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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Focus Books Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Egypt's first mosque
by: Nevine El-Aref
to be restored
In an attempt to restore the Amr ibn Al-As Mosque to its original state, the Culture Ministry signed a restoration contract this week with the public sector Nile Valley Company. Signing on behalf of the ministry were Culture Minister Farouk Hosni and Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). The contract was also signed by company chairman Mohamed Abdel-Qader. The 12-month, LE12.5 million project will involve more than 500 workers, engineers and antiquities experts.
The scheme, according to Gaballa, will correct serious architectural flaws made in earlier restoration programmes as well as when the mosque was expanded by Mameluke Emir Murad Bey in 1779. It will also plug the leakage of subterranean water into the mosque, located in Old Cairo.
A LE12.5 million project is underway to restore the 13-century-old Amr ibn Al-As Mosque
Abdallah El-Attar, head of the SCA's Islamic and Coptic Department, said restoration work would focus on the iwan al-qibla, a prayer hall with a raised floor, that opens onto the mosque's main courtyard through arcades. All the iwan's columns will be dismantled, restored and erected back to their original positions.
"Damaged and fragile pillars that cannot be restored will be replaced by similar ones from the SCA storerooms," Gaballa said, adding that the mosque's cement ceiling, built during previous restoration work, would be removed and replaced by another ceiling made of wood and which matches the mosque's architectural design.
El-Attar said that an architectural error made in previous restoration work had weakened the pillars, causing parts of the iwan ceiling to crack and peel. "Before addressing this error directly, we were reinforcing and restoring the pillars holding the iwan's ceiling every two years. But the new scheme will put an end to this problem," El-Attar explained.
The iwan al-qibla's floor will be removed, restored and re-installed on the same ground level as that of the mosque. A water-proof layer will be added on top of the roof to protect it from the accumulation of rain water.
A new lighting and security system will also be installed while the sewage system in the area surrounding the mosque will be renovated.
"This project is part of a larger conservation scheme of Old Cairo, begun three years ago by the restoration of the Ben-Ezra Synagogue and the Hanging Church," Hosni said. "It is a very important religious area which combined Islamic, Coptic and Jewish monuments."
Amr ibn Al-As Mosque, or Al-Jami' Al-Atik, was the first to be built in Egypt and in Africa. It was constructed in 642 by the Arab conqueror of Egypt, Amr ibn Al-As. During the last 13 centuries, it has undergone major changes -- so major, in fact, that it looks almost nothing like the original as described in historic documents.
Twice, in the 1980s and 90s, the mosque was restored. It has suffered its share of accidents over the years. In 1996, a sector of the roof, measuring 15 square metres, collapsed. Three workers were injured.
