4.615 | Spring 2002 | Undergraduate

The Architecture of Cairo

Lecture Notes

Part 1 - Beginnings - History, Geography, and Religion

 

 1 - Egypt from Alexander to the Islamic Conquest
[Lec 2: al-Fustat.](/courses/4-615-the-architecture-of-cairo-spring-2002/pages/lecture-notes/lec2) 2 - Foundation of al-Fustat

 

 3 - Abbasids and Tulunids (8th and 9th Century)

Part 2 - Age of the Caliphate - The Fatimids

 

 4 - The Foundation of Fatimid al-Qahira

 

 5 - Fatimid Mosques in Cairo

 

 6 - Late Fatimid Period (1074-1171)

Part 3 - Rise to Prominence - Ayyubids and Bahri Mamluks

 

 7 - The Ayyubid Period (1171-1250) - The City and the Citadel

 

 8 - Transforming the Religious Landscape of Cairo in the Ayyubid Period

 

 9 - Early Mamluk Period (1250-90)

 

 10 - The Reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (1293-1341)

 

 11 - The Late Bahri Period (1341-82)

 

 12 - The Development of Residential Architecture in Bahri Cairo

Part 4 - Afterglow of Empire - Burji Mamluks and Ottomans

 

 13 - Burji Mamluk Architecture in the City

 

 14 - Burji Mamluk Architecture in the Northern Qarafa

 

 15 - Ottoman Architecture in Cairo - The Age of the Governors

 

 16 - Ottoman Architecture in Cairo - The Age of the Mamluk Beys

Part 5 - Modernization and After - Muhammad ‘Ali to the Present

 

 17 - Cairo From Napoleon to Muhammad `Ali

 

 18 - The Modernization of Cairo

 

 19 - Competing Neo Styles in the Early Twentieth Century

 

 20 - Historicism in Twentieth-Century Cairo

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Concepts

Alexandria: the Ptolemic capital of Egypt, was a great center of Greek learning throughout Antiquity. It was famous for its Pharos (Light-tower), Royal Library, and Mouseion (Museum) which was a major research institution. Eratosthenes and Ptolmaeus or Claudius Ptolmey, the greatest geographer-astronomers of antiquity, Euclid, the greatest Greek geometrician, and Archimedes, the famous mathematician all studied and taught at Alexandria. 
 
Babylon: The Roman fortress which stood on the eastern bank of the Nile and guarded the head of the Delta. It was built by the emperor Trajan (end of the 1st century CE) midway between the old Egyptian cities of Memphis, on the eastern bank, and An or Heliopolis (the City of the Sun) to the west. Taken over by the Arab Muslims in 641 CE, it became the nucleus for the later development of the Islamic capital of Egypt. It is unclear, however, whether any of the Coptic churches standing today near the remains of the fortress of Babylon existed before the Arab conquest. Many of them, such as St. Sergius, St. Bacchus, St. Barbara, incorporate early fragments within their 9-10th century structures. 
 
Misr: The name by which Arabs (and other Semites) called Egypt, which was otherwise called by its own people, Kemet, “the Black Land.” Misr is also the name used in colloquial Egyptian until today to refer to the capital city of al-Qahira (Cairo), perhaps in deference to the city that dominates the political and economic life of the country and embodies its cultural identity. The term Misr was also used to designate many of the early Islamic garrison towns, examples of which were founded in all the conquered regions: Busra and Kufa in Iraq, Jabiyya in Syria, Fustat in Egypt, and Qayrawan in Tunisia. Most of these settlements grew from more or less informal encampments around a central mosque space to sophisticated capital cities within the first century Hegire (7th-8th century C. E.). 
      
332 B.C.:  Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered Egypt from the Persian and soon laid out the plans of Alexandria located on a natural harbor west of the Western branch of the Delta from which could be controlled the Mediterranean trade of the country. 
 
305 B.C.: Ptolemy, a general in Alexander’s army, declared himself king. Thus begun the Ptolemic (Hellenistic) period which was to last until 30 B.C. When Egypt was annexed by the Romans after the death of the famous Cleopatra VI and her son from Caesar, Caesarion. The Ptolemies tried to create some syncretism between the Greek and Egyptian systems of beliefs, but most Egyptians remained outside these developments and continued to live according to their traditions in the countryside. One of the few major changes occurred in the writing of the Egyptian language, called Coptic, which slowly shed its old Demotic style and adapted a modified Greek alphabet. 
 
The Copts:  The name given today to the Christian Egyptians. The English word derives from the Arabic Qobt, itself derived from Kyptaios, the Coptic form of the Greek Aigyptus, meaning simply “Egyptian.” The Coptic church, following the Monophysite creed (believing in a single nature of Christ, both human and divine), developed a nationalistic streak from 451 CE onward in opposition to the Orthodox creed of Constantinople, the Byzantine capital on the Bosphoros.

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Concepts

Al-Nasir Muhammad: (1293-1341 with two interruptions) The most important of the Mamluk sultans. Cairo more than doubled in size during his long reign. He dug a new canal (al-khalij al-Nasiri), and developed with his amirs the areas around it and along the new shore of the receding Nile. He also monumentalized the Citadel and redefined its relationship to the city by surrounding it with new urban areas to the south, east, and west.
     
Khanqah: Establishment for sufis which usually contains a mosque, quarters for a number of sufis, and a meeting hall where the hudur (act of devotion) is performed.
     
Waqf: Endowment deed. In the Mamluk period, amirs and dignitaries endowed charitable structures both for pious reasons and as a means to preserve some of the wealth given them by the state in the form of iqta`, which would otherwise be taken from them.

The Madrasa of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad: (1295-1303) Adjacent to the complex of Qalawun, this four-iwan madrasa is famous for its portal, a spoil of war from a Gothic church in Acre, its square minaret which is totally covered with stucco decoration, and its Persianized stucco-decorated mihrab.

The Madrasa-Qubba-Khanqah of Amirs Salar and Sanjar: (1304-5) Tucked in a bent of a major thoroughfare, this double-domed complex dominate the approach from the mosque of Ibn Tulun. It has the tombs of two amirs and a madrasa-khanqah next to them.

The Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel: (1318 and 1335) The main mosque at the Citadel, this hypostyle structure is distinguished by the arrangement of alternate courses of red and black stone in its arches and niches, and by its two unusual minarets which may have been a direct import from Ilkhanid Iran.

The Great Iwan at the Citadel: Rebuilt twice by al-Nasir Muhammad, in 1315 and 1334, on the site of earlier iwans, it served as the formal audience hall. It consisted of a huge basilical space made of rows of reused granite columns, was opened on three sides, and was covered with a dome coated with greenish faience.

The Khanqah-Qubba of Princess Tughay: (1348) One of the earliest structures in the Northern Qarafa, this ruined structure is the tomb of the favorite wife of al-Nasir Muhammad and the mother of his favorite son Anuk. It shows many eastern influences in its decoration.

Monuments

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Concepts

The Black Death: The name given to the bubonic plague that swept across Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean between 1347 and 1349 and killed between one third and one half of their population. This was perhaps the single most important factor in shaking the medieval world and changing its demographic, religious, economic, and belief patterns (its memory is still preserved in many folk tales and nursery rhymes). In Cairo, it is estimated, up to half the population was wiped out in one season. Though faintly detectable in the architecture of the city (perhaps with the exception of the Madrasa of Sultan Hasan), the Black Death caused major damage on the urban and civic levels and further weakened the Mamluk system.

The Madrasa of Amir Sarghatmish: (1356) Probably the prototype for the royal mosque of Sultan Hasan, this mausoleum-madrasa complex was built next to the mosque of Ibn Tulun. It has a four-iwan plan and the space between the iwans is filled with the students’ rooms, while, unusually, a dome surmounts the majlis-derived prayer iwan.

The Madrasas of Sultan Hasan: (1356-61) The most magnificent of all Cairene structures, this four-iwan, four-madrasa structure stands across from the Citadel. The mausoleum is right on the qibla axis of the mosque, which represents a significant shift in planning and symbolism. The huge portal is oriented to impress the viewer coming from the Citadel. The minarets mark the beginning of the line of development of the 3-tiered Mamluk minarets. This monument has alone inspired so many copyists and imitators of its architecture until the twentieth century, and induced inperpreters to see in it a symbol of the political dichotomy of the time, or a representation of the humbling effect of the Black Death, or even a diagram of the social hierarchy in the city of Cairo.

The Qubba al-Sultaniyya: (1360s) A double-domed, double shell, royal structure of an unknown patron, this qubba shows how Central Asian and Anatolian influences (bulbous domes, carved mihrab, double shells) were adapted into the Cairene architectural vocabulary.

Monuments

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Concepts

Mamluk Residences: The spreading of the Qa`a model.

Qa`a: The most common hall type in medieval architecture, the qa`a normally is a living space with two iwans facing each other on the main axis (but could have one, three, or four iwans) and wall recesses on the remaining sides. The central space between the iwans, called durqa`a (literally the entry to the qa`a) is one step lower and has a higher ceiling and is usually roofed with a lantern or a dome.

Badhahanj: Wind catcher or ventilator. In a Mamluk qa`a it is usually in the form of an open shaft rising above either one of the iwans. The side of the badhahanj facing the direction of the desirable wind was open, and covered with a wooden grille. The cover of the shaft slopes back so as to direct the refreshing air inside and downward.
     
Mushrabiyya: Wooden screen made of intricate geometric lattice work, usually used in Cairene houses both as a decorative element and to reduce the glare of direct sun and to provide the inhabitants with a view to the outside without being seen.

Possible Prototype: (1248) The Palace of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub at the Roda Citadel.

The Palace of Amir Alin Aq: (1293) Built on the Darb al-Ahmar, the ceremonial road leading from the Bab Zuwaila in al-Qahira up to the Citadel. Its main qa`a is among the most monumental halls with two iwans.
     
The Ablaq Palace: (1311) The most famous of al-Nasir Muhammad’s palaces at the Citadel, it had four two-iwan qa`as arranged in a row and overlooking the city.
     
The Palace of Amir Qawsun: (1333-36) Perhaps the most elaborate of princely palaces, it was built across the Citadel by order of al-Nasir Muhammad. Its main qa`a has a cross-axial four-iwan plan.
     
The Palace of Amir Bashtak: (1339) Built in the heart of Fatimid al- Qahira on the site of the Eastern Palace, Its main qa`a has a two-iwan plan.
     
The Qa`a of Muhib al-Din: (1350) A rare example of a merchant dwelling off the central artery (the old Fatimid avenue) in al-Qahira.

Monuments

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Concepts**

Burji Mamluk: The name given to the second Mamluk period in which most of the rulers were of Circassian origin (1382-1517). It derives from the place of residence of the first Circassian Mamluks: the towers (abraj) of the Citadel of Cairo.
 
`Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun: (1332-1406) One of the most original medieval thinkers, and the real founder of history as more than a collection of events, dates, names, and narratives. The first part of his general history book, called al-Muqaddima (the Introduction) presents an unprecedented deep and thourough analysis of the organization of human societies seen from the perspective of an Islamic culture.
 
Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi: A student of Ibn Khaldun, he composed the most complete corpus of data on medieval Cairo’s topography and toponymy: al Mawa`iz wa-l-I`tibar bi-Dhikr al-Khitat wa-l-Athar . In it, he records with loving care each and every street and important structure in Cairo and produces their description and the history of everything connected with them.
 
Qa`a-Mosque Type: Probably a development borrowed from residential architecture. This mosque type is composed of a qa`a, which normally had two iwans facing each other on the main axis.
 
Sabil-Kuttab: A charitable structure composed of a sabil (drinking fountain) on the ground floor, and a kuttab (Qur’anic school for boys) on top, which was usually a room open on all sides.
 
Dar al-Wikala: Used primarily in Egypt, the house of procuration or agency, where trading takes place. It functioned as the urban inn, the guarded storehouse, and the trading installation for wholesale, retail, and export.
 
Rab`: Or apartment building usually formed of rows of duplexes, in which the first floor contained the services and the qa`a and the second had smaller living spaces. It became common in Mamluk Cairo, probably as a result of urban conjestion. It sometimes complemented the wikala, in the form of separate residences in the upper floors.
     
Maq`ad: Usually translated as loggia, but in the Mamluk context it is a specific loggia with an arcaded opening used as a reception space. 
 
 
Monuments

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Concepts**

The Northern Qarafa: What begun under al-Nasir Muhammad as a necropolis north of the Citadel evolved during the Burji period to an extensive urban area running on a north-south axis - which formed the main trade route leading to Syria - parallel to the city of al-Qahira. Numerous amirs and sultans built their funerary complexes there with all sort of services and dependencies of which less than a half still stand today.

The Qubba of Yunus al-Dawadar: (1382) First monument of the Burji period. The only element left of this ruined complex is its elegant and elongated ribbed dome, which echoes the Iranian Ilkhanid domes and prefigures the Timurid domes of Samarkand.

The Khanqah of Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq: (1400-11) One of the largest Mamluk monuments, this complex was the first true urban intervention into what had been until then a desert. It has a mosque with two minarets, a khanqah with numeorus cells for sufis, two sabil-kuttabs, two funerary domes, one for Barquq, the other for his ladies, and many dependencies such as baths, grain mills, and water wheels.

The Funerary Complex of Sultan Barsbay: (1432) A long facade on the main street of the Qarafa which consists of a mosque (with an ugly minaret added later), a mausoleum, two sabils, and a rab` for the sufis.

The Funerary Complex of Sultan Inal: (1451-56) A notable example of the accretive nature of Mamluk architecture: Sultan Inal started it by building himself a funerary dome when he was an amir then went on to add a khanqah, a madrasa/mosque, a sabil and a zawiya after he became sultan.

The Funerary-Religious Complex of Sultan Qaytbay: (1472-74) Perhaps the most beautiful monument of Mamluk Cairo, this complex has a qa`a-type mosque, a madrasa, a mausoleum, and a sabil-kuttab. It was part of a large complex enclosed by a wall of which a rab`, a drinking trough for animals, a saqiya (water-wheel), and a maq`adwhich formed part of a large residence, still stand. The 3-tiered minaret and the carved stone dome with two two superimposed designs are the most accomplished examples of the Burji period.

Monuments

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Concepts**

The Ottomans: A Turkish dynasty named after its founder Osman, who ruled a small principality in the northwestern corner of Anatolia after the Mongol invasion of the thirteenth century. The Ottomans fulfilled an Islamic dream of eight centuries in conquering Constantinople (renaming it Istanbul) and formed the largest Islamic empire of its time which comprised the Balkans, Greece, Anatolia, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, the Holy Cities of Arabia, Algeria and Tunisia. The Ottomans acquired the title sultan in 1394, and the ultimate title caliph after the conquest of Egypt in 1517. The empire was dissolved after the First World War.
 
The Janissary Corps: A distortion of the Turkish Yeniceri (the New Army), the most privileged corps of the Ottoman army established in the 14th century and staffed from the recruits levied as boys from the non- Islamic provinces of the Ottoman empire (the Devshirme system). High administrators were usually drawn from its ranks. The Janissary Corps of the province of Egypt was stationed at the Citadel of Cairo.
 
The Church of Hagia Sofia (Ayasofia): (532-37) The building that most affected the Ottoman architects and patrons as an object of admiration and imitation. Its huge central dome on four elephant piers was a masterpiece of engineering that many Ottoman architects and patrons felt the need to surpass. The most famous Ottoman architect, Sinan, is reported to have felt relieved only when he completed his dome of the Selimiye Mosque at Edirne which equaled the width of Ayasofia’s dome.

The Mosque of Suleiman Pasha al-Khadim at the Citadel: (1528) First Ottoman mosque in Egypt, it was built at the Citadel to serve the Janissary Corps. Its architecture has very little to do with Cairene architecture (except for the marble mosaic revetment). It introduced to Cairo the pencil Ottoman minaret and the central-domed plan.

The Mosque of Mahmud Pasha: (1567) Facing the Citadel, this mosque is a true late Mamluk mosque with a pure Ottoman minaret. Its architect might have been compelled by the presence of powerful Mamluk examples nearby (Sultan Hasan and Qani Bay Mosques) to echoes their styles.

The Takiyya of Suleiman Pasha: (1543) Takiyya is the Ottoman term for khanqah. This Ottoman style sufi hostel retains some Mamluk influences especially in the facade. Its mihrab’s inner niche is off center to correct a mistake in calculating the Qibla direction.

The Mosque of Sinan Pasha in Bulaq: (1571) A hybrid Mamluk-Ottoman building, this mosque was part of a larger complex (only a hammam is left) that formed the center of this riverine port. Its stone dome surrounded by turrets and its squat minaret give it a definite Ottoman feel, although many of its structural details are Mamluk.

The Mosque of Shaykh al-Burdayni: (1616-29) This little mosque was sponsored by an Egyptian faqih. This may explain its Mamluk pastiche style, especially its revivalist minaret. The mosque’s facade shows another way to adapt to the urban environment: it curves with the bent street line.

Monuments

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Concepts**

`Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda: (d. 1776) A Mamluk amir and the leader of the Egyptian Janissaries, he single-handedly embarked on a large scale refurbishing and enlargement program in Cairo in the middle of the eighteenth century. He built or refurbished a number of dependencies and residence halls around the Azhar mosque, added a new prayer hall, and built three new minarets and two gates with their sabil-kuttabs. He also built numerous zawiyas, mosques, and sabils around the city. His buildings display a hybrid style that mixes Mamluk and Ottoman elements with a highly ornate overall expression.

Maq`ad: An open loggia with several arches (two to five) that overlooks the courtyard and that is raised by several steps. It functions as the main sitting place of the owner and his guests and is the Cairene equivalent of an iwan.
     
Takhtabush: A ground level alcove open onto the court whose ceiling is supported by a column. It was the waiting space for low-ranking visitors.
     
Malqaf: An equivalent of Badhahanj (wind-catcher) which was used in Cairo, whose volume was that of an entire iwan section in a qa`a.

The Zawiya of `Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda: (1729) The first work of this prolific patron, it carries the signs of the baroque style that will characterize and distinguish his buildings.

The Sabil-Kuttab of `Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda: (1744) An imposing structure in the middle of the main artery, al-Qasaba, this is the most beautiful blending of Mamluk and Ottoman elements in an 18th c. Cairene monument.

The Mosque of Muhammad Bey Abu al-Zahab: (1774) All that remains of a great complex built next to al-Azhar Mosque, this central-domed structure is a copy of Sinan Pasha mosque with a major omission: the minaret. This mosque’s minaret seems to be consciously shaped after the late Mamluk minaret of al-Ghuri in the al-Azhar Mosque.

The Zahabi House: (started 1634) The house of the head of the Merchants’ Guild is built in the commercial center of the city. Its selamlik consists of a maq`ad and a qa`a, its haramlik is organized around another qa`a. Unlike earlier Mamluk houses, the focus of this house, which is a characteristic Ottoman house, is the courtyard.

The Suheimi House: (1648 and 1796) Perhaps the largest and best preserved house in Ottoman Cairo, this abode of another head of the Merchants’ Guild is also in the commercial center of the city. With its seven qa`as and pleasant courtyard and garden, it represents the most elaborate example of the accretive nature of Cairene grand houses. Qa`as seem to have been built at different stages in various corners around the courtyard to accommodate the growth of the extended family but the overall separation between the men and women’s sections is maintained throughout.

The Sinnari House: (1798) The house of a Mamluk amir which was confiscated by Napoleon and turned into the French Institute. It is a typical Cairene Ottoman house with a maq`ad, a qa`a for men, and a haramlik with a major qa`a.

Monuments

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Concepts**

The French Expedition: (1789-1801) An imperial enterprise led by Napoleon Bonaparte, it ushered the age of Westernization and modernization into Egypt. Along with the army, Napoleon recruited scholars and engineers who systematically collected, classified, and represented all available material on the history, geography, and culture of the country. Their work, which formed the basis of the modern knowledge of Egypt, was published as the Description de l’Egypte (1809-28) in nine volumes of text and fourteen grand volumes of illustrations.
 
Muhammad `Ali Pasha: Semi-independent ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848, he established a dynasty that lasted until 1952. Muhammad ‘Ali started the transformation of Egypt into a modern state that challenged the Ottoman Empire and threatened the European powers’ designs for the Middle East. His descendants, later called the Khedives, were not as farsighted as he was and they eventually lost even Egypt’s independence, which became a British colony in 1882.
 
Pascal Coste: French architect who, between 1817 and 1827, worked for Muhammad `Ali first as the designer and supervisor of large engineering projects and later as an architect of palaces and commemorative structures. His book, L’Architecture Arabe ou Monuments du Caire mesures et dessines de 1818 a 1826 (1837), offered the first visually comprehensive and typologically codified analysis of important Islamic monuments in Cairo.

Musafirkhana Palace: (1779-1888) The guest house of Muhammad `Ali and his immediate descendants, this palace is a grander version of the Suheimi house and the last specimen of a tradition of princely houses that have lasted from the Ayyubid period until the early 19th century.

Sabil-Kuttab of Tusun Pasha: (1820) A heavily decorated round-fronted sabil with two kuttab rooms on either side. It was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad `Ali’s oldest son who died in 1816.

The Bijou Palace and the Palaces of the Harem: (1824 and 1826) Built as royal residences and offices at the Citadel, they follow the familiar theme of Ottoman palace organization, which divides the structure into a salamlik (men’s quarters) and a haramlik (women’s quarter). Their surface articulation, heavily copied from European Baroque, is a testimonial to the strength of European styles in influencing the taste of the Pasha of Egypt and his whole court.

The Mosque of Muhammad `Ali, Cairo Citadel: Begun in 1830 and not finished until after the death of Muhammad ‘Ali in 1848, it stands at the highest point of the Citadel and is visible from almost every location in Cairo. The mosque, which is a pure central-domed plan, has two slender pencil minarets that soar to a height of 82 meters. The interior is articulated in a neo-baroque style that contrasts sharply in its profusion and eclecticism with the structural straightforwardness of the mosque. The mosque is a rhetorical composition designed to emulate the early style of royal Ottoman mosques of Istanbul.

The Mosque of Suleiman Agha al-Silahdar: (1837-39) Built by this trusted lieutenant of Muhammad ‘Ali on the main street of Cairo, this elegant mosque displays the same mixture of Baroque Ottoman and local Cairene styles as the mosque of the Pasha at the Citadel.

Monuments

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Concepts**

Historical Background: The nineteenth century started with the first European military interventions in the Orient and ended with most of it under direct colonial rule. First was the infiltration of India and the establishment of British colonial rule in 1857. Second was the Expedition of Bonaparte to Egypt in 1789-1801, which affected the culture of the region. Third was the occupation of Algeria in 1831. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire, which was considered Europe’s “sick man”, collapsed, and in the 1920’s most of its provinces were placed under European mandates. Architecture, like all other institutionalized disciplines, was affected by these new political realities. Not only were European styles invading the cities of the Orient and shaping their outlook and the tastes of their inhabitants, but also European and European-trained designers became the masters of the building trades everywhere. They acted as the interpreters of the architectural heritage of the countries in which they worked. Consequently, hybrid styles were produced that borrowed freely from the varied repertoires of non-Western architectures, and blended them with various European structural, constructional, functional, and stylistic inventions.
 
Isma`il Pasha: (r. 1865-79) Muhammad `Ali’s grandson and possibly the most ambitious, most “progress”-minded, and most Europeanized of the dynasty. He visited the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1867 and was fascinated by the bold plan of Baron Haussmann which transformed the city. Upon his return, he took up the plan started by his grandfather, and following the example of Paris, he “Haussmannized” Cairo. He was the first to acquire the title Khedive from the Ottoman sultan, and during his reign the Suez Canal was completed in 1869. Cairo underwent a facelift for the occasion of the canal’s inauguration that drastically altered its appearance and future development.
 
`Ali Mubarak: (1823-93) A French-trained engineer, he was one of the most influential officials in the government of Isma`il, responsible for many modernizing projects in Cairo. He compiled a 20-volume book, al- Khitat al-Tawfiqiyya al-Jadida , in which he updated Maqrizi’s Khitat and added sections on the development of Cairo between the fifteenth and the nineteenth century.

The Gazira Palace, Zamalek Island: (1864) Built by the Khedive Isma`il and designed by the Austrian architect Franz Bey. The most impressive details of the palace are the cast-iron slender porticoes made in Germany and reassembled on site. The selamlik of the palace was used as the residence of the empress Eugenie of France during the inauguration of the Suez Canal.

The Palace of `Abdin: (1863-74) Originally built by the Khedive Isma`il as the new dynastic center after he left the Citadel, the palace was renovated several times and its actual facade is totally neo-classical in style. Ceremonial halls in it are fascinating exercise in eclectic, bombastic styles. The most impressive among them are the Byzantine Hall and the Mamluk Hall.
     
The Mosque of al-Rifa`i: Begun in 1869 by order of Khochiar, the mother of Khedive Isma`il, and designed in a neo-Mamluk style by an Egyptian architect, Hussein Fahmi. The mosque was left unfinished until 1906 when the Austrian Max Herz Bey, the famous restorer of Islamic monuments in Cairo, was commissioned to complete it. It stands opposite the grand mosque of Sultan Hasan as an attempt of the Khedival family to measure up to the achievements of the Mamluk sultans of Egypt.

Monuments

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Concepts**

The Sabil-Kuttab at Bab al-Hadid: An overwrought little complex built ca. 1870 by the Italian architect Ciro Pantanelli.

Dar al-Kutub: Built in 1904 by the Italian architect Alfonso Manescalo in a pure and well-studied neo-Mamluk style.

The Central Railway Station: A neo-classical facade articulated in a Mamluk style done by the British architect Edwin Patsy in 1893.

Awqaf Ministry Building: A clear neo-Mamluk building built in three stages in 1898, 1911, and 1929 by Mahmud Fahmi the chief architect of the waqfs ministry.

Bank Misr: A composition informed by several Mediterranean types, yet heavily “Islamicized” by different motifs from Andalusian (Moorish) to Mamluk, designed by the French architect Antoine Lasciac.

Muslim Youth Association Center: A deliberately “Islamicized” building done in 1935, which nonetheless shows some attempts at symmetry and simplicity, both considered modernizing aspects.

Egyptian Engineers Society: Another neo-Mamluk building built in 1930 by Mustafa Fahmi, chief architect for the royal palaces.

Assicurazioni Generali Trieste Apartment Building: A balanced composition of Mediterranean classical and Islamic styles built by Antoine Lasciac in 1910.

The Coptic Museum: Completed in 1946 by M. Simaika Pasha, an Egyptian architect, it heavily copies the Fatimid style of al-Aqmar mosque, perhaps because of the affinity between the Fatimid and historical Coptic styles.

Mausoleum of Sa`d Zaghlul: The mausoleum of the leader of the 1919 revolution against the British, this is the high point of neo-Pharaonic style, designed by Mustafa Fahmi in 1928 to express an Egyptian identity that unites the Muslims and Copts.

The Heliopolis Company Buildings at `Abbas Street: Built between 1908 and 1910 by the French architect Ernest Jaspar as the commercial and civic center of the new garden-city planned and executed by the Belgian industrialist Baron Empain in this suburb of Cairo for a new, select working class.

The Palace of Baron Empain, Heliopolis: Built by the French architect Alexandre Marcel as an eclectic Hindu palace in an Islamic capital (completed in 1905).

Monuments

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Concepts

Quraysh: The tribe of the Prophet and inhabitants of Mecca who controlled the Ka`ba and the lucrative north-south trade between Yemen and the Byzantine empire.
     
`Ali: Cousin of the Prophet and second Muslim. He later became Muhammad’s son-in-law and fourth successor (caliph).
 
Medina: Formerly Yathrib, the capital of the Prophet where the prototypical mosque, the Mosque of the Prophet, was founded in the year 1 Hegire (or Immigration)/ 622 A.D.
 
`Amru ibn al-`As: The Muslim general and statesman who conquered Egypt in 640-41.
 
Babylon: The Roman fortress which stood on the eastern bank of the Nile and guarded the head of the delta.
     
Fustat: The first capital of Islamic Egypt established in 642 by `Amru to the south, east, and north of Babylon and probably named after the Roman military term fossatum, or encampment.
 
Khitta: A parcel of land in a Misr given to a group from the various tribes that constituted the Islamic army to build their dwellings on.

Qibla: The direction of Mecca toward which Muslims are required to face when they pray.

Monuments

Mecca

The holiest Islamic city in Arabia and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, where the Ka`ba is located (date of building unknown). Interior view of the prayer hall of the Mosque of `Amru.

The Elements of a Mosque: The Hypostyle Mosque

Mosque in which the prayer hall is formed of rows of vertical supports that can multiply indefinitely. It was the dominant type in the early Islamic period and may have started with the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina (begun in 622) whose prayer hall was a hypostyle supported on palm tree trunks.

Mihrab 

A recess, mostly in the form of arched niche, in the qibla wall, facing the direction toward Mecca.

Minbar

A pulpit near the mihrab, from which the prayer leader gives the sermon on Fridays.

Minaret

A tower, circular, octagonal, or square in section, built next to or in a mosque, from which the Muslims are called to prayer.

Nilometr at Rawda Island

It consists of a graded marble column in the middle of a well connected to the Nile through tunnels dug on three levels topped by a light conical dome. The walls of the well are decorated with beautifully carved Kufic Qur’anic inscriptions referring to water, prosperity, and vegetation, and therefore playing an iconographic role in this crucial structure for the understanding of the economic and social history of Egypt.

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Concepts**

Historical Background: The last four decades witnessed the resurgence of a historicist movement in architecture in the Islamic world that was influenced by contemporary architectural thinking in the West and fervent searches for cultural identities in the recently formed nation-states. The manifestations of this movement range from the romantic approach to historical precedents, to the free, and often arbitrary, usage of forms detached from their historical and geographic contexts, to the rational, abstracted, and at times minimalist, projects of architects trained in the modern tradition who applied logical and deductive methods to their dealing with history, to the scientific historicism whose proponents classify, analyze, and re-interpret historical examples to justify their uses.

Hasan Fathy: (1900-1989) The visionary Egyptian architect and pioneering advocate of revivalism. His buildings adapt selected vernacular examples and recast them through subjective and lyrical interpretations of traditions.

Ramses Wissa Wassef: Another visionary architect with a socio-religious mission that found its expression in the new arts and crafts center that he establsihed and built in stages in the village of Harraniya outisde Cairo on the Saqqara Road.

`Abdul al-Wahid al-Wakil: A disciple of Hasan Fathy who freely blends together forms, and even fragments of forms, to create plastic, sculpture -like structures.

`Abd al-Halim Ibrahim `Abd al-Halim: A prominent Egyptian historicits architect who deconstructs historical forms and reuses them in new abstract compositions.

Monuments

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Concepts

The Abbasids: the second ecumenical Islamic dynasty (750-1258), were the descendants of al-`Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle, hence the name.
     
Samarra: the new capital established by caliph al-Mu`tasim in 836 to house his growing and much-dreaded personal army of Turkish slave-warriors (mamluks) on the Tigris, 60 miles north of Baghdad. It developed into a conglomeration of secluded caliphal palaces and houses for the troops on a grandiose scale and remained capital until 883 when it was abandoned and Baghdad regained its old position.
     
Al-`Askar: A new garrison town established by the Abbasids in 751 north of Fustat to house their army after they had toppled the Umayyads. It was subsequently absorbed by al-Fustat which was expanding north away from the river.
     
Ahmad ibn-Tulun: A Turkish governor sent by the Abbasids who managed through cunning and superb organization to create a semi-independent principality in Egypt and parts of Syria. His descendants, The Tulunids, formed a dynasty that lasted for almost forty years (868-905).
     
Al-Qata’i` (the wards or the fiefs): The new settlement built north of Fustat around the site of the future Citadel of Cairo by Ahmad ibn-Tulun as his capital. Samarra was probably the prototype for this new settlement. The center of al-Qata’i` was occupied by Ibn Tulun’s palace complex, his hippodrome, and a stately mosque that still stand today.

Baghdad: The round city founded in 762 by al-Mansur (754-75), the second Abbasid caliph, to be his royal center on the western bank of the river Tigris.

The Mosque of Ibn-Tulun: The furthest westerly evidence of the spread of the Abbasid imperial style in its decoration, its construction material, and its minaret, this mosque is perhaps the most serene structure in Cairo. It is distinguished by its brick piers with four engaged brick columns on the four sides (a combination of eastern and western influences), its angularly spiraling minaret, and its ziyadas, or open extensions which ring it on three sides and work as buffers between the streets’ bustle and the religious space inside.

Monuments

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Concept

The Shi`ites: From shi`a (supporters), who recognized `Ali as the only legitimate imam (political and religious leader) after the Prophet. They developed into several branches which differed primarily in the number of imams they recognized after `Ali. Most important are: 

  • The Twelvers Imamis: Who constitute the majority of Shi`ites, and recognize twelve descendants of `Ali as imams.

  • The Isma`ilis: recognize the first six imams as the Twelvers, but differ with them about the seventh, Isma`il, hence their name.

The Fatimids: An Isma`ili dynasty whose founder claimed descent from Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet and wife of `Ali, and established a caliphate in Ifriqiya (Tunisia), which was later expanded to include Egypt and southern Syria.

  • Al-Mu`izz li-Din Allah: (953-75) The fourth Fatimid caliph and the first in Egypt.

  • Jawhar al-Siqilli: The Fatimid general who conquered Egypt and founded al-Qahira.

The Great Mosque of Mahdiyya, Tunisia: (ca. 920) Built in the Fatimid new capital, al-Mahdiyya, near Qayrawan, it displays Fatimid monumental additions to a modified hypostyle plan.

Al-Qahira (Cairo): The new royal city of Egypt established north of Fustat by the Fatimids upon their conquest of the country in 969. It had a regular plan running parallel to the Khalij (Canal of the Nile) with a main north-south thoroughfare.

Majlis: A T-shaped architectural unit with a large central hall flanked by two smaller spaces. The three spaces are fronted with a portico (riwaq) which opens onto the courtyard via three doors. The type is believed to have been imported from Samarra to Egypt by Ibn Tulun.

Fatimid (and pseudo-Fatimid) Palaces:

  • The Eastern Palace: (969-72) A huge enclosure with several monumental gates that contained a number of halls set within garden-courtyards.

  • The Western Palace: (975-96) Built by al-`Aziz, al-Mu`izz’s son, as the more private caliphal palace across from the Eastern Palace. The two palaces were separated by an open parade ground called Bayn al-Qasrayn (Between the Two Palaces).

  • La Zisa Palace, Palermo, Sicily: Built by the Norman king Roger II between 1154-66, it represents the most complete example of a garden pavilion/throne hall built by Muslim craftsmen after the Fatimid model.

  • La Cuba Palace, Palermo, Sicily: Attributed to Roger II or his successors and dated to 1180, this palace-pavilion sits within a pool. It too echoes the development in reception hall arrangement in the Fatimid realm.

Monuments

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Concepts

The Fatimid History of al-Azhar Mosque:

  • 970: Jawhar al-Siqilli, the commander of the Fatimid army, lays the foundation of the mosque of al-Qahira (later al-Azhar).

  • 972: First Friday prayer held at the mosque.

  • 988: First organized teaching at al-Azhar, 35 scholars are housed nearby and paid by the Fatimid state to teach the Isma`ili doctrine.

Al-Hakim bi Amr Allah: (996-1021) The third Fatimid caliph in Egypt and perhaps the most enigmatic and most controversial.

  • 1009: Caliph al-Hakim establishes a Waqf for the mosque.

  • 1035: First renovation of the mosque by caliph al-Amir.

Ya`qub ibn Killis: The vizier and able administrator of al-Aziz and the designer of early Fatimid processions. He formalized the role of the imam as the supreme head of the community. He was also the first to regularize the educational function of the congregational mosque in Cairo.

  • 1129: Caliph al-Hafiz refurbishes the mosque and adds the four porticoes around the courtyard with their keel-arches.

Characteristics of Fatimid mosque architecture:

  • The use of projected portals and domes over mihrabs for ceremonial purposes.

  • The use of keel-shaped arches in porticoes and arcades.

  • The profusion of fine stucco decoration, especially in mihrabs and qibla walls.

  • The dependence on iconographic inscriptions, especially on the entrance facade.

Al-Hakim Mosque: Built between 990 and 1003 just outside the walls of al-Qahira, and named after al-Hakim, the third Fatimid caliph in Egypt.

The Mosque of al-Lu’lu’a: (1015-16) One of many small mosques on the Muqattam cliff attributed to al-Hakim.

Monuments

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Concepts

The defenses of Cairo: Rebuilt between 1087 and 1092 by Badr al-Jamali with stronger brick walls and monumental stone gates. This may have been carried out by Syrian builders, for at least three gates – Bab al-Nasr (Victory Gate) and Bab al-Futuh (Conquest Gate) in the north and Bab Zuwayla (Gate of Zuwayla) in the south – are said to have been built by three Armenian brothers from al-Ruha (Edessa), and stylistically they do resemble contemporary north Syrian architecture. 
     
Badr al-Jamali: A general who brought his army from Syria in 1074 in response to a plea by the caliph al-Mustansir to restore order in Egypt. He soon consolidated his control over the entire country and became the vizier as well as army commander (amir al-juyush), leaving the caliph as a mere religious figurehead.

The Mashhad al-Juyyushi: Built by Badr in 1085 and identified as a mashhad, though its real function is puzzling. The current interpretation is that Badr built it as a memorial to commemorate his victories and rise to power.

The Mashhad of Umm Kulthum: (1122) A memorial for Umm Kulthum, a popular saint and descendant of `Ali. 
     
Al-Aqmar Mosque: A small mosque built in 1125 north of the Eastern palace and celebrated for its unusual decorated façade and its plan which accommodate both the qibla orientation and the streets pattern.

The Mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya: (1133) A memorial for Ruqayya, a popular saint and descendant of `Ali.

The Mausoleum of Yahya al-Shabih: (ca. 1150) A mausoleum built around the cenotaph of Yahaya, called al-shabih (the look-alike) because he resembled the Prophet, and other descendants of `Ali, all buried there in the 870s-80s.

Al-Salih Tala’i` Mosque: Built south of the walls of al-Qahira in 1160 by the vizier al-Salih Tala’i` and intended as a mashhad for the head of Husayn, the son of `Ali and most venerated martyr in Shiism. It was turned into a mosque when the caliph decided that the head of Husayn should be buried inside his palace.

Architectural terms:
     
Qubba: Literally “dome”, but the word often signified the mausoleum of an amir or a pious man, which was usually, but not always, a cubical structure covered with a dome. 
     
Mashhad: A complex term that means either a memorial for a shahid (witness of the greatness of God, but later exclusively meaning martyr) or a memorial for a true vision, which mostly involves the Prophet or members of his family. 
     
Muqarnas: One of the most distinctive architectural elements, called usually the stalacite pendentives or honeycomb vaults. Muqarnas units appear in domes’ transitional zones, in cornices and friezes, in conches above entrances, and on friezes supporting balconies of minarets. The origin and date of first appearance of muqarnas are not clear. It is used for decorative purposes and several symbolic meanings have been proposed for it.

Monuments

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Concepts

The Sunni Revival: A term used to designate the movement initiated by the Ghaznavids of Afghanistan (977-1186) which culminated with the Seljuqs who actively sought the elimination of Shi`ite principalities in the Islamic world and the Shi`ite grip on the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad and who sponsored and fostered the renaissance in Sunni theology and jurisprudence.
     
The Crusades: A series of campaigns launched by Christian Europe against the Islamic east, ostensibly to liberate the Holy Land. After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, four Latin principalities were founded in the area, the last of which was eliminated in 1293 by the Mamluks.
     
Salah al-Din (Saladin): A general in the Zangid army sent to Egypt, he managed to abolish the Fatimid caliphate in 1176 and to restore Sunnism to the country. He later established a new dynasty, engaged in a war of attrition against the Crusaders, and encircled the two cities of Fustat and al-Qahira in one wall and built the Citadel of Cairo.

Krak des Chevaliers: The most important Crusaders’ castles in Syria (12-13th c.). Its last phase of building during the 13th century illustrates the incorporation of new fortification techniques in response to technical advances in siege machines.
     
The Citadel of Aleppo: An early Islamic citadel that might have influenced the choice of location and forms of the Citadel of Cairo and the types of palaces and audience halls to be built in it.

The Citadel of Cairo: Built by Salah al-Din’s lieutenant Qaraqush between 1176-1183 as a royal residence and barracks for the troops and reorganized and enlarged several times in the 13th-14th century. It became the seat of the sultanate and remained the center of government well into the 19th century. To this day, it still dominates the Cairo skyline.

Iwan: Usually a vaulted hall, open at one end. By the twelfth century, iwans became important organizational elements in plans of residences and religious structures alike to the point that the word acquired a new meaning as the name of an entire structure, usually a royal one.
     
Dar al-`Adl: The palace of justice, an institutional building that appeared under the Ayyubids and was used by the sultans and their deputies to publicly judge petitions submitted by subjects. The Cairo Citadel had a Dar al-`Adl that was rebuilt at least four times and was called The Great Iwan.

Monuments

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Concepts

The Sunnis: from sunna (tradition or custom), are those who adhere to the standard practice (understood to be of the Prophet). Sunnis are the majority of Muslims and follow four schools of jurisprudence: the Shafi`i, Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali. They accept the legitimacy of both the Umayyads and Abbasids. The Ayyubids vigorously promoted the Sunni revival in Egypt both to satisfy the demand of their power-base and to eradicate the traces of their Shi`ite Fatimid predecessors
     
Madrasa: An institution of learning that appeared in Khurasan in the 10th c. and spread all over the Islamic world. It was adopted by the Seljuqs to promote higher religious education. Madrasas usually follow an Iwan-based plan and they contain a mosque, classrooms, and lodgings for students and teachers.

The Qubba of Imam al-Shafi`i: Built by Sultan al-Kamil in 1211 over the tomb of this most eminent of Sunni jurists and founder of the Shafi`i school of law.

The Madrasa of Sultan al-Kamil: Built by Sultan al-Kamil in 1225 in the northern section of the Fatimid Western Palace, it comprised two iwans and probably some students cells.

The Madrasas of Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub: (1243) First madrasa in Cairo to accommodate the four schools of law. Built in the heart of the Fatimid city, it was composed of two separate, self-contained courtyard units, parallel in plan, separated by a passage, and having each two large iwans . Maqrizi calls them the two madrasas, and specifies that each iwan was allotted to one of the four school of Sunni jurisprudence. A mausoleum for the founder was added shortly after the completion of the complex by Shajar al-Durr, his wife.

The Qubba of Shajar al-Durr: (1250) Built by Shajar al-Durr with attached charitable institutions near the mausolea of a number of `Alid women saints.
     
The Roda Citadel: Now vanished, was built by al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub between 1240 and 1243 in Misr Island (known today as Roda Island), opposite the city of Misr al-Fustat. In it he housed his family and servants, and his select mamluks (estimated at one thousand), who became known as the Bahri mamluks (from the citadel’s name, Qal’at al-Bahr, for bahr, sea in Arabic, is the name for the Nile in Egyptian dialect).

The Iwan of al-Salih at the Roda Citadel: Documented in the early nineteenth century, it comprised two iwans facing one another across a huge durqa`a. Four sets of columns formed a smaller rectangle inside the durqa`a which may have supported a dome. This plan may have formed a transitional stage between the majlis plan in Fustat houses, and the later qa`as of the Bahri Mamluk period.

Monuments

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Concepts

The Mamluks: From the Arabic mamluk, “owned one” or slave, the Mamluks were imported slaves, mostly of Turkish or Caucasian stock, who were destined for a military career: a curious phenomenon that is not encountered outside the Islamic world. The Mamluks of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub took over after the death of their master and ruled Egypt and Syria form 1250-1517.
     
Bahri Mamluk: The name given to the first period of Mamluk rule (1250-1382) when Turkish sultans ruled. The word Bahri refers to the regiment whose members were housed in the Roda Citadel in an island in the Nile, called bahr (sea) in Egypt.

Rank: Persian for color, hue, or dye, the word was used in Mamluk Egypt and Syria to designate the emblems and insignia of amirs and sultans. Ranks may be monochromatic or multicolored, free-standing or enclosed in round, pointed, or polygonal shields. They were carved on buildings, painted on glass, wood, and pottery, engraved on metalwork, struck on coins, and embroidered or dyed on textiles.

The Mosque of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars: (1267-69) First royal Mamluk mosque in Cairo. Hypostyle in plan, and fortress-like in elevation, the mosque with its three portals originally stood alone in a quarter north of the walled city. The mosque displays local and Seljuq influences in its spatial arrangement and its surface articulation.

The Complex of Sultan Qalawun: (1284-85) Built on the site of the Western Fatimid Palace opposite the madrasas of al-Salih najm al-Din Ayyub, this complex contains a bimaristan, a madrasa, and a dome/mausoleum for the founder. The street façade is well articulated and shows the confluence of Syrian (Crusader and Islamic) arrangements. The madrasa is a four-iwan type with a basilical organization in the qibla iwan. The Dome of the mausoleum echoes the octagonal plan of the Dome of the Rock.

The Khanqah of Sultan Baybars al-Jashankir: (1307-10) A structure with a biaxial plan, this khanqah had a mausoleum added on its qibla side. It contains roomsfor the sufis aligned on its two longitudinal sides.

Monuments

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