and politically suspect. When Sultanal-Nasir Muhammad began to persecute the cAda-wiyya, Zayn al-Din, also in trouble with other mem-bers of his family, fled to Egypt, where he introducedthe order. His status, equal at least to that of an amir,is reflected in the architecture and superlative decora-tion of the zawiya and his mausoleum.

THE EXTERIOR

The zawiya is in the southern cemetery between theCitadel and the mausoleum of Imam Shafici. It has aportal that now stands detached and to the east of thebuilding, dated later than the rest (1336). Its inscrip-tions give the genealogy of the Shaykh and the term

PI. 78. The zawiya of Shaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf.

0 5 1 0 1 5 2 0 2 5

Fig. 23. The zawiya of Shaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf (Creswell).

112 THE MONUMENTS

zawiya is used. The portal has a rectangular recess withstalactites.

The building itself, on the west side of the cemeteryroad, has a rather low facade, with only one level ofwindows and a stalactite portal at the north side. Thewindows are set in recesses whose form and decorationare quite distinctive. The eastern facade has four win-dows, the two at the extremity set within a trilobe-arched recess, the upper part of which is framed by amolding. The two in the middle are crowned withstalactites and also framed in the upper part by amolding.

The south facade's windows are crowned with keel-arched niches. Remarkable stone carved lintels witharabesques and inscriptions also decorate the windows.

The dome is attached to the prayer hall, on its westside, which is not the street side. At that time, mauso-leums in the cemetery, unlike those in the city, were notalways street oriented. However, the dome is highenough to be quite visible from the road above the lowfacade. Its windows overlook the street on the southside. The dome is of the elongated and ribbed type, andthe exterior transitional zone is decorated with bands ofcarved stucco that frame all of its facets as well as thetwenty keel-arched windows of the drum. Above thewindows is another stucco inscription band. There is nominaret.

building and framing the prayer niche, includingwithin arabesque borders rows of cartouches, oneoblong and the next circular, with inscriptions. Thisband also frames the entrance to the mausoleum domeadjoining the qibla iwan to the west.

As the qibla Iwan is relatively shallow, the mauso-leum is wider than the Iwan's depth and thus protrudesinto the west side Iwan which it also directly joins, asthere are no cells between.

THE MAUSOLEUM

The lower part of the domed chamber is decoratedwith a polychrome marble dado and inlaid panels withsquare Kufic inscriptions. The upper wall decorationhas disappeared, but that of the dome survives and isquite exceptional. The dome is ribbed inside and out,with flat carved ribs that spring from a central inscrip-tion medallion at the apex. At the base, each rib endsin a niche with a carved conch flanked by two colon-nettes. The arabesque pattern carved on the ribs recallsthe soffits of Qalawun's mausoleum. The stucco waspainted, and the frames of all twenty drum windowstogether with the composite squinches are carvedstucco, giving the dome's interior an extremely lavishappearance. The window stucco grills are formed witharabesque patterns and filled with colored glass.

THE INTERIOR

The stalactite portal, carrying an inscription assign-ing the zawiya to the year 1298, on the north edge ofthe facade, leads through a vestibule to a cruciforminterior. The courtyard is surrounded by four vaultedIwans. The cruciform plan differs from others, how-ever, in not having cells between the Iwans. There wereformerly a few cells on the upper floor that wereremoved during restoration work. Another irregularityis that the side Iwans are unequal in size, and the qiblaIwan is relatively shallow. Layla AH Ibrahim, whostudied the architecture of this building, assumes thatthe cruciform layout was introduced in the interior ata date later than that of the mausoleum and facade con-struction. An inscription slab at the mausoleumentrance carries the date 1325, but does not specify theevent it commemorates. The two dates and theirregularity of the plan suggest that the zawiya was notbuilt according to a comprehensive plan.

The decoration of the zawiya interior is composed ofa band of carved stucco running around the whole

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ali Ibrahim, Layla. "The Zawiya of Shaikh Zain al-Dln Yusuf inCairo". Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts AbteilungKairo, 34 (1978), pp. 79 ff.

van Berchem. C.I.A., pp. 148 ff.Creswell. M.A.E., pp. 229 ff.Maqrizi. Khitat, II, pp. 435 ff.

THE SABIL OF SULTAN AL-NASIRMUHAMMAD (1326)

On the left side of the entrance to Qalawun'smadrasa is an arcade of four pointed arches runningaround the corner of the building, forming an L-shape(s. PI. 67). Its roof has a small octagonal structurewhich must have been the base of a small dome nolonger there. The structure is a sabil, added by Sultanal-Nasir Muhammad, a public fountain for the thirstyvisitor.

The name sabil comes from the expression, fi sabilAllah, which is equivalent to "for the sake of God", orcharity. The Quran has many references to the obliga-


tion of giving water to the thirsty. Such fountains wereoften sponsored by rulers as charitable, pious deeds.

Providing water in medieval Cairo, far from theNile, was no small task. Houses of the rich had theirown wells or cisterns, as did all important foundationssuch as mosques, madrasas, and khanqahs. Thecisterns were cleaned yearly and treated with aromaticherbs to give the water a fresh flavor, and filled bycaravans, of donkeys from the Nile. Common peoplebought water for general purposes from water carriers,but the sabils, of which al-Nasir Muhammad's is theearliest surviving example, were for drinking wateronly. The sabil had a cistern, and a man in charge ofcleaning and maintaining the facility and handing outwater to the thirsty.

The shape of this sabil is unusual; it is an arcadedbuilding on a corner. The octagonal structure uponwhich a dome must have once stood is decorated withcolored faience bits, ceramic pieces set like mosaics inpatterns. Unlike common mosaics which are of uniformpieces, here the tessera are cut in larger or smallerpieces according to the requirements of the patterns ofthe letters, which are set on a plaster background.Today, these mosaics are hardly visible beneath thedust, but some brown, green and white pieces can beseen. This technique of architectural decoration origi-nated in Mongol Persia during the same period,whence it came to Egypt and was used here and therebut never to the extent that it was in Persia. In Cairo,carved stucco and stone were preferred to the morecolorful ceramic decoration.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creswell. M.A.E., II, pp. 274 ff.Meinecke. "Faience."

THE MOSQUE OF AMIR ALTINBUGHAAL-MARIDANI (1340)

Amir Altinbugha was the cup-bearer and the son-in-law of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. The mosque heerected is in the southern outskirts outside BabZuwayla, in the quarter called Tabbana.

THE EXTERIOR

The mosque has a hypostyle plan like the mosque ofal-Nasir, but its exterior walls are treated in the usualurban Mamluk style, with recesses crowned with stal-actites including double-arched windows.

PI. 79. The mosque of Amir al-Maridani.

The mosque has three entrances, one on the axis ofthe prayer niche which has a stalactite portal with amedallion of faience mosaic, and two on the sides. Themain street is on the north side; hence the minaret andmain entrance are also on the north side of the mosque.

The main portal is a deeply recessed pointed arch,with a richly decorated wall facing the street. Carvedand inlaid two-colored marbles are topped by a stalac-tite cresting. There is a small window with colonnettesabove the door, and maksalas flank both sides of theentrance. On the left side of this entrance passagestands the minaret. The wall under the minaret has anobvious irregularity: the tiraz band starting on the rightside of the entrance vault that runs along the wholefacade is interrupted underneath the minaret, and thecolonnettes at the facade's other corners are missing atthis corner. A close look at the buttress of the minaretreveals that different types of stone are used, meaningthat this part of the wall has been rebuilt. The crenella-tion is missing above the entire portal and the buttressof the minaret.

The south side entrance and northern axial entranceare decorated with blue and white faience mosaic pat-terns on window grills, medallions and panels.

THE MINARET

The mosque provides the first example of a minaretthat is octagonal from top to bottom. It also has theearliest extant top that is not the mabkhara type, but apavilion of eight columns carrying above a crown ofstalactites a pear-shaped bulb. This composition will be

THE MONUMENTS

seen to characterize all later Mamluk minarets. Weknow from Maqrizi that the architect of this minaret,Mucallim al-Suyufi, Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad'schief architect, also built the minaret at Aqbugha's al-Azhar madrasa. That minaret has an octagonal firststory, but the second is circular; the third is missing.

THE INTERIOR

Like the mosque of al-Nasir at the Citadel, this is ahypostyle mosque and its columns have a variety ofpre-Islamic capitals. Ancient Egyptian granite columnssupport the dome above the prayer niche. This domeis similar to al-Nasir's royal mosque dome at theCitadel and has the same type of transitional zone.

The facade of the courtyard is remarkable. Thepointed arches are framed with a continuous moldingforming a loop at the apex of each arch. Above thearches, keel-arched niches alternate with a lozengeabove a medallion, all carved in stucco. The steppedcrenellation is also carved in stucco arabesques. Deco-rative structures of mabkhara shape are set at thecorners and in the middle of each wall of the courtyardfacade, each carrying a bulb of blue glass.

The main feature of the courtyard facade is thewooden mashrabiyya that secludes the prayer hall fromthe courtyard. It has a large inscription and pleasantlyfilters light from the courtyard. This and the screen atthe mosque of al-Salih Talacic, originally also in thesanctuary, are the only surviving examples of suchwooden screens in mosques. There is a similar screen

at the mausoleum of Qalawun around the cenotapharea.

The interior of the sanctuary is richly decorated. Inaddition to the colored marble dado on the walls, thereare panels of inlaid marble like those at the mausoleumof Qalawun, also with decorative square Kufic scriptrepeating the name of Muhammad. The prayer nicheis inlaid with marble and has rows of niches separatedby blue glass colonnettes. Carved stucco once coveredthe walls with a series of medallions and naturalistictree representations unique in Cairo architecture.

The pendentives of the dome and its inscriptions aremade of painted and gilded wood. Stucco arabesquegrills filled with colored glass decorate the windows.The pulpit, which is original, has geometric star pat-terns, and the bulb at its top is similar to that of theminaret. Above all these doors inside are panels with

PI. 80. The sanctuary of the mosque of Amir al-Maridani. PI. 81. Mashrabiyya at the sanctuary of al-Maridani.


blue and white faience mosaics. The ablution fountainin the courtyard is not part of the original mosque.

On the northern wall of the sanctuary is an inscrip-tion panel of white marble carved and inlaid with greengypsum-like paste.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 147 ff.Maqrizi. Khitat, II, p. 308.

THE MOSQUE OF AMIR AQSUNQUR (1347)

The mosque built by Amir Aqsunqur, a son-in-lawof Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, and the husband of hiswidow, stands in the Tabbana quarter between BabZuwayla and the Citadel. It has a hypostyle plan likethe mosque of Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani, though itdiffers in many other respects.

Because it is situated on a thoroughfare, the mosquehas a ground plan that is not quite regular. It has threeentrances, the main one opening onto the westernarcade opposite the sanctuary, and two side entrances,one into the southern arcade and the other at the cornerbetween the northern and western arcades.

The primary irregularity of the ground plan is thepresence of a mausoleum dome on the street side thatpredates the foundation of the mosque and which wasincorporated into its masonry. The mausoleum is notMecca-oriented, which is unusual in Cairo mauso-leums; instead it follows the street alignment.

PI. 82. The sanctuary of the mosque of Amir Aqsunkur.

When integrated with the mosque, the westernarcade acquired a triangular shape to cope on one sidewith the street alignment and to be parallel on the otherside to the Mecca-oriented sanctuary. Thus, theentrance bay is set askew to the rest of the mosque, asit is at al-Aqmar.

THE EXTERIOR

The tall circular minaret at the southwestern cornerof the mosque is visible to the passerby coming downfrom the Citadel long before he reaches the door of themosque. This minaret, because of its location in rela-tion to the winding street and other buildings, wasfrequently illustrated by nineteenth-century artists andphotographers. In three of these illustrations, we see aremarkable feature that characterized this minaretbefore it was restored—it originally had four, not three,stories. Unfortunately, when the minaret was restoredat the beginning of this century, the third floor was notrebuilt, and it has thus lost its uncommon feature. Thefirst story is circular and plain, the second circular andribbed, the third was octagonal, and the fourth is com-posed of the usual pavilion of eight columns supportinga bulb like the top of al-Maridani's minaret. Theminaret is remarkable in its elegance and in being oneof the few Mamluk minarets with a circular shaft.

The main portal is composed of a large pointed archwith corbels at the springing of the arch. The mauso-leum on the north side of the portal has two facades onthe street.

This mausoleum contains the graves of several sonsof Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. We know that the firstdeceased son died in 1341 so the mosque must alreadyhave been standing at that time. The mausoleum wasknown, however, by the name of Sultan cAla3 al-DinKujuk, another son of al-Nasir Muhammad, who ruleda brief time between 1341 and 1342. He was firstburied elsewhere and then brought to this mausoleumtwo decades later, during the rule of his brother SultanHasan. Aqsunqur, himself related by marriage to theQalawun family, incorporated the mausoleum into hisown mosque and built a mausoleum for himself next toit where he and his son are buried. A sabil and a kuttabhave completely disappeared.

THE INTERIOR

The interior presents a rather incoherent layout, aspart of the arcades are carried by piers supporting

116 THE MONUMENTS

cross-vaulted bays while others are carried on columnssupporting a flat wooden ceiling. Originally, themosque must have been built only on piers supportingcross-vaulted bays. Meinecke identifies this feature asSyrian. Aqsunqur had been governor of Tripoli inSyria and Maqrizi writes that he supervised the con-struction of the mosque himself, even to carryingmaterials along with the masons. The piers supportingthe cross-vaults remain unique in Egyptian medievalarchitecture, with no later imitations. The prayer nicheis enhanced by a one-bay dome on plain squinches, anarchaic feature in 1347, though the combination is alsofound in brick in the same mosque in Kujuk'smausoleum. The stone version is seen at themausoleum domes of Umm al-Sultan Sha^ban and thetwo domes of Tankizbugha (1359 and 1362). Theprayer niche is quite remarkable with its carved whitemarble conch that was originally painted. The lowerpart is paneled with polychrome marble. The pulpit isone of the few marble ones and is a masterpiece,decorated with carved bands and on both sides withlarge patterns inlaid with colored stones. The pulpitdoor's stalactites and the bulb on four columns at thetop are all carved in marble.

The dikka facing the courtyard from the sanctuaryhas Western style capitals that may be Crusadertrophies. The mosque was in poor condition by theearly fifteenth century, since its endowments in Syriahad by then been lost. An amir added an ablution foun-tain in the center of the courtyard in 1412 but becauseof lack of funds, the mosque was used only on Fridaysand special occasions.

Amir Aqsunqur's masons, apparently not familiarwith the vaulting system applied in the mosque's archi-tecture, must have done a poor job of building them,for in 1652 the Amir Ibrahim Agha Mustahfizan madeimportant structural restorations of the arcades and theroof, using columns to support the southern arcadedhall. At the same time, he redecorated the sanctuarywith the tiles that have given the mosque its moderntouristic name, "the Blue Mosque."

In the Ottoman period many sponsors of religiousfoundations restored old mosques that had fallen intodecay or built upon their foundations and walls, ratherthan building new ones. Such mosques then acquiredthe name of the restorer, and this mosque, after restora-tion, was sometimes called the mosque of IbrahimAgha.

The tiles are of seventeenth-century Turkish Iznikstyle. They are blue and green with typically Ottoman

floral motifs, such as vases with carnations and tulips,and cypress trees. Some motifs are applied individuallyon each tile; others form compositions on a set of tiles.The Cairo craftsmen were not quite familiar with theart of tile paneling, and the tiles are inexpertly appliedto the walls.

Ibrahim Agha used the opportunity to add in thesouthern arcade a mausoleum for himself, also paneledwith marble in Mamluk style and including a prayerniche whose decoration is quite faithful to the BahriMamluk marble-inlay tradition.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 152 ff.Maqrizi. Khitat, II, p. 309.Meinecke, Michael. "Die Moschee des Amirs Aqsunqur an-Nasiri in

Kairo," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts AbteilungKairo, 29 (1973), pp. 9 ff.

Meinecke-Berg, V. "Die Osmanische Fliesendekoration der Aqsun-qur-Moschee in Kairo. Zur Entwicklung der Iznik Fliesen des 17.Jahrhunderts." Mitteilungen, 29 (1973), pp. 39 ff.

THE MOSQUE AND THE KHANQAH OFAMIR SHAYKHU (1349, 1355)

The mosque and khanqah of Amir Shaykhu, aleading amir under Sultan Hasan, face each other onSaliba Street with similar facades and minarets, givingthe complex an interesting appearance. Six yearsseparate the foundation of Shaykhu's mosque from thatof the khanqah.

The architectural combination appears today asunique, but at one time it was not. A few years earlier(1340), Amir Bashtak built a mosque and a khanqahfacing each other across a street, with a bridge connec-ting them. The complex of Amir Manjaq al-Silahdarnear the Citadel (1349) also consisted of a mosque onone side of the street and a khanqah on the oppositeside, of which only ruins remain. Some complexes inthe cemetery, such as those of Barsbay, Qaytbay, andQurqumas, were also composed of structures on bothsides of the street.

THE MOSQUE: THE EXTERIOR

The lintel and threshold of the mosque are takenfrom ancient Egyptian temples. A stalactite portal sur-mounted by the minaret leads to the vestibule. Theminaret is octagonal throughout and has a specialfeature: rather than stalactites underneath the bal-conies, it is decorated with carving consisting of


PI. 83. The mosque (left) and khanqah of Amir Shaykhu. Fig. 24. The mosque and mausoleum of Amir Shaykhu(Department of Antiquities).

horizontal moldings at the first balcony and verticalribs at the upper balcony. The vertical ribs are similarto those at the top of Qalawun's minaret, added by hisson al-Nasir. Creswell compared this pattern to ancientEgyptian reed motifs. Only one other minaret in Cairo,that of Manjaq al-Silahdar, has this type of decoration.

Except for their transitional zones and some detailsin the carved arabesques of the shaft's first story, thetwo minarets are identical. Their bulbs are carved in analmond-shaped pattern and Quranic inscriptions encir-cle the necks of the bulbs.

The facade of the mosque has a small ribbed mauso-leum dome next to the minaret. The entrance to themausoleum is from the vestibule; the entrance to themosque, also from the vestibule, is bent. In thevestibule are pieces of polished black stone in the wallsthat must have served as mirrors.

THE INTERIOR

The mosque of Shaykhu was severely damaged whenthe last Mamluk sultan, Tumanbay, hid there during

battles between the Mamluks and Ottoman con-querors. Some parts were burned, including a domethat was above the prayer niche. Little of the originaldecoration has survived. The prayer niche is paneledwith marbles of no special interest; it may have beenrestored during the Ottoman period. The lower part ofthe prayer niche has seventeenth-century Tunisiantiles.

The plan of the mosque is hypostyle, though it differsfrom the plan typical of its time in having only tworiwaqs or arcaded halls. On the lateral sides arerecesses facing the courtyard with a double arch sup-ported by one column. Thus, the features of the classichypostyle plan are combined with the cruciform pat-tern. The prayer hall is not a regular rectangle, butfollows without accommodation the shape of theground space available.

The pulpit of the mosque is made of stone andthough most of its decoration has disappeared, whatremains shows the style of Sultan Qaytbay's reign. Asimilar, and better preserved, example is that at thekhanqah of Faraj Ibn Barquq. The dikka, or bench used

118 THE MONUMENTS

for recitations, is also made of stone rather than theusual wood or marble. It is covered with carvings dif-ferent from those of the pulpit and is dated A.H. 963(1555/6).

THE KHANQAH (1355)

The portal and minaret are repetitions of the pat-terns used in the mosque facade six years earlier.Ancient Egyptian stones are also used here for the lintel

and the entrance threshold. The vestibule leadsthrough a bend to the khanqah, whose plan differs fromthat of the mosque in having several stories of livingunits for the Sufis surrounding the courtyard on threesides. The prayer hall is hypostyle and has a prayerniche whose only decoration is the ablaq masonry in theconch.

The plan follows the street alignment and is thusirregular, making the interior of the sanctuary atrapezoid instead of a rectangle. Shaykhu was buried at

Fig. 25. The khanqah of Amir Shaykhu (Department of Antiquities).


PI. 84. The interior of the khanqah of Amir Shaykhu.

the corner on the northeastern or street side rather thanin the mausoleum he had attached to the mosque, andthe first shaykh of the khanqah is also buried there. Inthe Ottoman period, wall paintings representing theKacba in Mecca were added to this part of thesanctuary.

The fourth (north) side on the street, has a smallIwan and is very irregular. In fact, it seems to havefunctioned primarily as a screen wall between the streetand the interior. Its ground plan is triangular. Thisgave the courtyard a regular rectangular plan, unlikethe sanctuary.

There is a bulbous wooden dome in front of theprayer niche which may or may not be original. Thebeautiful ceiling paintings in blue and white were donein the eighteenth century, as an inscription notes.

A foundation inscription slab, originally at theentrance but now in the sanctuary, is interesting in thatit gives the founder's name without the usual series oftitles and attributes. Only the phrase, "the humble ser-vant of God," is used, suggesting that Shaykhu con-sidered himself a Sufi. The text further implies that thekhanqah was also intended to house pilgrims on theirway to Mecca, for interestingly, the text of the inscrip-tion on the khanqah minaret is from the sura referringto pilgrimage. The khanqah of Shaykhu, according toMaqrizi, included the teaching of theology and the fourrites of Islamic law, making it equivalent to a madrasa.

To the south of the sanctuary is a qaca or receptionhall, today in very dilapidated condition though its planis recognizable. Sufi foundations often had residentialstructures attached where the founder spent time withthe Sufis in order to receive their blessings.

THE LIVING UNITS

The cells surrounding the courtyard of the khanqahare supplemented by a large complex of three-storiedcells on the south side of the building that overlooked apassage between them and the khanqah. According toMaqrizi, the khanqah originally covered an area of one

feddan, or over four thousand square meters. Attachedto the khanqah were two public baths, shops, and livingunits, providing income for the upkeep of the founda-tion. The Sufis attached to the foundation were givenbread, meat, oil, soap and sweets. This was one ofCairo's largest pious foundations.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 156 ff.Maqrizi. Khitat, II, pp. 313, 421.van Berchem. C.I.A., p. 232.

PI. 85. Gallery in the living quarters at the khanqah of AmirShaykhu.

120 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 86. The facade of the madrasa-mausoleum of Amir Sarghitmish (Department of Antiquities).


THE MADRASA OF AMIR SARGHITMISH(1356)

Amir Sarghitmish, whose career began under Sultanal-Muzaffar Haji, died during the reign of SultanHasan. He built his madrasa adjoining the mosque ofIbn Tulun on Saliba Street. The madrasa taught theHanafi rite, and its students were Persians. Thebuilding has several remarkable features.

THE EXTERIOR

The southwestern facade facing the mosque of IbnTulun has shops underneath, but the main facade is onthe west side, with a stalactite portal and an octagonalminaret with carved bulb on its left. The portal stalac-tites differ from others of their time in having penden-tive triangles at the two corners between the semi-domeand rectangular recess. The minaret is decorated withtwo-colored inlaid masonry forming a sunrise motif onthe first story, and a zigzag motif on the second story.There is only one of the small decorative balconies onthe second story where there are usually four, one onevery second facet of the octagon.

Projecting onto the street on the southwestern side ofthe building is a mausoleum that does not adjoin theprayer hall, so that it can face the main street.

The dome is unusual with its particularly high drum,remains of an inscription band, and a cornice of stalac-tites underneath the dome. This is the earliest extantexample of a dome with stalactites on the exterior. Thetransitional zone of the dome is not visible from theexterior and the profile of the dome differs from thecommon type in lacking a pointed top. It is doubleshelled, with the inner shell quite a bit lower than theouter, a device used in the mausoleums of Samarkandbeginning in the Timurid period (early fifteenthcentury).

THE INTERIOR

The madrasa plan is cruciform with four unequalIwans, between which are living units. Some of theliving units overlook the street; others open onto thecourtyard. An unusual feature in Cairo cruciform planplan madrasas is the large dome over the prayer niche.The original dome collapsed and has since been rebuiltusing an old photograph as guide. This dome does nothave a double shell, as the dome of the mausoleumthough it has a similarly high drum. We do not knowwhether the original dome had a double shell or not.

The dome is carried on wooden pendentives and coversthe central bay of the prayer hall. Two flat-roofed baysare on each side of the domed area.

The prayer hall has carved marble slabs, some ofwhich are in the Islamic Museum, and others inanother mosque in the neighborhood. The decorationson these slabs are floral; one of them has an interestingcomposition of arabesques with two hands holdingstalks, a lamp, and birds. Hasan cAbd al-Wahhabwrites that marbles with animal representations andgrapes were found under the floor of the madrasa.

One of the slabs near the prayer niche has a medal-lion at its center and an inscription with the founder'sname as well as a blazon, or emblem, of Sarghitmish,a handkerchief, symbol of his function as jamdar, oramir in charge of the royal wardrobe.

In the Bahri Mamluk period, the functions of thevarious amirs were represented in their blazons, oremblems applied to their buildings, residences, andobjects they used. These blazons symbolized their func-tions at the royal court: a sword on the gate of thesword-carrier Manjaq al-Silahdar (1346/7); polo stickscarved at the mosque of Amir Almalik al-Juqandar, thepolo master (1319); a cup at the madrasa of Iljay al-YusufT (1373), and the wakala of Qusun (1341), cupbearers. The earliest example of a blazon on a Cairobuilding is the pair of lions facing each other on al-Zahir Baybars' madrasa at Nahhasin; in this case, theemblem was of his name, baybars meaning lion.

In the middle of the marble paved courtyard is anablution fountain in the shape of a pavilion of eightmarble columns which most likely once had a dome,like that on the Sultan Hasan mosque.

The domed mausoleum is reached from the westernIwan opposite the prayer hall. The domed area does notdirectly overlook the street; adjoining it is a rectangularspace that is cross-vaulted and has windows. A similardevice is used at the mausoleum of Baybars al-Jashanklr. In both cases, this is explained by the streetalignment on one side and the Mecca orientation of thedome and its relationship to the rest of the building onthe other side, where there is a fine marble cenotaph.The transitional zone of its double-shell dome differsfrom that of the prayer-niche dome in being composedof several tiered squinches, as is usual in brick domes.

THE DOMES

The exotic character of the domes of Sarghitmish'smadrasa might be associated with its dedication to Per-

122 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 87. The madrasa-mausoleum of Amir Sarghitmish and the minaret of Ibn Tulun.

sian students. Though several similar domes are foundat Samarkand in Transoxania (today in the SovietUnion), all examples are of a later date, built aroundthe year 1400. There is no doubt, however, that thesedomes had a foreign prototype and did not belong to aCairene tradition, for they appear suddenly in Cairoarchitecture with no signs of a previous evolution. Fur-thermore, double-shell domes were common in Persia.A common prototype in Persia could have been theorigin of both the Samarkand and Sarghitmish domes,though no examples have survived there.

A similar situation is seen in the mosque of IbnTulun, where features taken from Samarra mosqueshave very few surviving precedents, and in the mina-rets of al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel, whosePersian origins cannot be demonstrated in survivingstructures. The double-shell dome was built once morein Cairo, at the Sultaniyya mausoleum.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 106 ff.Maqrizi. Khitat, II, p. 403.Meinecke. "Faience."

THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN HASAN (1356-61)

Although it was never completed, the mosque ofSultan Hasan has always been praised as one of themajor monuments of the Islamic world. Its founder,Sultan Hasan, was not one of the major rulers of Egypt;he came to power as a child, and authority was in thehands of his regents. His rule was interrupted (1347-51and 1354-61), and when he was killed, his body washidden and never found again. Cairo's greatest mauso-leum was empty until an amir was buried there morethan a century later.


PI. 88. The madrasa-mosque and mausoleum of Sultan Hasan.

The mosque of Sultan Hasan was a madrasa for thefour rites of Islamic law, and for the first time in Cairo,the madrasa had also the status of a congregationalmosque for the Friday sermon.

The foundation was ambitious in every respect. Inarchitectural proportions it is the most gigantic ofCairo's mosques, built to house four hundred students.The cost of the building and decoration became so highthat the work had to be left uncompleted. It is reportedthat Sultan Hasan said he would have abandoned thewhole scheme but for the shame it would bring if peoplecould say that an Egyptian sultan was not able to com-plete a mosque he had started.

THE SITE

The mosque of Sultan Hasan was erected on the siteof a palace that was pulled down, overlooking the

square where the hippodrome and horse market werelocated, beneath the royal residences of the Citadel. Itwas thus one of the most prestigious sites in Cairo, andthe centerpiece of the panoramic view from al-Qasr al-Ablaq with its huge gilded window grills. The entirearchitectural conception of this gigantic buildingresponded to the privileged character of the site.

Its location was, however, also a liability, for with itsmassive walls and proximity to the Citadel, it sufferedin ways that no other mosque in Cairo did. During thereign of Sultan Barquq, rebels occupied the mosqueand fired at the Citadel from its roof, whereupon SultanBarquq destroyed the staircases in order to prevent anyrepetition of that event. Later, another sultan had tosend soldiers to occupy the mosque to prevent rebelsfrom entrenching themselves in it, and once again,Sultan Jaqmaq blocked the staircases. Sultan Janbalattook the surprising decision in 1500 to destroy the

124 THE MONUMENTS

mosque to prevent its being used for military uprisings,and a team of workers set about the demolition untilcriticism forced him to abandon it.

In the Ottoman period, the mosque was again in-volved in warfare. Bullet holes pierced the dome, soweakening it that it was demolished to prevent itsaccidental collapse. The collapse of one of the twominarets, taking away part of a buttress with its stalac-tites, could also have been a consequence of battles. Inthe eighteenth century, the mosque was reopened afterhaving been closed for half a century for securityreasons.

THE FACADES

The mosque is free standing and has three facades.The fourth, western, side has the large commercialcomplex and other dependencies belonging to the waqfof Sultan Hasan which financed the foundation. Awaterwheel is still in place.

The facade as seen from the Citadel presented adome flanked on each side by a minaret. The dome wasthat of the mausoleum, which collapsed in 1661.According to a traveler's description, it was huge andbulbous, built of wood and covered with lead as is thedome of Imam Shafici. The fact that it is described asbulbous recalls the mosque of Sarghitmish, built only afew years earlier. The present dome of Sultan Hasan ismodern and is a misinterpretation of the originaldesign.

One of the two original minarets has survived, thehighest minaret of medieval Cairo at eighty-fourmeters. It is octagonal throughout, like the minarets ofal-Maridani, Shaykhu, and Sarghitmish. Its shaft alsohas geometric patterns made of inlaid stone, and its topis composed of a bulb on eight columns. Its silhouetteis massive compared to other minarets of the sameperiod. The second minaret collapsed in 1659 and wasreplaced shortly afterward by the inferior structure wesee today on the north corner of the mausoleum.

The facade of Sultan Hasan's mosque that is seenfrom the Citadel today is thus quite irregular. Thedomed square of the mausoleum protrudes on threesides and is also particularly high, over thirty meters.At its top is a projecting stalactite cornice in carvedstone running along the facade of the building; it hasno parallel in any other Cairene mosque.

The center of each of the three mausoleum facades isdecorated with a medallion with a bull's-eye in thecenter, framed by interlaced bands in two colors. There

PI. 89. The northern facade and portal of Sultan Hasan.

also two rows of windows, the upper ones inserted inrecesses crowned with stalactites surmounted by ashallow conch, an arrangement similar to portal treat-ments. The shallow conch like the medallions isdecorated with interlaced bands.

The lower windows are inserted in recesses that havea stepped pyramidal profile and were once decoratedwith faience mosaics, of which there are still traces onthe south side. These mosaics show that the craftsmenfrom Tabriz who came during the reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, Sultan Hasan's father, must havehad their workshops in Cairo for several decades.

Finely carved columns with stalactite capitals andbases grace the corners. The twisted carved motif onthe shaft of the columns is also seen on the colonnettesdecorating the facade of the al-Aqmar mosque, a motifgoing back to Byzantine tradition. The southern facadeof the complex has eight horizontal rows of windows,each two corresponding to one story of student cells.This composition gives the facade the appearance of amodern highrise not seen in any other medievalbuilding in Cairo. The northern facade, with themosque's portal, is also characterized by a multitude ofwindows.

THE PORTAL

The portal occupies the whole length of the facade,making it by far the largest in Cairo. Its most remark-able feature is that it is set at an angle to the rest of thefacade. It may have been set askew so that it is visiblefrom the Citadel, or perhaps simply to suit the street


alignment. The portal is dominated by a cascade ofdripping stalactites surmounted by a fluted half-dome.

The architecture of the portal has been compared tothat of the Gok madrasa in Anatolia built under Saljuqrule (1271/2), with medallions flanking the stalactitevault, the carved bands framing it, and the panels filledwith geometric patterns. The similarity also extends tothe original plan of the mosque, with two minarets atthe portal as in Anatolian mosques and at the Gokmadrasa. The original plan called for four minarets:one was built at the portal, but it collapsed before thesecond was erected, and the plan to build minarets atthe portal was abandoned. The resemblance betweenthe portals of Sultan Hasan's mosque and the Gokmadrasa cannot be explained by their having the samearchitect, as the Gok madrasa was built much earlier.However, the Sultan Hasan portal could have beendesigned by a Cairo craftsman who had been inAnatolia and was impressed by the portal of themadrasa, or it could have been made by an Anatoliancraftsman in Cairo who was inspired by the samebuilding. According to Maqrizi craftsmen from all overthe world worked on the mosque of Sultan Hasan.

The portal of Sultan Hasan's mosque is superlativenot only in size, but also in the quality of the craftsman-ship involved in its decorations. The decoration wasnever completed, though work on the mosque con-tinued for years after Sultan Hasan's death. Prayer,however, was inaugurated as soon as the prayer hallwas completed. Because the prayer hall dictated theorientation of the main part of the mosque, it was thepart completed first. The carved bands adorning theportal are not continued above, and the stages of workcan thus be seen: the carvings below are completed andthe patterns above them are incised but not carved out,showing that work began on the lower part and movedupwards. The uppermost part of the portal is devoid ofdecoration and seems to be lacking its facing.

The carved, but not completed, decoration at theportal of Sultan Hasan is of great interest, as it presentsChinese flower motifs such as chrysanthemums andChinese lotus flowers. These patterns were common inMamluk fourteenth-century minor-art objects, but thisis the only known example in architecture. The pat-terns do not imply that Chinese craftsmen worked onthe mosque, but that the craftsmen who did werefamiliar with Chinese art motifs. Trade between theFar East and the Islamic world flourished during thefourteenth century, promoted by the opening of landroutes between the Mediterranean and China, under

the Mongols' Asian hegemony. Chinese porcelains andsilks, highly cherished in Egypt, must have inspiredCairene artists to enlarge their decorative repertoirewith these exotic designs.

On the right side of the entrance is a narrow, verycurious carved panel with architectural designs, such asa Gothic portal and a domed structure with gabled roofof Western, probably Byzantine, origin, possibly acraftsman's signature in disguise. In fact, the layout ofthe vestibule, with a stone dome on pendentives flankedwith three half domes dripping with stalactites, isByzantine in style. The domed structure has been inter-preted as the Dome of the Rock.

Before entering the vestibule, there is a handsomeinlaid marble inscription and two marble niches inlaidwith geometric designs, whose conchs are decoratedwith stalactites as in Anatolian prayer niches. Thevestibule has a large stone bench that may have beenused by Quran readers, and also has medallions ofinlaid marble with intricate geometric patterns andcarved stone niches.

The original bronze door of Sultan Hasan's mosqueis now at the mosque of Sultan al-Mu-'ayyad at BabZuwayla. Al-Mu^ayyad acquired it, illegally, from Sul-tan Hasan's foundation, along with a huge bronzechandelier that is now at the Islamic Museum.

THE INTERIOR

Through a bent entrance, passing beneath the stu-dent living quarters, we reach the courtyard framed byfour unequal and enormous vaulted halls or Iwans. Inthe center is an ablution fountain completed in 1362,composed of eight marble columns carrying a bulbouswooden dome decorated with an inscription band inrelief. This is perhaps a replica of the missing mauso-leum dome that was also wooden, and bulbous.

The great size of the four Iwans leaves no space forthe cells to overlook the courtyard, and as has beennoted, their many windows overlook the street on thesouthern and northern facades. The other cells havewindows onto light shafts.

Between the four Iwans are the four entrances to eachof the madrasas. The entrances are decorated with richmulticolored marble inlay work. The largest madrasa,on the right side of the prayer hall, was that of theHanafi rite, to which the Mamluks adhered. Nextlargest, on the left side of the sanctuary, was that of theShaficl rite, which most Egyptians at the time followed.The Maliki and Hanbali madrasas are on the opposite

126 THE MONUMENTS

0 10 20 30 40 m.

Fig. 26. The madrasa-mosque of Sultan Hasan (Department of Antiquities).

side. Each madrasa has a courtyard with ablution foun-tain, a qibla-oriented Iwan, and four stories of livingunits. Some cells are larger than others, and a numberof latrines are included in the living quarters. Each cellon the street side has two large windows, one above theother, making the interior very light and giving theinhabitants a view outside.

Some features of the plan of Sultan Hasan's mosque,such as the location of the cells in relation to the fourIwans, may have been inspired by the madrasa ofSarghitmish. However, the madrasa of Sultan Hasanlocates most of the cells on the street, the only Cairenemadrasa to do so, leaving the courtyard dominated bythe four huge vaults. At the madrasa of Sarghitmish,some cells overlook the courtyard and others open ontothe main and side streets, but the windows are not soorganically integrated into the architecture of thefacade as they are at Sultan Hasan.

The marble pavement of the courtyard is modern.There is no decoration of the Iwans except that of thesanctuary. This Iwan is the largest vaulted hall of themedieval Muslim world and is reported by Maqrizi asbeing even a few cubits larger than the Iwan of Kisraat Ctesiphon. The iwan of Kisra, or vault of Cyrus(Khusraw), still standing not far from Baghdad, waspart of a gigantic palace built at Ctesiphon, the Sassa-

nian capital, and attributed to the emperor Cyrus. It isthe largest single-span brick vault in the ancient World(twenty-six meters width by twenty-nine metersheight), as famous in the past as at is today.

The Iwan of Sultan Hasan is richly decorated. Theqibla wall is paneled with a large polychrome marbledado, as is the prayer niche, flanked with columnswhose style indicates that they must be trophies fromCrusader buildings in Palestine.

A marble dikkat al-muballigh, the bench standing inthe sanctuary near the courtyard, is adorned withremarkable columns composed of different coloredstones. The pulpit for the Friday sermon is one of thefew made of marble. It is topped by a carved bulb andhas a portal leading to the steps with stalactite crestingand a beautiful bronze door with openwork bosses inthe repousse technique. There are several other bronzedoors leading to various rooms that are masterpieces ofmedieval metalwork, particularly the one at the win-dow between the sanctuary and the mausoleum, inlaidwith silver and gold and bearing the names and titlesof Sultan Hasan.

The most remarkable feature of the qibla Iwan is thelarge inscription band that runs along its three walls,made of stucco with ornate Kufic script on a back-ground of floriated scrolls with Chinese lotus blossoms.


PI. 90. Stucco inscription at the sanctuary of Sultan Hasan.

There is a similar band in the iwan of the Hanafimadrasa, but there is nothing else similar in Cairoarchitecture. The style is, however, typical of Quranilluminations of the period, and the architect must havebeen inspired by these to translate the designs intostucco.

Close to this band on the right is the signature of anaqqash or decorator called cAbd Allah MuhammadCA1I. Hasan cAbd al-Wahhab's interpretation ofanother signature found on the inscription band of theHanafi madrasa as that of the architect is contradictedby historical sources, for the signature is that of the shadal-^amd^ir, or supervisor of works, who was usually anamir, not a craftsman.

THE MAUSOLEUM

The domed chamber of the mausoleum is reached bya door on the left side of the prayer niche and is thus

located just behind the sanctuary, an unusual plan inCairo. Only the mosque of Amir Husayn (1319) andthe mosque of Mahmud Pasha (1568) have themausoleum behind the prayer hall. Usually, if attachedto the qibla wall, the mausoleum is to one side of theprayer hall so that worshipers do not pray toward thefounder's mausoleum. The unconventional location ofSultan Hasan's domed mausoleum is most likelyexplained by the urban setting of the building, built toimpress the viewer from the Citadel with the mosque'sgrand scale and exotic dome. Because of the location,the mausoleum is free standing on three sides and itswindows open onto the street though the structure stilladjoins the prayer hall. The concession made to gainthese advantages was the unconventional, perhapsunorthodox, but apparently not forbidden, placementof the dome. In fact, building a mausoleum for afounder is in itself unorthodox in Muslim religion, asis even the decoration of mosques. None of the

128 THE MONUMENTS

medieval historians, however, seem to have been upsetby the location of Sultan Hasan's mausoleum.

The chamber, the largest domed mausoleum inCairo, thirty meters to the top of the rectangle, istwenty-one meters wide. Its wooden inscription band,whose high relief is painted white, is easily read frombelow. The wooden stalactite pendentives formerlycarried a wooden dome higher than the present one. Inthe upper part of the transitional zone are inscriptionswith the name of Sultan Qaytbay, indicating thatrestorations must have been carried out during hisreign. Restorations were also made in 1671-77, asstated in an inscription.

The Islamic Museum in Cairo houses a large collec-tion of glass enameled lamps that once hung in themosque, as well as gigantic and splendid bronzechandeliers. Many chains still hang from the ceiling,but the lamps have gone.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 165 ff.Amin, Muhammad Muh. ed. Waqf of the madrasa of Sultan Hasan

published as appendix in: Ibn Habib. Tadhkirat, III, pp. 349 ff.Herz. La mosquee du Sultan Hassan au Caire. Cairo, 1899.Maqrizi. Khitat, II, pp. 316 ff.Rogers, J. M. "Seljuk Influence in the Monuments of Cairo." Kunst

des Orients, 7 (1970-71), pp. 40 ff.Wiet, Gaston. "Sultan Hasan." La Revue du Caire, June 1938, pp.

86 ff.

THE SULTANIYYA MAUSOLEUM (1360's)

Located in the Suyuti cemetery beneath the south-eastern side of the Citadel, this mysterious double mau-soleum is undated and unidentified. Its popular name,"the royal" or "sultan's" mausoleum, indicates onlythat it belonged to a person of royal rank. It is com-posed of two similar domes with a vaulted Iwanbetween them, and the whole is built in stone. At ashort distance, and now not connected with it, is aminaret that must have belonged to the building, mostlikely at a corner of the enclosure attached to themausoleum.

The domes, like those of Sarghitmish, have a veryhigh drum, and the transitional zone is not visible fromthe outside. Also as at Sarghitmish, they are bothadorned with stalactites, but here these form the basefrom which ribs grow toward the apex, decorating the

dome. The domes' profiles are pointed, and they havea bulbous shape. The northern dome has square Kuficscript carving in the drum, otherwise seen only in mar-ble decorations; the other dome lacks this feature. Bothdrums are pierced with windows which, unlike theusual pattern, do not alternate with blind windows.The interiors are also different. The northern one hasconcentric masonry in the inner shell; in the southerndome, the stone courses radiate from the apex of thedome.

The prayer niche of the Iwan is made of carved stoneand is similar to the two niches flanking the portal ofSultan Hasan, a conch with stalactites, a motif oftenseen in Turkish Anatolian architecture. The prayerniches of the domes are plain. The minaret isoctagonal, similar in design to that of Sultan Hasan,but more slender. Its decorations of inlaid masonryforming geometrical shapes also recall the style ofSultan Hasan. With these parallels to Sarghitmish andSultan Hasan, the building can be dated in the 1360's.

Like the domes of Sarghitmish, those of the Sulta-niyya have parallels in the Central Asian architectureof Samarkand. The mausoleum of Timur built in1403/4 has a high drum with square Kufic inscription,a double-shell dome, and ribbed exterior ending instalactities above the drum, but is made of brickcovered with colored ceramics, mainly blue. Its profileis similar to the Sultaniyya's dome, but is not pointed.Here again, the examples at Samarkand cannot havebeen the prototype, as they are later than the periodsuggested by other features of the Sultaniyyamausoleum. These features must have a commonsource from the northwestern province of Persia.

It is interesting to note here another example ofCairo architects translating foreign patterns originallydone in brick into stone. The Sultaniyya, the minaretsof al-Nasir at the Citadel, and the earlier minaret of IbnTulun, all show this translation into stone of prototypesbuilt of brick. One more dome was built in this style,with high drum, ribbed, and with stalactites at the baseof the ribs, that of Yunus al-Dawadar near the Citadel(1382). However, this one is so elongated that it issometimes mistaken for a minaret, and it has only oneshell. Moreover, the transitional zone is visible fromthe outside.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Meinecke. "Faience.


PI. 91. The Sultaniyya mausoleum and the minaret of Amir Qusun on the right.

THE MADRASA OF UMM AL-SULTANSHACBAN (1368/9)

Sultan Shacban was a grandson of al-Nasir Muham-mad. His mother, Khawand (Lady) Baraka, was awealthy and pious woman. The madrasa associatedwith both names is situated at Tabbana, between BabZuwayla and the Citadel.

The inscriptions on the building say that SultanShacban dedicated the foundation to his mother. Thesultan was, however, still a child when the building waserected, and we may assume that Lady Baraka was thefounder. In Muslim societies it was not unusual for awoman to erect a religious foundation. We have seenthat Shajarat al-Durr founded a madrasa, and there area number of other foundations created by women

including the madrasa of Fatima Khatun, wife ofQalawun (1283/4); the khanqah of Umm Anuk, wife ofal-Nasir Muhammad (1363/4); the mosque of SittMiska, housekeeper at the court of al-Nasir Muham-mad (1340); the mosque of Fatima al-Shaqra (1469);the mosque of Khadija bint Dirham wa Nisf (1520); themosque of Asalbay, wife of Sultan Qaytbay at Fayyum(1499); and the mosque of the Ottoman princessMalika Safiyya (1610). The royal ladies at the Mamlukcourts were often extremely wealthy, and sometimesquite powerful.

THE EXTERIOR

The madrasa of Umm al-Sultan Shacban, founded in1368/9 for both the Shafici and Hanafi rites, had a

130 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 92. The madrasa-mausoleum of Umm al-Sultan Shacban(Department of Antiquities).

portal built in a style alien to Cairo but typical of SaljuqAnatolia. Instead of a conch above the stalactites, thereis a deep stalactite vault with a triangular profile. If anarchitect came from that area to Cairo to work on themosque of Sultan Hasan, he might have designed thisportal as well, but we know almost nothing of the archi-tects of this period.

Another interesting feature of this mosque is theupper composition of an octagonal minaret with azigzag carved shaft next to two unequal domes built ofstone and ribbed. This minaret is one of the earliestexamples of a carved shaft instead of inlaid masonryablaq decoration. The ribs of the domes end at the basewith rows of festoon-like curves. The composition hereis quite different from that of Sanjar's doublemausoleum. The minaret is on the left side of the por-tal, the larger dome is to its left, and the second domeis at the corner, both separated by the prayer hall so

that from the street one cannot see the three elementsat one time, as one can at Sanjar's mausoleum.

On the main facade of the building, occupying thecorner between a main and a side street, a large grilledwindow to the left of the portal belongs to a sabil. Allmosques had sabils for the thirsty, though not all ofthese have survived. On the right side of the portal wasa watering trough for animals and above it, an arcadedloggia that was a kuttab or primary school for boys,which like the sabil was a charitable service of themosque. As Muslim law does not allow children insidethe mosque, so the kuttab was always in a separatestructure. Children were taught a basic knowledge ofthe Quran along with reading and writing. The kuttabhere is reached from the vestibule.

PI. 93. The portal of the madrasa-mausoleum of Umm al-Sultan Shacban.


THE INTERIOR

A bent entrance leads through a long passage to thecruciform madrasa, the awkward layout is a result ofthe street orientation of the mosque and two mauso-leums. There is not much remaining of the originaldecoration in the building except for some marble inthe rather small sanctuary and remains of a paintedwooden ceiling in one of the side Iwans. Unlike themadrasa of Sultan Hasan, the Iwans are not vaulted,but have a wooden ceiling. One either side of the qiblaiwan is a domed mausoleum.

The northern dome next to the minaret is the largerof the two. In it, Lady Baraka and a daughter areburied. This mausoleum has a prayer niche betweentwo windows overlooking the street. The smaller,southern mausoleum includes the graves of SultanShacban and his son al-Mansur Hajji. Because of itsdisadvantageous location at the corner, it could nothave both a prayer niche and a window onto the mainstreet, and the window was given preference. Thus,this is one of the very few cases of a mausoleum withouta prayer niche.

Both the stone domes have an interesting feature:they are not carried by triangular pendentives orseveral tiers of squinches as was usual during thisperiod, but by plain squinches in the form of an archat each corner. We see this feature also in the domes ofthe mosque of Aqsunqur (1347) in brick, and the mau-soleum of Tankizbugha (1362) in stone. It is an archaicfeature, since this type of transitional zone was used inthe early Fatimid period, as in the dome of al-Hakim,and later replaced by the more composite two (or more)tiered squinches.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 182 ff.Kessler. "Mecca oriented "Maqrizi. Khitat, II, p. 390.

THE MADRASA OF AMIR ILJAY AL-YUSUFI(1373)

Iljay al-Yusuff was one of the amirs of SultanShacban and was married to Lady Baraka after thedeath of her husband, Sultan Husayn. He built amadrasa with Friday prayer at Suq al-Silah, theWeapons Market, on a street on the north side of themosque of Sultan Hasan.

THE EXTERIOR

The facade has a trilobed stalactite portal framed bya molding. Near the entrance we see the blazon of Iljayal-Yusuff, a cup in the middle of a circle divided bythree horizontal lines. On the left side of the portal isa sabil surmounted by a kuttab, both on the corner.The kuttab is a loggia with columns at the corner andan arch on each side. At the madrasa of Umm al-SultanShacban, the sabil was on the left and the kuttab on theupper right side, but here the evolution has gone a stepfurther, with sabil and kuttab forming an architecturalunified composition that henceforth characterizes allmosques. The advantage of having the sabil at a corneris that it allowed better ventilation, to keep the waterfresh, and at the same time provided access to morepeople to stretch their hands through the grill to havetheir cups filled by the sabil attendant.

PI. 94. The madrasa-mausoleum of Amir Iljay al-Yusufi.

132 THE MONUMENTS

Between the recesses crowned by stalactites thatdecorate the facade of the building, there are also tworecesses that have keel-arched niches at their tops.

The minaret and the dome are particularly elegant.The minaret is octagonal and circular with inlaiddecoration once painted in ablaq. The bulb looks as ifit is resting on a flower, the petals of which are rep-resented by carving on the lower part of the bulb. Theribs of the dome, which are the only exterior carving,do not follow the usual vertical pattern from base toapex, but instead follow oblique lines, giving the domea twisted appearance. We see this pattern sometimescarved on columns on the facades of mosques. Theearliest example is on the facade of the al-Aqmarmosque, but this type of column decoration was usedin the Byzantine period much earlier.

THE INTERIOR

The vestibule has two very noteworthy features: it isroofed by an elaborate groin vault carved in stone,which gives it the appearance of the inside of anumbrella, and the back wall has a trilobed arch alsoabove a groin vault. The interior of this cruciformmadrasa is characterized by its strict symmetry in thearrangement of windows. The qibla wall has two rowsof pointed-arched windows. Curiously, the prayerniche is plain except for ablaq masonry in the conch.

The courtyard has windows at the corners of the fourIwans, set in recesses with a special type of stalactite attheir tops. The students' living quarters have windowsoverlooking a side street. Here, as at Sarghitmish, themausoleum overlooks the street but does not adjoin theprayer hall.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 188 ff.Maqrizi. Khitat, II, p. 399.

CHAPTER EIGHT


THE MADRASA-KHANQAH OF SULTANAL-ZAHIR BARQUQ_( 1384-86)

This building stands next to the madrasa of Sultanal-Nasir Muhammad at Nahhasln on the street calledal-Mucizz. Its founder, Sultan Barquq, was of Circas-sian origin, recruited under the Turkish Bahri Mam-luks. He himself recruited Circassian Mamluks fromthe Caucasus, and the next period is thus known as theCircassian Mamluk period. The Circassian Mamlukswere garrisoned in the Citadel and were therefore alsocalled the Burji (from the fortress) Mamluks.

This foundation endowed a madrasa teaching thefour rites, a Friday mosque, and a mausoleum, butunlike Sultan Hasan's madrasa, it was also a khanqahfor Sufis. It was a large foundation, housing one hun-dred twenty-five theology students and sixty Sufis, withliving quarters for the teachers and stables for theirmounts.

THE EXTERIOR

The facade is characterized by its trilobed stalactiteportal, next to which on the north is a large domeflanked by a minaret. The facade is paneled as usualwith recesses topped by stalactites. The upper windowsare in pointed arches and have wooden grills, ratherthan stucco with painted glass. This style is seen inseveral mosques of the Bahri Mamluk period, such asthat of Aydumur al-Bahlawan (1346) and of Ulmas(1329/30). A tiraz band runs along the facade.

Though the dome next to the minaret is not original,the two features are nicely composed. The originaldome, a wood and plaster structure, collapsed in thenineteenth century, but the building had beenillustrated often, making it possible to reconstruct thedome rather accurately. The present dome is of brick.The dome's surface is plain but has a cornice of stalac-tites at the base, a feature seen at the mausoleum ofSarghitmish, the Sultaniyya, and the mausoleum ofYunus al-Dawadar (1382) near the Citadel; this is thelatest surviving example.

PI. 95. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Barquq.

The minaret is octagonal throughout but differs frommost fourteenth-century minarets in that its shaft iscarved. There are intersecting circles where white mar-ble has been inlaid in the stone. These circles may havebeen inspired by the intersecting arches atop theminaret of Qalawun, which was built during al-NasirMuhammad's reign. The facade has on its lower part,as at Qalawun's mausoleum, columns attached to thewall. These columns with their capitals are carved parts

134 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 96. Carved capital with a ram's head on the facade of thereligious-funerary complex of Sultan Barquq.

of the wall masonry, not true capitals. The capitalshave quite unusual patterns, with palmettes in highrelief. One of them displays a motif of a stylized ram'shead.

THE INTERIOR

The vestibule imitates that of Sultan Hasan'smosque, though on a much smaller scale, and has astone dome flanked by stalactites. The original bronzedoor with geometric stars is still in its place. The recessof the portal is decorated with a large rectangular panelwith inlaid marble geometries, reminiscent of that atSultan Hasan's vestibule.

The bent entrance leads through a passage to thecruciform interior. On the left side of the vaultedpassage is a recess no doubt for water jugs, kept freshby a wooden lattice door that is no longer there. Thefour Iwans facing the courtyard have four large,pointed arches. The sanctuary is not vaulted but has awooden ceiling. Above the arches is a large inscriptionband carved in stone.

The ablution fountain in the center of the courtyardhas a bulbous wooden dome on eight marble columns,similar to that at the mosque of Sultan Hasan. At thattime the traditional inauguration ceremonies of amosque the sultan attended the first day of prayers. Itis recorded that at the inauguration of Sultan Barquq'smosque, the ablution fountain was filled with sugaredwater, and sweetmeats were distributed to the con-gregation.

Fig. 27. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Barquq(Department of Antiquities).

The sanctuary's composition is tripartite, like that ofSultan Qalawun's mosque, with two pairs of granitecolumns on each side separating the central, larger aislefrom the side aisles. The gorgeous painted and gildedceiling was restored in modern times, and the qibla wallis decorated with a marble dado and a marble prayerniche.

The entrances to the four madrasas are pierced inrecesses, the upper part of which form round archeswith zigzag carved voussoirs, a device seen at theRawda Nilometer, though there, the arches arepointed.

The doors inside the building have a new feature:rather than the whole surface being faced with a bronzesheet, there is a central bronze medallion and fourquarter circles of medallions at the corners, leaving thewood background to contrast with the bronze. Thebronze appliques are also pierced, showing the woodbackground. This pattern of decoration, common incarpets, was originally adopted from book bindings.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE CIRCASSIAN MAMLUKS 135

The living units for the students all open ontointerior passages, as there is no space on the facade orthe courtyard.

On the north, or left, side of the prayer hall a doorleads through a vestibule with a stone bench to thedomed mausoleum. The dome has wooden penden-tives, painted and gilded, and the usual decorations.The mosque has a number of its original windows,doors, and other furniture.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, p. 192.Maqrlzl. Khitat, II, p. 418.Mostafa, Saleh Lamei. "Madrasa, Hanqa und Mausoleum des

Barquq in Kairo mit einem Beitrag von Felicitas Jaritz."Abhandlungen. des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo,Islamische Reihe, 4 (1982), pp. 118 ff.

Mubarak, Khitat, VI, p. 4.

THE KHANQAH OF SULTAN FARAJ IBNBARQUQ, (1400-11)

Sultan Barquq, though he built a mausoleum forhimself in the city, wanted to be buried near the tombsof the Sufis in the northern cemetery. His son and suc-cessor, Sultan al-Nasir Faraj, fulfilled his father's wish,building a large khanqah and double mausoleum nearthe Sufis' tombs and the mausoleum of Anas (1382),father of Sultan Barquq. The mausoleum, with aribbed brick dome, still stands.

The northern cemetery is on the eastern, desert out-skirts of the Fatimid city of al-Qahira. During the reignof Sultan al-Zahir Baybars, there was a hippodromewhere the sultan, a great soldier himself and fond ofchivalric sports, attended tournaments and encouragedhis amirs in these contests. Later, under Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, this hippodrome was abandoned in

PI. 97. The khanqah-mausoleum of Sultan Faraj Ibn Barquq.

136 THE MONUMENTS

favor of others, and the amirs begans to build religiousand funerary structures on its site.

Sultan Faraj, while erecting the khanqah, planned atthe same time to urbanize the site. He transferred thedonkey and camel market and had other commercialplans, but died before realizing them, and the donkeyand camel market returned. It should be kept in mindthat a Muslim medieval cemetery was never totally aplace of the dead. Palaces and residences were also builtfor the rich to stay in during feasts and other occasionswhen they visited their dead. There was also a gooddeal of traffic produced by those who came to visit thetombs of saints and other venerated persons. Thereligious foundations and great tombs always hadresidential structures attached to them for the foundersand their families, as well as for Sufis and students.

The khanqah took eleven years to complete. Thesultan was dethroned twice in the meantime. The latestinscription on the building is 1411, but according toMaqrlzl, the khanqah was inaugurated in 1410. FortySufis were appointed to it. As no foundation deedexists, we do not know how far this khanqah also per-formed the functions of a madrasa.

THE EXTERIOR

Having plenty of space and no restrictions of priordevelopment in the cemetery, the architect could affordto design a very symmetrical structure that is rare inMamluk architecture of this period. The building isfree standing, with four interesting facades. At thesouthwest corner is a trilobed portal flanked to the leftby a sabll-kuttab. This facade has a tiraz band at thetop and twin minarets. The north facade also has aportal, with a sabll-kuttab on its western corner. Thetwo portals, though not identical, have a conch onstalactites and on both sides, the round blazon of thefounder. The northern facade shows one of the twominarets mentioned above and to the left, one of thetwo domes, the same combination seen from thesouthern side of the building. The eastern facade showsthe two huge stone domes and between them, a smallerribbed brick dome which is above the prayer niche.

On the northern side of the complex is an arcade thatstarts on the left side of the portal and leads almost tothe mausoleum of Barquq's father, Anas. This arcadeappears to have been a musalla, or open prayer place forthe dead. According to Islamic law, the dead are not tobe brought inside the mosque when the funeral prayersare said.

PI. 98. The northern entrance of the khanqah of Sultan FarajIbn Barquq with a sabfl-kuttab to its right.

The minarets on the northwestern facade are iden-tical, beginning as rectangles, with the second storyreceding and circular and without a transition betweenthe two stories. The middle of the shaft is carved withintersecting lines. The plan of these minarets was usedearlier, in those of Baybars al-Jashankir, and thenorthern minaret of al-Nasir Muhammad at theCitadel.

The domes are the largest Mamluk stone domes inCairo, with a diameter of over fourteen meters, notmuch less than that of Imam Shaficl, which is wooden.They are carved with a zigzag pattern, and their transi-tional zones on the exterior are treated in a novel man-ner. Instead of being simply stepped, they are carvedwith one step concave and the next convex, a deviceapplied earlier at the minaret of Bashtak (1336).

THE INTERIOR

Barquq's structure is a hypostyle mosque on stonepiers. The sanctuary is flanked on each side by a domedmausoleum. The side riwaqs have only one aisle each,with cells behind. Both lateral sides had upper floors ofcells, but they no longer exist. There are more cells onthe northern side of the building; the dependencies areon the south side. This was the first hypostyle mosqueplan to have living units attached to it; the plan hadearlier been used only for plain mosques. When mos-ques were being replaced by a combination madrasa-mosque, or even madrasa-khanqah-mosque, at first, itwas the madrasa plan that was maintained. Here, wefind a new architectural combination.


0 5 10 15 m.

Fig. 28. The khanqah and mausoleum of Sultan Faraj Ibn Barquq (Department of Antiquities).

The arcades have pointed arches supporting a roofcomposed of shallow brick domes, each dome above abay.

The courtyard has the remains of an ablution foun-tain. At the four corners of the courtyard are archedrecesses with doors that are treated with round archeswith zigzag voussoirs exactly like those of Barquq'smadrasa.

The sanctuary is strikingly simple, with no marbleand no painted wood. Only the windows are decorated,with stucco grills and colored glass. The prayer niche

is of plain stone and two smaller prayer niches are tothe left and right. The main one has on the marblecolumn flanking it to the left a carving in the shape ofa mosque lamp. A stone pulpit was added by SultanQaytbay, carved with panels in various geometricaland floral patterns which imitate wood carvings. As atSultan Hasan, it has a portal with stalactite crestingand a carved bulb at the top. At the upper step, on theback of the seat of the preacher (khatib), a lamp flankedby a pair of candlesticks is carved.

138 THE MONUMENTS

THE MAUSOLEUMS

The northern mausoleum is for Barquq and his sonFaraj; the southern mausoleum for his wife anddaughter. Both mausoleums are entered throughwooden lattice screens. The mausoleums, in contrast tothe khanqah, are richly decorated with marble dadoes.Like most Mamluk stone domes, these are carried onpendentives carved with stalactites.

The use of the triangular pendentive rather thansquinches led to a different device for the windows ofthe transitional zone. This style became standard andis found at the madrasa of Iljay al-Yusufi. It consists ofa triple-arched window surmounted by three bull's-eyes, one over two.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mostafa, S. L. Kloster und Mausoleum des Farag Ibn Barquq in Kairo.Gluckstadt, 1968.

entrance to their staircases on the northern side of eachshaft, with the dates 1419 and 1420. This is so far theonly known signature of a Mamluk architect on abuilding. We do not know to what extent he wasinvolved in building the rest of the complex.

The mosque originally had four facades and fourentrances. The two main facades are the one parallel toBab Zuwayla on the site of the Fatimid southern citywall which was rebuilt in the nineteenth century, andthe facade perpendicular to Bab Zuwayla on its left,with the main portal.

THE PORTAL

The portal is of grand proportions and is enhancedby apishtaq, or wall above the entrance higher than therest. A conch rests on a large vault where drippingstalactites have been lavishly used. A band of carved

THE MADRASA-KHANQAH (1416-21)AND MARISTAN (1418-20)

OF SULTAN AL-MIPAYYAD

THE MADRASA-KHANQAH

This madrasa-khanqah of Sultan al-Mu3ayyad in-cluded a Friday mosque, two mausoleums, and amadrasa for the four rites dedicated to Sufi students,and is thus a hybrid madrasa-khanqah.

Because of its site, the mosque, or at least its mina-rets, became a landmark of Cairo. Originally, the sitehad unpleasant associations. There was a prison ad-joining Bab Zuwayla which al-Mu-'ayyad, when anamir, was lucky to leave alive. Once he became sultan,he decided to pull it down and establish a pious founda-tion in its place. Numerous donkeys were occupied fordays carrying away loads of bones of the dead found inthe prison.

Originally, the mosque had three minarets, the twinswe see above the towers of Bab Zuwayla, and a thirdone of different appearance, located near the westernentrance, which disappeared in the nineteenth century.The twin minarets, though they represent no innova-tion in the evolution of minarets, are particularlyslender and elegant with their zigzag carved shafts.They do also have a very noteworthy feature: thesignature of the architect, al-Mucallim MuhammadIbn al-Qazzaz, is carved on a cartouche above the

PI. 99. The portal of the religious-funerary complex of Sultanal-Mu^ayyad.


stone inlaid with marble and colored stones frames thedoorway.

The door, a masterpiece of metalwork, was taken,together with a bronze chandelier, from the mosque ofSultan Hasan against payment of a sum to the waqf ofSultan Hasan—which, however, did not change theillegality of the deed. Islamic law prohibits the acquisi-tion of land or other properties for a new foundationalready endowed upon a previous religious foundation.Once endowed, a property cannot change owners.Maqrlzl, however, mentions many such illegal actsconnected with the foundation of religious buildingsand makes a resigned and bitter comment about "onethief stealing from another."

THE INTERIOR

The vestibule is covered by a magnificent groincross-vault flanked by two half-domes on stalactites. It

is perhaps the most remarkable feature of the architec-ture of this complex. Today we enter the mosquethrough the mausoleum, but originally there was directaccess into the courtyard. The mausoleum dome,whose exterior is similar to that of Faraj Ibn Barquq,is smaller and has two cenotaphs, one larger than theother, with remarkable Kufic inscriptions in marblecrafted during the Ikhshidid or early Fatimid period.Their texts are Quranic, and they must have beentaken from an earlier building. Sultan al-Mu-'ayyadand his son are buried there.

On the top part of the northwestern wall of themausoleum, on the side facing the courtyard, there aretwo blind windows with very intricately carved stuccodecoration in the Andalusian style.

The hypostyle plan of the mosque is similar to thatof the khanqah of Faraj Ibn Barquq, but on columnsinstead of piers. There is an ablution fountain in themiddle of the courtyard. Of the four Iwans, only the

PI. 100. The facade of the hospital of Sultan al-Mu3ayyad.

140 THE MONUMENTS

sanctuary has survived. It was planned to be flanked oneither side by a domed mausoleum, only one of whichwas built. The site is occupied by the tombs of femalemembers of the family, but there is no mausoleum.

The sanctuary is lavishly decorated with a high mar-ble dado and a polychrome marble prayer niche with arow of inlaid niches separated by blue glass colonnettes.A painted and gilded wooden ceiling, stucco grilledwindows and beautiful doors inlaid with wood andivory in addition to the marble columns with their pre-Islamic capitals, contribute to the richness of thedecoration. The prayer hall was restored in the nine-teenth century, and again in recent times. The mosquealso has its original wood and ivory pulpit.

The living units of the Sufi students were not aroundthe courtyard as they are at Faraj's khanqah, butformed a separate structure, a courtyard surrounded byseveral stories of living units. It no longer exists.

On the western side of the mosque, Sultan al-Mu'ayyad built a hammam. The pendentives in it thatonce supported a dome have remarkable stalactites.

THE MARISTAN

Although the hospital of Qalawun was still func-tioning at the time, Sultan al-Mu'ayyad decided tobuild one of his own. It was built on the site of a formermosque, near the Citadel. It was used only a shorttime, however, and after the sultan died, the buildingwas used by foreign residents and was later turned intoa residence for ambassadors visiting Egypt. Still later,it was transformed into a Friday mosque. As it wasoriginally built on the site of a mosque, the cruciformconstruction was already oriented toward Mecca, so itneeded only a new prayer niche.

Although now in ruins, the building has preserved itssplendid facade, one of the finest in Cairo. It is quitesymmetrical, the middle part enhanced by the pishtaqwith a pointed arch above the recess of the stalactiteportal. Along the facade, running horizontally and ver-tically, is a carved molding in high relief in a patternresembling a chain, the only such decoration in Cairo.

Two keel-arched panels flank the portal recess, com-posed of inlaid masonry with inlaid square-KuficQuranic texts. Further to the right and left on thefacade, on each side of the keel-arched panels, aremedallions of inlaid marble. Above the entrance is adouble-arched window within a keel arch. The wholemakes an unusual facade composition. The interior hasa cruciform plan, but is today in quite dilapidated con-dition.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 207 ff.MaqrTzT. Khitat, II, pp. 328; 408.Mubarak. Khitat, V, pp. 124 ff.

THE MADRASA-KHANQAH OF SULTANBARSBAY IN THE NORTHERN CEMETERY

(1432)

Shortly after his accession to the throne, Sultan al-Ashraf Barsbay had built in 1425, a madrasa-khanqahat the cAnbariyyin or amber market, south of theQalawun complex now in the street of al-Mucizz, theroyal avenue where so many sultans before had estab-lished their foundations. This complex was planned toaccommodate sixty Sufi students. The building, whichis architecturally typical of this period, has the usualMamluk facade with a sabll-kuttab on the left side ofthe portal. The portal has a ribbed conch on a smallcornice of stalactites and pendentives at the corners.The minaret, almost identical to those of Faraj IbnBarquq, flanks the small zigzag ribbed stone dome.The minaret and dome make an angle with the facadefollowing the Mecca orientation of the interior, mostlikely for architectural rather than religious reasons.

The interior does not differ much from that of Bar-quq's madrasa, aside from its being less well preserved.The inscription running above the arches of the fourIwans, however, includes fragments of the waqf docu-ment stating what has been endowed upon the founda-tion, most likely as a precaution against illegal dealings.The small mausoleum has windows onto the street buthas no prayer niche.

A few years later, in 1432, the sultan founded akhanqah-madrasa in the cemetery, also with a mauso-leum. The foundation in the city was a madrasa for thefour rites, built to accommodate sixty Sufi students; theone in the cemetery was for only seventeen Sufis, ofwhom four were students, and only ten were housed onthe premises. The complex, occupying both sides of thestreet south of the khanqah of Faraj, covered a largearea, but many of its structures have not survived.

THE EXTERIOR

The decoration of the domes with star patterns hasalready been discussed. The larger, and most likely theearlier, of the carved mausoleum domes included inthis complex is that of the sultan, attached to themosque. On its north side there is a smallermausoleum, and on its eastern side another, open on


PL 101. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Barsbay.

three sides, dedicated to amirs and relatives of thesultan. A fourth carved dome has disappeared. Theenclosure included a number of other tombs. Today,we see the facade with a dome and a later and unattrac-tive minaret flanked to the south by the ruins of anapartment complex.

Although it has been restored, it is obvious that theportal was not built in the stalactite-vaulted style of thetime. A trilobed vault was used, including groinsinstead of stalactites. This pattern was again used in thelate Mamluk and the Ottoman period, along with con-tinued use of the stalactite portal.

The original minaret did not survive, though we mayassume that its first story was rectangular, forming thelower part of the present structure.

THE INTERIOR

The cross-vaulted vestibule leads through a bend tothe prayer hall that also differs from its contemporaries

in style. It is neither a cruciform nor a hypostylemosque, but an oblong hall whose roof is carried on twopairs of columns with three arches, each runningparallel to the qibla wall and thus forming three aisles.The floors of the two side aisles are raised slightly abovethe level of the central aisle. Windows on both the eastand west bring light into the covered hall. On thenorthern side of the mosque, opposite the entrance, thecentral aisle leads to the door of the mausoleum.

THE MAUSOLEUM

The mausoleum, due to the plan of the mosque, hasthe ideal location; it is open on three sides while at thesame time attached to the prayer hall. Its dome's tran-sitional zone is composed of stalactite pendentives. Onthe outside, it is carved in an undulating pattern similarto that on the domes of Sultan Faraj. The other twodomes of the complex are treated differently, one witha stepped exterior transition, and the northern one with

142 THE MONUMENTS

a pyramidal structure at each corner leading from therectangular to the octagonal part. Sultan Barsbay isburied in this mausoleum, and not in the mausoleumhe built in the city.

DECORATION

The decoration of the sanctuary is unusual. Whilethe walls are bare, the floor is richly covered with inlaidpolychrome marbles of high quality. The prayer nicheis of plain stone, and windows with stucco and coloredglass are the only ornament on the walls. The paintedwooden ceiling appears to have been redone in theOttoman period. The pulpit has a star geometric pat-tern of ivory inlaid in wood, but the pattern is unusualin having curved segments.

In the mausoleum, the quality of the marble inlaysof the prayer niche, with rows of niches running acrossthe conch reminiscent of the thirteenth and early four-teenth centuries, arouses the suspicion that SultanBarsbay used materials from earlier buildings. Thisalso applies to the floor pavings of the mosque, whichseem to have been originally intended for doors andwindows.

OTHER STRUCTURES

Next to the mosque on its south side are the remainsof the student living quarters. According to the founda-tion deed, there were ten units. These, however, unlikeearlier accommodations, are not single rooms, butapartments in two-storied duplexes, each with a latrine.Each upper room has a window onto the main road.These dwellings appear to have been quite comfortable,and it is likely that the Sufis, who were each entitled toa whole unit, were also allowed to have their familieswith them. The foundation deed does not stipulate thatSufi students must be unmarried, as was the case inearlier foundations. There was also a hall on the upperfloor for Sufi gatherings, of which all that remains is aprayer niche.

The complex of Sultan Barsbay extended along bothsides of the road. On the other side, there is today onlya large domed structure, designated in the foundationdeed as a zawiya for the RifacT order. The khanqahappears to have been independent of any particularorder of Sufis. The zawiya is a smaller structure wherethe ideology of one shaykh and his order (tariqa) is prac-ticed and propagated.

Interestingly, its architecture is quite distinct fromthat of contemporary funerary structures, and in fact

the domed building was not intended for burial. Theheight of the dome is not increased, and instead of theusual pendentives, it is carried by squinches that startwithin, not above, the rectangular space. The squin-ches were remodeled at a later date, and today theyhave a trilobed shape, reminiscent of the portal treat-ment at the khanqah of Barsbay. The dome is built inbrick with a plain exterior surface. There was anotherzawiya on the same side of the street, but it was not adomed structure.

There were two sabils, remnants of one of which canbe seen, and other structures including large apart-ments and various dependencies.

The complex of Barsbay, with fewer but larger livingunits than earlier ones, and with two zawiyas, which isunprecedented in previous complexes, signals a newdevelopment in Cairene religious life. It shows a trendtoward a less monastic type of Sufism, in which theSufis' daily lives were less regulated. These later khan-qahs, combining the activities of khanqah andmadrasa, prepared their members for professional andadministrative positions and thus their Sufis were moreactive than those who devoted themselves to mysticismand worship in seclusion.

THE TOMB OF UMM AL-ASHRAF

South of the complex of Sultan Barsbay, in thecemetery on the west side of the street, is a brick domecarved with interlaced bands similar to the minarets ofSultan Barquq. Apart from the usual ribbing, this pat-tern is the only one used to decorate brick domes.Today the tomb is surrounded by modern buildings.The mausoleum is neither dated nor identified exceptby its popular name, Khadlja Umm al-Ashraf. Al-Ashraf was a title of Sultan Barsbay. Another domecarved in the same manner, that of Amir Taghribirdion SalTba street between Sarghitmish's madrasa andShaykhu's complex and dated 1440, suggests that thisdome was built for Barsbay's mother sometimebetween 1430 and 1440.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Darrag, Ahmad. L'Acte de Waqf du Sultan al-Ashraf Barsbay. Cairo,

1963.

Fernandes, Leonor. "The Evolution of the Khanqah Institution in

Mamluk Egypt." Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University,

1980, pp. 223 ff.

—. "Three Sufi Foundations in a 15th Century Waqfiyya." Annales

Islamologiques, 17 (1981), pp. 141 ff.

Mubarak. Khitat, IV, pp. 57 ff.


THE RELIGIOUS-FUNERARY COMPLEX OFSULTAN AL-ASHRAF INAL (1451, 1454, 1456)

Sultan al-Ashraf Inal's funerary complex stands tothe north of the khanqah of Sultan Faraj Ibn Barquq,on the west side of the road that crosses the cemetery.At first glance, the great irregularity of its facade com-position is striking.

THE EASTERN FACADE

The eastern facade is of a mosque with groin-vaultedportal, on the left of which, not attached but connectedonly by a wall, stands a minaret. On the right side, alsonot attached but connected only by a wall, is amausoleum. Its dome's rectangular base is lower thanthe roof of the mosque. In the usual Mamluk facade,the base of the minaret and the dome are above rooflevel. An exception is provided by the minarets of al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel, but that is becausethe mosque was remodeled after they were built.

The epigraphy in the architectural group confirmsthe impression given by the facade, that the complexwas not built at one time.

THE MAUSOLEUM

The stone zigzag-carved dome of unpretentious pro-portions has an additional ornament: the carved loopsthat adorn the base of the dome are filled with balls ofblue glass paste. These balls are also seen on the secondstory of the minaret of al-Nasir Muhammad's madrasa

and were added later, and on the mabkhara structuresdecorating the corners of the facade of the Maridanimosque. This mausoleum is dated 1451, at which timeSultan Inal was only an amir. As the minaret's anddome's bases were built at the same level, we mayassume that they were built at the same time.

THE MINARET

The shaft is completely of stone, lavishly carved, adevelopment in minarets that took place during the fif-teenth century. The base is almost totally covered withdecorative carved panels. The first story has a moldingrunning along its eight facets and framing the keel-arched niches. The space between these niches is alsocarved with arabesques and several colonnettes are setbetween them. There are also, as on the minarets of al-Mu3ayyad, three inscription bands, two on the first andone on the second story.

The carving on the second story, where the minaretmason always shows most of his innovations, has aninteresting design. The zigzag pattern is not applied ona plain circular shaft as usual, but the shaft at this levelhas a section like a multiple-pointed star, its own profiledented like a zigzag, so that the zigzag carving appearsto be three-dimensional.

THE NORTHERN FACADE

The mausoleum dome occupies the corner betweenthe eastern and the northern facade. On the left side,

Fig. 29. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Inal(Department of Antiquities). PI. 102. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Inal.

144 THE MONUMENTS

the mausoleum is separate from the mosque by an openspace. This facade of the mosque also has a portal, notgroin vaulted but a conch on stalactites. To the rightside of the mausoleum on the same alignment, a pro-truding structure is identified as a sabll-kuttab whoseupper structure is missing.

Further to the right, on the western edge of the com-plex, is a building with its own entrance, identified byits inscription as a khanqah built in 1454, or later thanthe mausoleum; by that time, Inal had become Sultan.The khanqah is in ruins, but we can still tell that it wasan important foundation, judging from its largenumber of duplex living units and dependencies,among which are latrines with running water. As at thekhanqah of Barsbay, each living unit has its ownlatrine. There are also the remains of a qaca or hall forgatherings.

THE MADRASA

The mosque, designated by its inscription as amadrasa was built in 1456. It is built above a row ofrooms that might have been cells for students, orstorerooms. The epigraphy in the building indicatesthat Inal built a mausoleum for himself while still anamir, which most likely had a sabll-kuttab attached toit. Usually tombs have a prayer hall attached, so theremust have been a building on the site before themadrasa was added, and the minaret already existedsince its architecture fits with that of the mausoleum.Once he became sultan, Inal added the khanqah, andlater rebuilt the mosque. Ibn lyas writes that theexpenses were taken care of by Amir al-Jamall Yusuf,who also added a zawiya, following the example ofBarsbay. It must once have been quite a luxuriousbuilding. The prayer niche of the mosque of Inal ismade of carved stone with a molding comprising asunrise motif filling the conch.

The small mosque has two facades, one on the roadand the other on a courtyard, and a modified cruciformplan. The reduced inner courtyard is the type usuallycovered by a wooden dome or lantern and paved withmarble, rather than the larger courtyard open to thesky with an ablution fountain in the center.

The roofed cruciform plan is that of the qaca, or thereception hall, in residential architecture. In residentialarchitecture, however, the central space was occupiedby a marble fountain, usually octagonal, like theoctagonal lantern above it that protrudes above theceiling of the Iwans. The palaces of the Citadel, andperhaps other palaces as well, had domes in their

centers. Even the large, open courtyards were coveredagainst the summer midday sun, usually by tentingstretched on ropes. The earlier mosque of Aslam al-Baha°I (1345) is cruciform with a roofed courtyard, butwe do not know how many of the mosques with smallcourtyards were roofed.

In the second half of the fifteenth century, large mos-ques were no longer needed. With the inner spacereduced and the living units concentrated in an inde-pendent structure, the smaller, covered courtyard wasadopted, and mosques came to resemble residentialreception halls. Already, in Fustat during the Fatimidperiod, the Iwans in the qaca of a house were closed bydoors and the courtyard was open to the sky, but nodoubt protected by tents. The adoption of the qaca planwas not the only borrowing from residential architec-ture. The double-storied living units themselves, as wesee at the khanqahs of Barsbay and Inal, have a planthat is borrowed from the rabc or apartment building.

Van Berchem. C.I.A., p. 394Ibn lyas. II, pp. 331, 334.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE RELIGIOUS-FUNERARY COMPLEX OFSULTAN AL-ASHRAF QAYTBAY (1472-74) ANDHIS MADRASA AT QALCAT AL-KABSH (1475)

THE RELIGIOUS-FUNERARY COMPLEX

Sultan Qaytbay was much given to founding reli-gious institutions and his reign, like that of al-NasirMuhammad in the fourteenth century, was long andstable enough to give a style a chance to develop in thevarious important monuments he sponsored.

The architecture of this period was not gigantic buttended rather toward refinement of proportions, and itwas a golden age for stone carving. Marble work,especially on facades, also played a prominent role inarchitectural decoration. Compared to architectureduring the reign of al-Nasir Muhammad, the style ofthe Qaytbay period was more homogeneous, undis-turbed by new ideas, foreign elements and daring inno-vations. It was a period of consolidation rather than ofinnovation.

THE MOSQUE

Like most of the other religious funerary complexes,Qaytbay's was composed of several structures, not allof which have survived. The main and best preserved


PI. 103. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay.

is the mosque, also called a madrasa, with the founder'smausoleum.

It is a relatively small structure with two free stand-ing facades. The south side has a trilobed portal witha groin vault decorated with ablaq inlay and somestalactites (s. PI. 19), with a sabll-kuttab to its left andthe minaret to the right. Projecting from the southeastside of the building is the magnificent, though notlarge, mausoleum dome.

The minaret, slender and elegant, is of stone, carvedwith stars in high relief. Its bulb has a carved, twistedband on the neck. The sabil has a richly painted andgilded wooden ceiling, and in the vestibule are a stonebench and cupboard with doors inlaid with wood andivory.

THE INTERIOR

A particularly handsome umbrella-like groin vault,is above the passage leading to the interior, next to therecess with wooden lattice doors where water jugs werekept cool. The interior is a qaca, with two unequaliwans and two recesses, all richly ornamented withmarble floor, polychrome marble dadoes, and stuccowith colored glass windows. The vividly paintedwooden ceiling and wooden lantern above the centralarea have been restored along with the rest. The prayerniche is of stone, with albaq inlaid patterns similar tothose of the portal conch. Keel-arched niches with win-dows decorate the corner recess around the coveredcourtyard. An inscription band frames the centralupper space.

The mausoleum is reached from the courtyard. Itsprayer niche is of paneled, carved and painted stone.The stalactites of the stone pendentives are finelycarved.

None of the living units has survived, though thefoundation deed refers to various apartments for theSufis and others attached to the foundation. Thoughthe foundation deed calls the building a madrasa, itdoes not refer to any systematic curriculum of instruc-tion in Islamic law. It is noted that Sufis should attendsessions in the mosque, but no reference is made totheir being boarders, and there was no kitchen attachedto the structure. The term madrasa must have beenused simply by tradition, rather than as referring to aparticular function. It was an ordinary Friday mosque,and such mosques normally had sessions for Sufis.

On the west side of the mosque is the small mauso-leum built by Qaytbay before he became a sultan. Ithas arabesque carvings. There are other funerary struc-tures and a maq^ad or loggia, this one pierced by a rowof windows within blind arches opening onto theexterior of the complex. As usual in an importantfunerary complex, there were residential buildings. Onthe north side of the mosque the remains of an animalwatering trough can be seen, decorated with keel-arched carved niches. Further north is the facade of therabc belonging to Qaytbay.

THE RABC

The rabc of Qaytbay, as the portal shows, is buriedmore than two meters under the present street level. Ithas a magnificent groin-vaulted trilobed portal flankedby the sultan's blazon. Though the shops are now

146 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 104. Interior of the mosque of Sultan Qaytbay.


buried, an idea can be had of the architecture of theapartments, whose wooden ceilings were painted.

A rabc may be built above storerooms or workshopsof a complex called a wakala, qaysariyya, or khan.Usually, the living units of a rabc have windows ontothe street, unless they are built around a courtyard andhave windows over the courtyard, as at the wakala ofSultan al-Ghuri (s. PI. 35). Qaytbay built anotherwakala with a rabc above it near Bab al-Nasr, andanother which is now in ruins, near the mosque ofal-Azhar.

THE MADRASA AT QALCAT AL-KABSH

This madrasa, built by Qaytbay, is in the quartercalled Qalcat al-Kabsh, on the eastern side of themosque of Ibn Tulun. It is a free-standing building,with two entrances enhanced by two portals of differentstyles.

The minaret stands on the northeast corner near thenorthern entrance which has a trilobed portal whoseconch is carved with a geometric pattern with no otherdecoration. The other portal, on the southeastern side,is for this period almost old fashioned, with its semi-dome above bunches of stalactites.

The minaret is unusual in that it has only two stories.Its lower balcony rests on a carved octagonal baserather than upon stalactites, and the carved circularshaft above it is surmounted by a columned pavilion.

An interesting feature of the facade is the style of theupper windows, the type hitherto used in the transi-tional zone of domes, a double arch surmounted by abull's-eye. No marble decoration was used.

The interior is the qaca plan with a plain prayerniche made of stone. The wooden ceiling is richlypainted with arabesque patterns.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

All Ibrahim, Layla. "Middle-class."Mayer, L. A. The Buildings of Qaytbay as Described in His Endowment

Deeds. London, 1938.Mubarak. Khitat, V, pp. 69 ff.

THE SABIL OF SULTAN QAYTBAY (1479)

On Saliba street, between the complex of Shaykhuand the right-hand side of the square below the Citadel,stands a handsome sabfl-kuttab built by Sultan Qayt-bay. It is a free-standing structure with a trilobed portalon its western facade, and large iron-grilled windows.

PI. 105. The sabll-kuttab of Sultan Qaytbay at Saliba.

The upper structure, which must have been a kuttab,is a modern restoration.

The facades of the sabil are all richly decorated withpolychrome marble inlay and carved stone in the samestyle as was used later at the mosque of Qijmas al-Ishaqi. After its ablaq painting was renewed, makingthe inlaid pattern and carved details more visible, thegroin-vaulted trilobed portal regained its originalglamor. Cairo's dust has taken care of applying thepatina. The portal vault is flanked on both sides bycarved medallions with the name and epithet of Sultanal-Ashraf Abu '1-Nasr Qaytbay.

The lintels are not simply joggled like those of theBahri Mamluk period, but the inlaid blue and whitemarble forms a variety of intricate arabesque patternson the facade. Each window is surmounted by two suchdecorative slabs, one above the other, and both are sur-mounted by medallions inlaid with arabesques in thesame style and framed by carved moldings. Bits of redstone and ceramic enhance the effect of stone andmarble interaction.

This is the earliest free-standing sabll-kuttab, notattached to a mosque, a combination that came topredominate in the Ottoman period.

THE CISTERN OFYACQUB SHAH AL-MIHMANDAR (1495/6)

The domed cistern (sihry) built by Yacqub Shahal-Mihmandar at the foot of the Citadel, facing it from

148 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 106. The cistern of Amir Yacqub Shah al-Mihmandar.

the east, is not just a structure to store and providewater, but a memorial building of very special interest.Its founder, Yacqub Shah was not a prominent amir,but he owed much to his master Sultan Qaytbay, towhose glory he dedicated this building, as its inscrip-tion, unique in Cairo's Mamluk epigraphy reveals.The inscription running along the whole facade as itssole decoration commemorates in glowing terms thevictory of Mamluk troups over the Ottomans and thecapture of their general at the battle of Adana in 1486,years before the completion of the cistern. These factsare recorded in a literary style, unconventional forarchitectural epigraphy but comparable to that ofmedieval epics.

Domes in medieval architecture were not restrictedto religious or funeral architecture; they also sur-mounted all types of secular buildings. Theundecorated cistern is surmounted by a small domeoccupying half its width. A shallow trilobed portal leadsthrough a cross-vaulted vestibule to the domed room.The inscription refers to two domes and two cisterns,but only this domed structure survives.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Van Bcrchem. C.I.A., pp. 547 ff.Rogers, J. M. "The Inscription of the Cistern of Yacqub Shah al-

Mihmandar in Cairo." Fifth International Congress of Turkish Art.Budapest.

THE MOSQUE OF QADI ABU BAKR IBNMUZHIR (1479/80)

This mosque, erected in a quarter on the west sideof al-Mucizz street, is typical of the style of the time, a

small architectural jewel. Its minaret is located at thecorner where the west and south facades meet and iscarved with star patterns. The conch of the trilobedgroin-vaulted portal rests on two, instead of the usualthree, arches and thus recalls the squinches of theFadawiyya Dome.

The interior uses a qaca plan with a variation: thetwo larger iwans, instead of facing the covered court-yard with a large arch, have a triple arch supported by

PI. 107. The mosque of Qadi Abvi Bakr Ibn Muzhir, the qiblarwan.

PI. 108. Window spandrel with marble inlay and signature ofthe craftsman at the mosque of Abu Bakr Ibn Muzhir (draw-

ing "The Mosques of Egypt").


a pair of columns. The side recesses have one archeach. A marble medallion covers the central part of thefloor.

Another distinctive feature of the interior is themarble decoration on the qibla wall. The spandrels ofthe window arches and of the prayer niche itself are offinely inlaid marble, not as seen before with stones andmarbles that dictate geometric patterns, but with a darkgypsum-like colored paste that allows delicate curvedlines, very finely drawn as on Persian carpets. Thecraftsman, cAbd al-Qadir al-Naqqash, naqqash meaningdecorator, deservedly proud of his work, placed hissignature in the same medium in a prominent place inthe middle of a carved field above a window. Themosque of al-Maridanf has a marble inscription slabexecuted in this technique, on the north wall of its sanc-tuary; the inscription is made of green paste inlaid intothe marble surface. Its vigorous style differs, however,from the work of cAbd al-Qadir.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mubarak. Khitat, V, pp. 113 f.

THE FADAWIYYA DOME (1479-81)

For its period, the square domed building standingin the modern quarter of cAbbasiyya, once the northernoutskirts of the medieval city between Husayniyya and

PI. 109. The Fadawiyya Dome or Qubbat Yashbak.

Raydaniyya, is in many respects an architectural sur-prise. Its popular name, Qubbat al-Fadawiyya, datesfrom the Ottoman period. It is called in medievalsources Qubbat Yashbak. It once stood near a hip-podrome amidst gardens and residences, overlookingan artificial pool dug by the founder to enhance theview. Amir Yashbak min Mahdl al-Dawadar was oneof the most powerful and wealthy amirs during SultanQaytbay's reign. Yashbak also built for himself amausoleum not far away, which is no longer extant.The building, part of a complex the rest of which hasdisappeared, is often mentioned in the chronicles of Ibnlyas and always in connection with excursions, ban-quets, and processions of the sultan and his amirs.

THE EXTERIOR

Although domed, the building is not a mausoleumbut a mosque. We do not know if there ever was aminaret, but there is no architectural trace of one onthe structure now extant. As a mosque entirely coveredby a dome, it is of special interest, and it is also thelargest brick dome of Mamluk Cairo. The domedchamber measures 14.30 meters to a side.

The exterior is unusually plain, with one upper andtwo lower windows, except on the south side. The win-dows are not in their usual, recesses and the walls aretherefore undecorated. The dome itself is also undeco-rated, starting from the cubic building without anyexterior transitional zone.

The portal is a shallow recess crowned with stalac-tites in a rectangular frame with an inscription band oneach side of the door. The inscription refers to SultanQaytbay as the founder, but historic accounts leave nodoubt that Amir Yashbak began its construction. Hedied before completing it and the Sultan saw to its com-pletion.

THE INTERIOR

Another particular feature of this building is that theprayer hall is built above a vaulted first story. The mostextraordinary feature about the dome of Yashbak isthat the entrance to the domed area, or prayer hall, wasnot reached as it is today by a flight of steps, but wasoriginally connected to the Husayniyya quarter by along passage built on an arcade. The exact function ofthis long elevated passage is not clear, but it might havebeen connected with the hippodrome once locatednearby.

150 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 110. Squinch at the Fadawiyya Dome (Creswell).

The portal leads directly into the prayer hall withoutbend or vestibule. The interior space is impressive,owing to the height and width of the dome. The transi-tional zone of the dome, as we have seen from theoutside, does not rest above the rectangular part, butwithin its walls, so that the dome proper beginsimmediately above the cube. The transitional zone dif-fers from the usual type and has large trilobed squin-ches, each set within a large pointed arch. This trilobedsquinch is reminiscent of the trilobed groin vaulted por-tals of the fifteenth century and was no doubt influ-enced by them, as the structural principle of transitionfrom a rectangular to a spherical space is the same. Thezawiya for the Rifaciyya order built by Sultan Barsbaynear his mausoleum is a domed hall on similar squin-ches, and there were other zawiyas of this type ofarchitecture which have not survived.

Under each of the squinches are two windows at thecorner. The space between the squinches is filled witha pointed blind arch on each wall, to make the transi-tional zone homogeneous. The drum of the dome ispierced with a row of windows.

DECORATION

The decoration is also extraordinary, for the entireinterior except for the marble dado and marble prayerniche, of which only traces remain, is covered withcarved stucco, once also painted and gilded. A largevariety of patterns cover the transitional zone, each sec-tion differently treated, partly with geometric designsand partly arabesque. These patterns have no parallelin contemporary architectural decoration, and indeed,

except for this dome and the mosque of Sultan Qaytbayin Rawda, no other building of the period is decoratedwith stucco. At the mosque in Rawda, however, verylittle of the decoration has survived.

There are two inscription bands, also of stucco,underneath the dome, one directly above the squinchesand the other above the drum. The lower inscription isQuranic, the upper one commemorates the pilgrimageof Sultan Qaytbay in 1480. The entire interior of thedome has repetitive stucco arabesques, some of whichstill have fine paint and gold. The patterns recall thecarved decoration on the dome of Qanibay al-Rammah.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Behrens-Abouseif, D. "Four Domes of the Late Mamluk Period."Annales Islamologiques, 17 (1981), pp. 157 ff.

—. "The Northeastern Expansion of Cairo under the Mamluks."Annales Islamologiques, 17 (1981), pp. 191 ff.

—. "The Qubba, an Aristocratic Type of Zawiya." AnnalesIslamologiques, 19 (1983), pp. 1 ff.

cAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 269 ff.

THE MOSQUE OF AMIR AZBAK AL-YUSUFI(1494/5)

The mosque of Amir Azbak al-Yusuff occupies a cor-ner between two streets, has a sabll-kuttab, and is builton a side street off Ibn Tulun's Sallba. It has a carvedminaret; the pattern in the middle section is similar tothat of the minaret of Sultan Qaytbay at Qalcat al-Kabsh. The facade, including the portal, is richlydecorated in the usual Qaytbay style.

There is no dome. Though the founder is buriedinside, there is no particular architectural enhancementof his tomb, which is located in the east side recess tothe left of the entrance. A noteworthy feature, however,is the window connecting this funerary iwan with theentrance vestibule, and thus with the street, so that thepasser-by may see inside.

The dikkat al-muballigh is attached to the wall of thewestern Iwan, facing the prayer niche.

Residential structures were located near the mosqueas the remains of a qaca there indicate.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Herz, M. "La mosquee d'Ezbek al-Youssoufi." Revue Egyptienne, I(1899), pp. 16 ff.

Mubarak. Khitat, IV, p. 55.


THE MOSQUE OF AMIR QIJMAS AL-ISHAQI(1479-81)

The mosque of Amir Qijmas al-Ishaql is popularlyknown by the name of Shaykh Abu Hurayra who wasburied there last century. It is a congregational (Friday)mosque located in the Darb al-Ahmar quarter south ofBab Zuwayla. The mosque stands above a row ofshops, has three facades, and occupies a triangle in abifurcated street. An elevated passage connects themosque with the ablution fountains. The sabll-kuttab isa separate structure across the street from the north sideof the mosque and has only one large facade. Althoughthe building had to be squeezed into a narrow plot, thearchitect dealt successfully with these restrictions.

THE EXTERIOR

The facade of this mosque is among the most char-acteristic of the late Mamluk period, with dense orna-

mentation in a relatively small space. The windows onthe three sides of the facade are on two levels, placedclose together and occupying most of the facade. Thelower ones have lintels of polychrome inlaid marble.The treatment of these lintels with a great variety ofcomplicated patterns, as at the sabll of Sultan Qaytbayat Saliba, has no parallel in earlier architecture andforms a characteristic feature of Qaytbay's decorativestyle. Stone panels with a net-like motif contribute tothe facade ornamentation, as do the richly carvedengaged columns at the corners.

The portal of the mosque, located on the southeastside of the facade, has a trilobed groin-vaulted archwith ablaq inlaid masonry. The central part of the por-tal recess also has an inlaid medallion. In contrast to theheavily decorated facade, the dome and the minaret areunadorned, which is quite unusual for this period. Thedome is a narrow, plain brick construction, and theminaret is not carved in the middle portion as it usuallyis. The three rings of stalactites and keel-arched nichesof the octagonal first story are the only orna-ments.

THE INTERIOR

The interior, a qaca plan, is colorful and differs littlefrom other mosques of the period except in the detailsof the decoration. cAbd al-Qadir al-Naqqash workedhere also, decorating the spandrels of the qibla win-dows. The prayer niche under the conch is masterfullydecorated with panels of white marble inlaid with adark-colored paste forming extremely fine scrolls orarabesques. In the very center of the decorated field,the artist proudly put his signature, as he did at the

PI. 111. The mosque of Amir Qijmas al-Ishaqi.PI. 112. The prayer niche at the mosque of Qijmas al-Ishaq!

with the signature of the craftsman.

152 THE MONUMENTS

Fig. 30. The mosque of Amir Qijmas al-Ishaqi (Departmentof Antiquities).

mosque of Abu Bakr ibn Muzhir, in a scroll, writtentwice symmetrically from left to right and right to left.This device, common in North African art, can be seenin one of the windows of the mosque of al-Hakim,though in quite a different style. This type of marblework, which must have been the creation of cAbd al-Qadir, is one of the last innovations in the medievaldecorative arts of Cairo.

In the western Iwan, opposite the qibla, a thickcornice of painted and gilded wooden stalactites, runsalong, the upper part of the wall just underneath theceiling. The dome, next to the qibla Twan, has anextended transition zone and is so small that it looksfrom the inside like a tower. Another notable feature inthis mosque is the use of sliding doors in the vestibule,the only known example in the Mamluk period. Itappears that the architect devised this solution to copewith the rather restricted space available for doors.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mubarak. Khitat, IV, pp. 48 ff.

THE MOSQUE OF AMIR QANIBAYAL-RAMMAH (1503)

The foundation deed calls the mosque of AmirQanibay a madrasa, but it functioned as a mosque withthe usual Sufi services. A rabc in its neighborhoodendowed the foundation and at the same time providedhousing for the staff attached to it. The mosqueincluded a library, a room near the sanctuary, servedby a librarian.

The extraordinary facade of this building deservesspecial mention. The architect made ample use of thelarge site on a hill overlooking the hippodrome, themosque of Sultan Hasan and the horse market, creatinga facade that is notable among Cairo monuments.

The long facade has, from left to right, a sabll-kuttabat the western corner, a rectangular double-headedminaret, a trilobed groin-vaulted portal to the right ofthe minaret, and on the eastern side and corner, a stonemausoleum dome carved in a repetitive arabesque pat-tern. The whole facade is reached by a ramp. Its com-position is altogether quite harmonious.

A double-headed minaret was built by Sultan al-Ghuri at al-Azhar. Qanibay himself built anothermosque in the Nasiriyya quarter which also has arectangular double-headed minaret.

The interior reveals some variations on the qacaplan. The Iwan with a prayer niche, instead of havinga flat ceiling, has a shallow vault on spherical penden-tives, the type seen at Bab al-Futuh. The stone coursesare alternately painted to give an ablaq effect. Thelowest course has a carved inscription and blazons. Thewindows above the prayer niche are also unusual, for

PI. 113. The religious-funerary complex of Amir Qanibay al-Rammah.


instead of being set in pointed arches, they are likethose usually found on the transition zone of domes,three roun'd surmounted by three circular ones, orbull's-eyes. The prayer niche is made of stone and itsconch has ablaq inlay. The Iwan opposite the qibla iscross vaulted.

The four Iwans open onto the central space througha pointed arch with ablaq voussoir. The mausoleumdome is entered from the covered courtyard and is con-nected by doors to the qibla Iwan.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid., p. 281.

THE MADRASA AND KHANQAH OF SULTANAL-GHURI (1503/4)

Though the reign of Sultan al-Ghurl followed shortlyafter that of Qaytbay, it witnessed a clear decline inquality of craftsmanship, particularly in the stone

carving and marble inlay that so richly embellishedQaytbay's monuments. Some innovations, however,did appear in minaret architecture.

The funerary complex of Sultan al-Ghuri, in theFahhamin quarter (charcoal market) in al-Mucizzstreet, is interesting as an architectural compositionbuilt on both sides of a street. The western side includesa Friday madrasa-mosque built on the qaca plan, andthe eastern side includes a khanqah and mausoleum aswell as a sabfl-kuttab.

THE MADRASA

The western facade has a trilobed stalactite portal, atiraz band, and a minaret projecting at its south edge.The minaret is four-storied, a rectangular structurefrom bottom to top, with arched panels on each side.The top originally had four bulbs instead of just one,and they were made of brick and covered with greentiles. The present top with five bulbs is a modern addi-

Pl. 114. The religious-funerary complex of Sultan al-Ghuri.

154 THE MONUMENTS

tion, and a misrepresentation of the original. Therewere already minarets with double bulbs, such as thoseat the mosques of Qanibay al-Rammah and that of al-Ghurl at al-Azhar. When Muhammad Bey Abu'l-Dhahab built his mosque he crowned its minaret withfive bulbs.

The interior is richly paved and paneled with blackand white marble. Stone carving covers the walls but itis of poor quality, shallow and repetitive. Of interestare the stalactites that frame the upper walls of thecovered courtyard, underneath the skylight.

THE KHANQAH AND MAUSOLEUM

This structure also has a trilobed stalactite portal anda tiraz band. On its northern edge a sabil-kuttab pro-jects into the street with three facades. The mausoleumon the south side of the interior now has only its rec-tangular base and transition zone. The dome, made ofbrick and covered completely with green tiles, collapsedat the beginning of this century. We know that themausoleum dome of Imam ShaficT was also covered atone time with green tiles, perhaps after al-Ghuri'srestoration. The transitional zone is made of stonependentives.

On the left or north side of the entrance vestibule isa qaca that is called a khanqah, though no living unitswere attached to it. The waqf deed says that Sufisshould have their meetings there, but does not refer toany living accommodations provided for them. A fewliving units are attached to the madrasa across thestreet.

This building, unlike all previous royal foundationsalong the street, has its facades unadjusted to the streetalignment. They instead make an angle, leaving thespace between the two facades widening into a sort ofsquare. The square was rented for market stalls, theincome contributing to Sultan al-Ghuri's endowment.David Roberts' nineteenth-century engraving shows atextile market there, and today there are still shops andbooths on both sides of the street, the rent of which iscollected by the Ministry of Waqfs and used in main-taining the religious buildings and their personnel.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE RELIGIOUS-FUNERARY COMPLEX OFAMIR QURQUMAS (1506/7)

The funerary complex of Amir Qurqumas includeda Friday mosque with Sufi services. Its layout is verysimilar to that of Sultan Qaytbay's mosque, with theminaret at the right of the portal, the sabll-kuttab at theleft side, and the dome on the southeast corner of thebuilding adjoining the qaca-plan prayer hall.

The dome has carved lozenges in the lower part anda zigzag pattern on the upper part. The minaret haslozenges carved on the faceted middle section and azigzag profile like that of the mosque of Sultan Inal.

An interesting feature preserved in this complex isthe qasr, the term used in the waqf deed to designate thehall on the south side of the mausoleum. This was aresidence overlooking the cemetery to the south, eastand west from large iron-grilled windows surmountedby arched openings in pierced stone rather than stucco.There are latrines and bedrooms near it. The foundersof large religious foundations often attached residentialstructures to their buildings, particularly if the founda-tion was for Sufis, like the khanqah ofShaykhu, or waslocated in the cemetery where the founder went forfeast days and other occasions. The complex of Barsbayhas apartments attached to it, and that of Qaytbay stillhas a maqcad or reception loggia.

The complex of Qurqumas had apartment com-plexes as well, occupying sites on both sides of thecemetery road. A rabc on one side has survived, withliving units built on two floors and a latrine on bothfloors of each apartment. The foundation deed states

cAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, p. 286.Mubarak. Khitat, V, p. 61.

PI. 115. The religious-funerary complex of Amir Qurqumaswith the minaret of Sultan Inal to its right.


Fig. 31. The religious-funerary complex of Amir Qurqumas (Department of Antiquities).

that these dwellings could be occupied by members ofthe foundation's staff, as well as others, meaning thatthe inhabitants might be families with women andchildren. Like most of the foundations of its time, thecomplex of Qurqumas was a mosque with multiplefunctions, not a khanqah with a monastic community.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Misiorowski, Andrzej. Mausoleum of Qurqumas in Cairo: An Example ofthe Architecture and Building Art oftheMamlouk Period. Warsaw, 1979.

THE MADRASA-MOSQUE OF AMIRKHAYRBAK (1520-21)

Amir Khayrbak was the governor of Aleppo duringthe reign of Sultan al-Ghuri. As a reward for betrayingthe sultan and cooperating with the Ottoman con-querors, he became the Ottomans' first governor ofEgypt after their conquest in 1517. He built his mosquein 1520/21.

THE EXTERIOR

The building that stands at Tabbana reveals to thepasserby coming down from the Citadel to BabZuwayla a carved stone dome and carved brick

minaret. The dome is covered with a repetitive ara-besque pattern and the minaret has a geometric stuccodesign carved on the brick shaft; the top has been lost,but old illustrations show that it was of the usualpavilion type.

The facade of the building is not regular. On thesouth side under the dome, the wall is on an angle. Onthe western or street side, the wall is adjusted to thestreet alignment between the mausoleum and the ruinsof the palace. On the eastern side of the dome there isan arch including an interior staircase connecting thepalace with the mausoleum. This palace was built byAmir AHn Aq in the late thirteenth century and wassubsequently inhabited by various amirs, includingKhayrbak. The facade of the mausoleum has archedwindows in pairs surmounted by circular windows.The lower windows are rectangular. Carved stonepanels and joggled lintels decorate the facade.

A trilobed groin-vaulted and marble inlaid portalleads through a corridor into a courtyard from wherethe mosque is reached, an uncommon approach to amosque. To the left side of the portal, across anentrance passage, is a sabll-kuttab. The courtyard onthe east side of the mosque is occupied by a tomb andis bordered by Salah al-Din's eastern city wall,separating it from the cemetery of Bab al-Wazir.

156 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 116. The madrasa and mausoleum of Amir Khayrbak.

THE INTERIOR

The interior of the mosque is not a qaca plan, but ahall consisting of three cross vaults supported bypointed arches. The central vault has an octagonalopening to admit light. The eastern wall, with theprayer niche, paneled like the rest of the wall with apolychrome marble dado with a conch of plain stone,shows an awkward feature. The windows above theprayer niche are partly hidden by the curve of the cen-tral arch supporting the vault, as if the architect hadbegun the walls with the intention of roofing them asusual with a wooden ceiling, but then changed his mindafter the qibla wall was erected and instead addedarches for the vault.

A shortage of wood might explain this anomaly.Egypt always had to import its wood, and in Sultan al-Ghuri's time, it would have been imported fromAnatolia. At the time this building was erected, Egyptwas already embroiled in the disturbances caused bythe Ottoman conquests, and thus the importation oftimber may have been difficult.

The dikka, a loggia made of wood, is placed on thewestern wall opposite the prayer niche. This wall,adjusted to the street alignment by irregular thicknessesof the wall, includes recesses. The qibla wall is notproperly oriented to Mecca, as is the prayer niche inthe mausoleum. The irregularity is most likely due tolack of space, raising the question of whether the spaceoccupied by the mosque was originally planned foranother purpose and later adapted for a religiousbuilding.

0 | i 5m.

Fig. 32. The madrasa and mausoleum of Amir Khayrbak (Department of Antiquities).


THE MAUSOLEUM

At the back of the prayer hall, facing the entrance,is a trilobed portal with a groin vault decorated withablaq masonry and stalactites in the two side arches. Itleads into the mausoleum. A special feature of thisbuilding is the treatment of the mausoleum entrance,which is enhanced by a portal and has a pair ofmaksalas. This treatment is common on facades, not ininteriors.

The mausoleum walls are not straight, and insidethey also show irregularities in the arrangement of thewindows. The inner window openings do not corre-spond to the outer openings, so that the openings runobliquely through the thickness of the masonry.

The mausoleum is dated 1502/3 but the foundationdeed of the madrasa has the much later date of 1521.The madrasa itself has no dated inscription, but thereis no break in the masonry of the mausoleum andmadrasa to suggest that they were constructed at dif-ferent times.

The foundation deed of the madrasa states that it wasplanned for ten students who were also Sufis. Fiveliving units under the floor of the mosque, reachedfrom the yard, provided their lodging.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mubarak. Khitat, IV, p. 110.

PI. 117. Interior of the madrasa of Amir Khayrbak.

CHAPTER NINE


THE MOSQUE OF SULAYMAN PASHA (1528)

Sulayman Pasha's mosque is the first mosque foundedin Cairo after the Ottoman conquest, but not the firstreligious foundation. It was preceded by the TakiyyatIbrahim al-Kulshani which was completed in 1524.The mosque is located in the northern enclosure of theCitadel which was at that time occupied by theJanissary corps of the Ottoman army. The provisionthat the shaykh of the mosque must be Turkishindicates its dedication to this corps.

THE EXTERIOR

The mosque's architecture owes very little to Cairenearchitectural traditions and its plan is entirely Otto-man. It is a rectangular building, approximately half ofwhich is occupied by the prayer hall, the other half bya courtyard. The prayer hall is a rectangular spacecovered by a central dome, flanked by three half-domes. The courtyard is surrounded by an arcadecovered by shallow domes. The central dome, theshallow domes around the courtyard, and the conicaltop of the minaret are all covered with green tiles.

This building has no facade, in the Cairene architec-tural sense of paneling and decorative fenestrations. Itsappearance is rather introverted, and its small portal isan imitation of that of al-Nasir Muhammad's mosquenearby in the Citadel, a half-dome on stalactites. Theminaret stands to the left of the entrance on the southwall of the sanctuary, a high cylindrical faceted shaft.It uses a Mamluk device in the different styles of stalac-tite carving on the balconies, an exception amongCairo's Ottoman minarets. The profile of the dome isrounded and squat.

reached by an inner staircase. It is also painted. Thelower parts of the inner walls are covered with marbledadoes in Mamluk style and a frieze of carved marbleinlaid with paste runs above the dado.

A large marble pulpit, carved and painted, is sur-mounted by a conical top like that of the minaret, justas Mamluk pulpits had pavilions similar to those oftheir minarets.

A door in the western wall leads to a courtyard pavedwith marble. On the west side of the courtyard is ashrine built in the Fatimid period by Abu Mansur ibnQasta, popularly known as Sid! Sarya. The shrine isincorporated into the architecture of the mosque, andcovered by a dome larger than those around the cour-tyard. The shrine includes the tombs of Ottomanofficials with cenotaphs topped with various types ofturbans in marble. Until recently there was a woodenboat hanging above the cenotaph of Ibn Qasta; it is apopular tradition in Egypt to place boats in saints'shrines.

On the north side of the courtyard another entranceleads to a second courtyard in front of a vaulted oblongbuilding composed of two halls. The outer hall opens tothe courtyard and leads though a door into the innerhall. Both are roofed with two half domes on sphericalpendentives, facing each other. According to the foun-dation deed, this building is a kuttab. Its domes werecovered with blue tiles; the mosque's domes are ingreen. The kuttab has a prayer niche with stalactites inthe conch.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mubarak. Khitat, V, p. 14.

THE INTERIOR

There is no vestibule; the entrance leads directly intothe prayer hall. The central dome rests on sphericalpendentives. Its painting and that of the transitionalzone have been restored. The dikka is attached to theupper part of the wall facing the prayer niche and is

THE TAKIYYA OF SULAYMAN PASHA (1543)

The term takiyya (from the Turkish tekke) designatesan Ottoman type of religious institution with boardinghouse functions. Its architecture, therefore, is charac-terized by the presence of living units for students orSufis.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE OTTOMAN PERIOD 159

PI. 118. The mosque of Sulayman Pasha.

160 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 119. The takiyya-madrasa of Sulayman Pasha.

The takiyya is the equivalent of the khanqah andindeed, some takiyyas had strict regulations reminis-cent of the foundations of the early Mamluk periodwhere Sufis dwelt, worshiped, and studied, following aclearly defined curriculum. Some takiyyas, such as theSulaymaniyya and the Mahmudiyya (1750), areOttoman in architecture, a courtyard surrounded byliving units behind an arcade with round arches andshallow domes. The foundation deeds of later, eigh-teenth century, religious institutions show that Sufismwas no longer part of the activities of mosques andmadrasas. Instead, Sufi shaykhs pursued their ritualsin the zawiyas and takiyyas.

Sometimes, the term takiyya was simply used todesignate the part of the madrasa devoted to livingquarters. At the foundation of Muhammad Bey Abu '1-Dhahab, a madrasa for the four Islamic rites, thestudents' residence was called the takiyya, but no Sufiswere attached to the foundation.

The inscriptions on the Takiyya Sulaymaniyya donot include the term takiyya, but do refer to a madrasa.Takiyya Sulaymaniyya is the popular name and alsothe term used by historians.

The Mamluk-style facade has a groin-vaulted portalleading through a straight, cross-vaulted passage intothe courtyard. The courtyard is surrounded by a col-umned arcade with round arches. Behind each arch isthe entrance to a cell, except on the axis of the entrance,which corresponds to the qibla. There, a domed roomopens onto the courtyard and includes the prayer niche.Unfortunately, the foundation is not mentioned in thewaqf deed of Sulayman Pasha, so we do not know

exactly how the madrasa functioned, or if the founda-tion originally included other structures. There is nomosque or minaret attached to it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mubarak. Khifat, VI, p. 56; Van Berchem, C.I.A., p. 606.

THE MOSQUE OF MAHMUD PASHA (1567)

The mosque of Mahmud Pasha is a free-standingbuilding situated on the northeast side of the madrasaof Sultan Hasan, also facing the Citadel. Apart from itsOttoman minaret, the architecture is entirely Mamlukin style. There are even two features copied from theSultan Hasan mosque: locating of the mausoleumdome behind the prayer hall to face the Citadel, andbuilding the minaret on a semicircular, protruding but-tress flanking the dome. The profile of the dome isslightly shorter and more rounded than Mamlukdomes.

PI. 120. The mosque and mausoleum of Mahmud Pasha.


PI. 121. The mosque of Mahmud Pasha, interior view.

The minaret is a slender circular tower that appearsparticularly elongated because of the circular buttresson which it rests. The same feature can be seen at thenearby mosque of Sultan Hasan which might haveinspired the Mahmudiyya architect. The shaft of theminaret, like the buttress, is ribbed with verticalmoldings, and it has a balcony on stalactites at the rooflevel and another, higher balcony.

The rectangular hall's roof is supported by two pairsof columns, a feature found in the mosque of SultanBarsbay in the cemetery, but here the columns areancient Egyptian granite columns and their pointedarches are not parallel to the qibla wall, but form a rec-tangular pavilion in the center of the mosque with alantern in the ceiling to admit light. The side aisles areslightly higher than the central aisle. A loggia ofpainted wood faces the prayer niche and is reached byan inner staircase.

There is no marble decoration, but intricate stuccoand colored-glass windows and a beautiful arabesquepainted' ceiling make this mosque particularly attrac-tive. The fact that the mosque is free standing enhancesthe effect of the light coming through the windows. Thedome, beyond the qibla wall, rests on pendentives andis plain. It is one of the few domed mausoleums of theOttoman period. The mosque of Masrh Pasha (1575) atcArab Yasar in the cemetery southeast of the Citadel issimilar in plan to this mosque, but its lantern is sup-ported by piers instead of columns.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid., pp. 295 f.Williams, J. "Monuments."

THE MOSQUE OF SINAN PASHA (1571)

This mosque is one of the most interesting inOttoman Cairo. It was built on the Nile shore at theport of Bulaq, which was at that time separated fromthe rest of Cairo and closer to the river than it is today,because the river has since shifted westward.

The mosque is set askew within its enclosure tomaintain the Mecca orientation. The mosque's domedchamber is surrounded on three sides by an arcade ofslightly pointed arches supporting shallow domes; aminaret flanks the mosque on the south side. Theenclosure does not allow the mosque a street facade. Itsarchitecture is dominated by the central dome. Thecentral dome's profile is rounded, and the lower parthas two rows of windows, the upper ones in the shapeof lobed arches. These are common on Fatimidbuildings, but they are used only once in a dome, at theshrine of Sayyida Ruqayya, built more than four cen-turies earlier. Between the facets of the dome thatinclude the windows, there are small buttresses or tur-rets crowned by onion-shaped tops, which give thisdome its particular appearance. The minaret is a squatcylindrical shaft with one balcony and a conical top.

The mosque of Sinan Pasha has the largest stonedome in Cairo, with a diameter of about fifteen meters.It is a half meter larger than the dome of Barquq.

The interior is heavily influenced by the architectureof the Fadawiyya mausoleum. The transitional zone isset within, not above, the rectangular part of thebuilding and is composed of trilobed squinches, eachwithin a pointed arch. The upper arch of the squinchis decorated with stalactites. Curiously, the inner lower

PI. 122. The mosque of Sinan Pasha at Bulaq.

162 THE MONUMENTS

Fig. 33. The mosque of Sinan Pasha (Department of Anti-quities).

windows of the dome do not have the same shape asthey do on the exterior. Their exterior shape is a doublearch; inside they take the shape of rosettes filled withcolored glass.

The prayer niche is decorated with Mamluk stylepolychrome marble. Around the base of the dome runsa gallery with a wooden balustrade whose function isnot evident. The dikka is a wooden balcony facing theprayer niche reached, like the gallery, by a staircase inthe wall.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mubarak. Khitat, V, p. 19.

THE MOSQUE OF MALIKA SAFIYYA (1610)

Malika Safiyya was the Venetian wife of theOttoman Sultan Murad III. When one of her slaves,cUthman Agha, decided to build this mosque, he cameup against legal problems. It was found that as a slave,he was not legally entitled either to build a mosque orto make endowments, as his properties after his deathshould revert to his owner, Malika Safiyya. As it couldnot be proved that the slave had been freed before hisdeath, nor that he had the permission of his owner tomake endowments, the endowment was consideredillegal. Thus the mosque and all other propertiesendowed to it reverted to Malika Safiyya.

The mosque is built on a level much higher than thestreet and is reached by a long semicircular flight ofsteps. The exterior walls are not decorated but there arewindows on two levels. A minaret flanks the buildingon the southeast corner. There are three entrances, oneon each facade, each composed of a shallow trilobedrecess framed by a molding with angular loops. Theythus differ from the street entrance leading to themosque complex, which has a trilobed groin-vaultedportal.

The plan is similar to that of the mosque of Sulay-man Pasha, with a similar courtyard. The sanctuary,however, although also covered by a large roundeddome, is flanked by small domes instead of large half-domes. The lateral small domes are supported byarches carried by columns. As at the mosque of SinanPasha, a wooden gallery runs around the inner base ofthe dome; the dikka is opposite the prayer niche. Threedoors, the central one larger, connect the sanctuarywith the courtyard. The mosque of Malika Safiyya hasone feature inherited from earlier architecture: a domeover the prayer niche; it protrudes at the back wall ofthe mosque.

Fig. 34. The mosque of Malika Safiyya (Department of Anti-quities).


BIBLIOGRAPHY

cAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 306 ff.Mubarak. Khitat, IV, p. 39.Williams. "Monuments," Appendix B.

THE MOSQUE OF AMIR YUSUF AGHAAL-HIN (1625)

The mosque of Amir Yusuf Agha al-Hin is located inthe neighborhood of the Islamic Museum; it was builtby an amir of Circassian origin. Except for the minaret,its architecture follows Mamluk traditions. Amausoleum with a dome, for the amir and his family,was attached to the building, but was demolished in thelast century to make way for the construction ofMuhammad CA1T street.

The mosque is a free-standing building with a qacaplan, decorated with polychrome marble in the Mam-

Pi. 124. The mosque of Yusuf Agha al-Hm, view of theinterior with mashrabiyya.

PI. 123. The mosque of Yusuf Agha al-Hin.

luk style. The original sabil-kuttab can be seen on theeastern facade which also includes the portal. The othersabil on the northwestern corner of the mosque wasadded in this century, when the mosque was restoredafter the KhalTj was filled in and replaced by a street.This new sabil is an anachronism, as it is an imitationof the sabil of cAbd al-Rahman Katkhuda built abouta century later than the mosque of Yusuf Agha.

The interior displays an unusual feature in themashrabiyya occupying the western wall. The mosquewas erected on the eastern side of the Khali] and thewindows were placed to allow worshipers to enjoy theview of the canal and gardens outside, as was commonin residential architecture. Another interesting detail isthe presence of wooden balconies that occupy the wholewidth of the three iwans around the main one, and thusadd a kind of upper floor to the mosque. The functionof these balconies is not quite clear. It is unlikely thatthey all were dikkas for recitations.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 312 ff.Mubarak. Khitat, IV, p. 102.

THE MOSQUE OF SHAYKH AL-BURDAYNI(1616-29)

This small building, located in the Dawudiyyaquarter not far from the mosque of Malika Safiyya, isan architectural surprise. It appears as if the architect,

164 THE MONUMENTS

PI. 125. The mosque of Shaykh al-Burdaym.

or the founder, tried to revive the style of Marnlukbuildings of the Qaytbay period. Lavishly decorated,its interior contrasts with that of the Ottoman buildingsalready described. Its founder was not a Turk, nor amember of the ruling class, but an Egyptian shaykh ofthe Shaficl rite.

The facade treatment is totally Mamluk. Themosque has two facades, the western one with the por-tal and a minaret on its right side. The minaret's firststory is octagonal and the circular second section iscarved. The upper part consists of a bulb resting on abalcony on stalactites, and is thus an imitation of lateMamluk minarets with a carved first story decoratedwith keel-arched niches framed with moldings. The twobalconies rest on stalactites of different patterns. Theonly difference between this and Mamluk minarets isthat the bulb is not carried on an octagonal pavilion,

but set directly above the balcony. The quality of thecarving is less refined than that of the Qaytbay period.It is the only Ottoman minaret with an inscriptionband, here placed on the octagonal section. It providesthe date of 1623, which is much later than that of themosque.

The mosque is L-shaped and very small. The qiblawall is entirely covered with marble polychrome panels,and the other walls have a high marble dado. The win-dows have stucco and colored-glass decoration. Theprayer niche, richly decorated with inlaid marble andblue-glass paste, is one of the finest examples of decora-tion in the Mamluk tradition, and the wooden ceilingis richly painted. Opposite the prayer niche are a dikkaand a wooden frieze with an inscription band, also inlate Mamluk style, running along the walls under theceiling. The wooden pulpit with geometrical designsshows a successful revival of Mamluk art.

Shaykh al-Burdayni, sponsor of the mosque, was aShaficT Egyptian, not a Turk, and this may explain thetraditional, local character of the mosque's archi-tecture.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mubarak. Khitat, III, p. 64; IV, p. 65; IX, p. 16.

THE MOSQUE OF AMIR CUTHMANKATKHUDA (1734)

cUthman Katkhuda, a wealthy amir, built a mosquetogether with residential and commercial buildings atAzbakiyya in the area which is today Opera Square.Only the left side of the facade of the mosque was visi-

Pl. 126. The mosque of Amir cUthman Katkhuda.


PI. 127. The mosque of cUthman Katkhuda, interior view.

ble from the street; the rest was surrounded by housesand a rabc, a hammam, sabil-kuttab and a number ofshops. The structures formed a complete city quarter.

A groin-vaulted portal is in the center of the facadeand a minaret stands on its left, or northwest corner.Apart from the Turkish shape of the minaret and theblue-green Turkish tiles decorating the lintel of theentrance, the facade, with its recessed panels includingwindows, is Mamluk in style.

The entrance leads directly into the mosque from thewestern side. The mosque is hypostyle in plan, with acourtyard. It is the only mosque of this period to havesuch an archaic layout. Marble columns support thebeautiful painted wooden ceiling. The prayer niche isdecorated with inlaid marble, also Mamluk in style.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masajid, pp. 323 ff.Behrens-Abouseif. Azbakiyya, pp. 55 ff., 114 ff.Mubarak, Khitat, V, pp. 89 ff.

THE MOSQUE OF MUHAMMAD BEYABU'L-DHAHAB (1774)

Like the mosque of Sultan Hasan, that of Muham-mad Bey Abu'l-Dhahab was a madrasa for the fourrites of Islamic law, but unlike the late Mamluk foun-dations, it had no services for Sufis.

THE EXTERIOR

Standing opposite al-Azhar in the middle of the city,it is architecturally an imitation of the mosque of SinanPasha at Bulaq, with slight differences. Sinan Pasha'smosque is within a garden enclosure; Abu'l-Dhahab'smosque, in the heart of the city, is surrounded by afacade wall. This wall is lower than the walls of themosque proper, so that the arcades of the mosque arevisible from outside the wall. The facade is paneled in

Fig. 35. The mosque of Amir cUthman Katkhuda (Depart-ment of Antiquities).

PI. 128. The madrasa-mosque of Muhammad Bey Abu'l-Dhahab.

166 THE MONUMENTS

the Mamluk style with stalactite recesses including win-dows. The mosque stands above shops on the east andsouth facades. The profile of the dome is similar to thatof Sinan Pasha's mosque and it has the same width butis built of brick. The windows of the drum are the usualdouble-arched openings surmounted by a circular one,differing from the lobed-arch windows of the SinanPasha dome. Buttresses in the shape of turrets flank thesixteen corners of the drum.

The minaret also differs in shape and location. It ison the southwest corner and is an imitation of thenearby minaret of Sultan al-Ghurl, which at the timeAbu'l-Dhahab founded his mosque, still had fourbulbs. The minaret of Abu'l-Dhahab has five bulbs.The portal is also Mamluk, trilobed and groin vaulted,and the windows have in their lintels bits of green andblue Ottoman style tiles.

THE INTERIOR

The portal, reached by a flight of steps, leads to aziyada surrounding the mosque on its east and southsides. The ziyada results from adjusting the facade tothe street alignment, making an angle with the mainpart of the building. To the left of the entrance is a veryelaborate cast bronze grill behind which was oncehoused a very rich library.

Like the mosque of Sinan Pasha, this mosque is com-posed of a central dome surrounded on the three non-qibla sides by an arcade supporting shallow domes.The dome at the northeast corner is occupied by thetombs of the founder and his sister. The walls arepaneled with Turkish and Tunisian tiles characteris-tically blue and yellow. The funerary corner is enclosedwith a lacy bronze grill.

The sanctuary, or domed area, has three entrancesleading from the three arcaded galleries throughentrances enhanced by stalactite crestings. The interiorhas the trilobed large squinches seen at the Fadawiyyadome and Sinan Pasha's mosque. Mother-of-pearlinlaid along with marble, an exceptional decoration forthis time, is found on the prayer niche which is paneledin early Mamluk style. The inscription bands are moreOttoman in style than Mamluk, set in cartouchesunderneath the dome and carved in rihanT script. Theyare painted and gilded. The dikka is a remarkablewooden balcony that projects on brackets from the walllacing the prayer niche.

On the south side of the mosque and separated fromit by a wall is a two-storied complex of rooms around

PL 129. Iron grill at the mosque of Muhammad Bey Abu'l-Dhahab.

a courtyard. The foundation deed calls this a takiyya,and stipulates that it be used by Turkish students.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mubarak. Khitat, V, p. 103.cAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 351 ff.

THE MOSQUE OF HASAN PASHA TAHIR (1809)

The mosque of Hasan Pasha Tahir was built shortlyafter Muhammad CAH came to power by one of hisofficers. The building, in the Hilmiyya quarter not farfrom the mosque of Ibn Tulun, has a curiously hybridcharacter.


PI. 130. The mosque and mausoleum of Hasan Pasha Tahir.

THE MOSQUE OF SULAYMAN AGHAAL-SILAHDAR (1837-39)

The mosque of Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar, not farfrom the al-Aqmar mosque on the opposite side of thestreet, exhibits all the decorative features of theMuhammad CAH style.

THE EXTERIOR

The facade is relatively low and is composed of threesections. On the north section the mosque stands abovea row of shops. An entrance at the northernmost sec-tion leads to the courtyard of the mosque. Furthersouth is a round arched entrance between the mosqueand the kuttab, which is next to the sabll rather thanabove it. The minaret, an especially elegant shaft, tall,

The facade shows an obvious attempt to reviveMamluk architecture. It has a trilobe portal with groinsand to the right is a sabil-kuttab. Moldings are useddensely, framing carved panels. A minaret to the rightof the sabil-kuttab is a strange imitation of Mamlukstyle with an octagonal first story and a circular secondstory with moldings. The third story carries a bulb butis a continuous circular shaft rather than a pavilion.Two balconies on stalactites are set between the threesections.

On the left side of the entrance is a mausoleum domeof peculiar architecture. Its base is below the mosqueroof and the lower part has a window with a stalactiterecess and moldings. The transitional zone, which is ofstone though the dome is of brick, is Mamluk in style,with undulating steps. The dome itself is vertical andthin, and is decorated with moldings. Its pointed profilethus differs from Mamluk domes.

Next to this dome is another, rounded dome of evenmore exotic character. It was built for a brother of themosque's founder and may have been inspired byTurkish provincial architecture.

The interior of the mosque of Hasan Tahir is a hallwhose roof is supported by three pairs of columns.There is a lantern, and the decoration is of traditionalMamluk style.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 357 ff.Mubarak. Khitat, IV, p. 87. PL 131. The mosque of Amir Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar.

168 THE MONUMENTS

slender and cylindrical with an elongated conical top,stands between the madrasa and the mosque. It has onebalcony on horizontal moldings.

The facade of the sabil, a flamboyant display of lateOttoman decoration, rounded and built of marble withround arched windows, is at the southern part of thecomplex. Its cast bronze window grills have a veryintricate lacy pattern. Above them are marble carvingsimitating textile folds, a device of Italian Baroque art.Cartouches with Turkish inscriptions in nastacliq scriptdecorate the entire upper part of the sabil facade andabove these is a repetitive motif of acanthus-like leaves.A wooden carved and painted sunshade tops the sabilfacade. There is a great similarity between this sabiland the one facing the madrasa of al-Nasir Muham-mad, built in the same period (1828) by Ismacfl Pasha.

Next to the sabil of Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar is around arch that frames the entrance on the side streetleading to another entrance to the mosque through acovered flight of steps.

THE INTERIOR

The interior combines features of both Ottoman andCairene architecture. The courtyard's rounded arcadesare covered with Ottoman style shallow domes. Abovethe entrance to the mosque is a charming small semicir-cular balcony that is very Western in style. The roof ofthe sanctuary is carried on four identical marble col-umns, forming three aisles parallel to the qibla wall.They support round arches and a central lantern. Theprayer niche, made of white marble, is decorated withWestern style floral motifs and looks like somethingthat might be found in a European baroque church.The dikka is a gallery with wooden balustrade above theentrance, communicating with the small round balconyoutside. A row of horizontally pierced oval windowsbring light from the courtyard into the interior.

Interestingly, and unexpectedly, the window recessesof the mosque show that the facade has been adjustedto the street alignment by progressively thickening thewall, just as in the al-Aqmar mosque and all the Mam-luk mosques on the same street.

BIBLIOGRAPHYcAbd al-Wahhab. Masdjid, pp. 360 ff.Mubarak. Khitat, V, p. 15.

THE MOSQUE OF MUHAMMAD CALI (1830-48)

In the architecture of his mosque, Muhammad CA1IPasha, viceroy and initiator of Egypt's modern age,achieved a radical break with all traditions character-izing Cairo architecture from the Mamluk to the lateOttoman period. The break is emphasized by thechoice of site.

Muhammad CA1I pulled down the remains of Mam-luk palaces and their dependencies, described shortlybefore by Napoleon's scholars as the most impressivebuildings in Cairo despite their dilapidated condition.Recent excavations show that in order to build themosque on top of the preexisting structures, some tenmeters of rubble were filled in.

Just as Salah al-Dln many centuries earlier hadabolished all traces of Fatimid power and status byrefusing to live in their palaces and having themdismantled and parceled out to his courtiers, soMuhammad CA1I destroyed all traces of the Mamlukpalaces from which Egypt had been ruled since the thir-teenth century. That is why, among Cairo's wealth ofhistoric monuments, there is not one royal palace leftfrom these periods.

It is, however, paradoxical that while politicallyMuhammad CAH acted quite independently of Istan-bul, architecturally during his reign style came closer tothat of Istanbul than ever before, including its Western,particularly French, influence. Muhammad cAH'sCairo set out to abandon the oriental Middle Ages andbegin the modern Western Age, in effect, to surpassIstanbul. Muhammad CAH, who was more eager tobuild modern factories than religious foundations,erected this mosque, where he is buried, as a monu-ment to himself.

Originally, the planning of this mosque was assignedto Muhammad cAli's French architect, Pascal Coste,who probably would have built it in the local Mamlukstyle, judging from his interest in Cairo's traditionalarchitecture. For some unknown reason, however, thePasha changed his mind and an Armenian architect,whose name is not known, designed the mosque on aplan similar to that of the mosque of Sultan Ahmad inIstanbul.

Because it is the most visible monument of Cairo,Muhammad cAll's mosque, the least Egyptian ofmonuments, became a symbol of the city. Popularlyknown as al-qala, meaning citadel, it is thus confusedas well with the works of Salah al-Dln.


PI. 132. The mosque of Muhammad CA1T.

The long time it took to complete this monumentmay be due to its size, gigantic by Cairo's architecturalstandards. That combined with its prominent locationand its profile, the domed silhouette flanked by a pairof slender high minarets, contributed to its prestige.The minarets, over eighty meters high, stand on basesonly three meters wide. The architecture of the mosqueis totally Ottoman, though its domes are, relative totheir width, higher and less squat than those inIstanbul.

The plan is a central dome carried on four piers andspherical pendentives, flanked by four half-domes. Thecourtyard, as at the mosques of Sulayman Pasha andMalika Safiyya, is surrounded by rounded arcadescarrying small domes.

The mosque has three entrances, on the north, westand east walls. The western entrance opens onto thecourtyard, which also has a northern and southernentrance from the mosque. In the middle of the court-

yard is a marble ablution fountain with a carvedwooden roof on columns, the whole lavishly decoratedin a style recalling the decoration of the sabll-kuttabfacing the madrasa of al-Nasir on Mucizz street built in1828 by Ismacil Pasha. The sabrl and the upper part ofthe courtyard facade are decorated with small oval wallpaintings on which Mediterranean landscapes are rep-resented.

On the west wall of the courtyard is an iron clockpresented to Muhammad CA1T by the French KingLouis Philippe, with a tea salon on the upper level. Itsstyle is a mixture of neo-gothic and oriental elements.

The entire decoration of the building is alien toCairene traditions, and in fact, to Islamic art. Thereare no stalactites, geometric shapes or arabesques; onlythe inscription bands continue an Islamic tradition.Even the marble chosen for decoration is different fromthat of earlier mosques: the walls and piers of themosque are paneled with alabaster from Upper Egypt,

170 THE MONUMENTS

which is inappropriate for architecture as it deterioratesquickly.

In the southwest corner of the sanctuary, within anenclosure richly decorated with bronze openwork, isthe marble cenotaph of Muhammad CAH. In 1936serious structural deficiencies were found in the domeand it had to be totally rebuilt. It took two years.Between 1937 and 1939 the decoration was renewed

and in the mid of the 1980's the whole citadel complexwas again renovated.

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