10 - 16 May 2001
Issue No.533
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 10 - 16 May 2001 Issue No.533 |
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Why write of buildings?
The Cairo Heritage, Essays in Honour of Laila Ali Ibrahim, Doris Behrens-Abouseif ed., Cairo:The American University in Cairo Press, 2000. pp340
This is a compilation of 20 essays written in honour of the great Egyptian scholar of Islamic art and architecture Laila Ali Ibrahim, collected and edited by Doris Behrens-Abouseif. They examine various aspects of the Mameluke period, Ibrahim's principal area of expertise. the essays are gathered into four sections: History, Architecture and Urban History, Decorative Arts and Preservation of the Urban and Architectural Heritage. Extremely varied in their contents, some may appear academic, while others are both entertaining and informative. A complete bibliography of Ibrahim's works is provided at the end of the volume.
In the introduction, Behrens-Abouseif presents a short biography of the very special Egyptian scholar to whom this tome is dedicated and briefly details her numerous achievements, rendered more poignant by the fact that Laila Ali Ibrahim (b. 1915) is now bedridden and can no longer actively pursue her struggle to preserve Cairo's urban and architectural history, nor lecture on her favourite topics. Friends, students, admirers and followers, touched by her dedication and awed by the breadth of her knowledge, have joined forces and contributed papers on the subject that this great Egyptian scholar made her life's passion: the history and architecture of the Mameluke period.
Opening the History section, Jean-Claude Garcin retraces the origins of the Mameluke system, which, he argues, resulted from "the accidents of historical evolution" rather than a "voluntary, clear and outright intellectual concept in the minds of people at the time." Elaborating on the idea of 'asabiya (loyalty to one's clan) as practiced by the various tribes vying for power, he argues that the creation of a viable state required that an outsider, free of lineage loyalties and therefore less likely to take sides, be entrusted with the reigns of power. "The Mamluk is the ideal outsider, alien to the struggles between groups and communities, a man whose ascendance and progeny nobody fears. He is of foreign origin yet a Muslim," he explains.
In an article titled "Al-Maqrizi's Khitat, an Egyptian Lieu de Mémoire," Nasser Rabbat examines the contribution of the Khitat to Egypt's archival wealth, and points out that, of "the various historical genres that flourished in medieval Arabic literature, the Khitat was a cosmocentric and, primarily if not exclusively, an Egyptian mode of historical narration... [using] cities as [its] subject matter." He briefly attempts to trace the (uncertain) origins of this innovative kind of writing, presenting examples of khitat written prior to those of Al-Maqrizi before tackling a short analysis of the medieval chronicler's oeuvre. Rabbat reminds us that Al-Maqrizi was a disciple of Ibn Khaldun, and that he followed the principles of his teacher in attempting to analyse the cycles of urban development. He concludes his essay by paying tribute to the legacy of the Khitat, which "five centuries on still dominates the modern discourse on the history of Cairo."
Doris Behrens-Abouseif's original contribution is entitled "Waqf [endowment] as Remuneration and the Family Affairs of Al-Nasir Muhammad and Baktimur al-Saqi." Her vivid style provides a change from the more theoretical approach of the preceding presentations. Baktimur's rise to power and the rivalries engendered by his privileged position as trusted amir of Sultan Al-Nasser Mohamed are apt to capture the imagination even of those who have trouble finding their way through the many complicated episodes of the Mameluke regime. The construction of Baktimur's numerous and splendid palaces, sponsored by the sultan, the wedding of Al-Nasser's son Anuk to one of Baktimur's daughters, glimpses of the friendship that united the two men and the relationship's tragic denouement are filled with details that bring these distant times closer to the reader. At the same time, scholars of the Mameluke period will be able to derive new insights into the rise and falls of amirs' fortunes from the informed analysis of Baktimur's Waqf.
The section of Architecture and Urban History comprises a short piece by Oleg Grabar titled "Graffiti or Proclamations: Why Write on Buildings?" Of a more general nature, this paper, as its title suggests, lists the reason why people are possessed with the urge to write on buildings, then argues that Mameluke buildings suggest they were moved by vanity, fear, or a desire to ensure that the aim of the building was clearly understood for all times. "It was a proclamation across time of the truth of a moment," comments Grabar. "Somehow the word, or so it was thought, is far clearer than the image. It is for having understood that particular value of writing that Islamic architecture acquired one of its most unique features. For its ambient culture transformed it and nurtured it into its messenger of knowledge and beauty."
More topically at a time when the restoration of the mosque of Ibn Tulun is causing much controversy, Tarek Swelim reconsiders the known data on the construction of the mosque's minaret. He offers a new and provocative interpretation of its history, which, he states, differs on several points from K A C Creswell's findings. Swelim guesses that the original minaret was demolished, but admits that a precise date cannot be clearly determined for this occurrence. He founds his assertion on "the fact that Ibn Jubayr does not mention the minaret while describing the new functions of the mosque of Ibn Tulun as a shelter for the Maghribi pilgrims, [which] suggests ... that the original minaret was no longer standing at the time" (the second half of the 12th century). Furthermore, argues Swelim, since the minaret is said to have been decorated with lamps during the reign of Sultan Al-Kamel (1218-38), one can assume that it had been rebuilt some time between the late 12th and early 13th centuries. According to him, the lower part of the minaret probably dates from that period. Swelim also suggests that, since Ibn Jubayr reported the presence of Maghribis in the mosque, it is quite possible that craftsmen among them contributed to the erection of the new minaret, the decoration of which includes typical North African motifs. He also offers an interesting explanation regarding the boat-shaped finial surmounting the original minaret, which, he says, must have fallen after 1880 and been replaced with a crescent in 1892.
Wikalat Al-Ghouri, Cairo
Both Finbarr B Flood and Howayda Al-Harithy deal with the identification of certain monuments, the former establishing the location of Bab Al-Sa'a or Gate of the Clock and the latter taking the reader on a tour of the Southern Cemetery, in the area outside Bab Al-Qarafa, in search of Turbat Al-Sitt, the burial monument of Khawand Urdutakin, daughter of Nukiya Al-Silihdar and wife of Al-Malik Al-Ashraf Khalil Ibn Qalawun. Both authors manage to endow their research with a fair measure of suspense, arousing enough curiosity to inspire the reader with the desire to investigate.
"The mosque of the Mameluke amir Ulmas al-Hajib, built in 1330, is about to disappear," writes Chahinda Karim in her contribution. Her lengthy and detailed article is not an appeal to save the mosque, she says, "for it seems already too late for that, but to preserve the memory of a monument of high aesthetic value, as well as of historical importance, and because it is one of only two remaining Friday mosques built by amirs of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad during his third reign" (1309-41). A thorough description of the mosque's remains and an informed assessment of the damage follows; Karim supplements this guided tour with numerous photographs and sketches.
"Domestic and Religious Architecture in Cairo: Mutual Influences" is the subject Bernard O'Kane has chosen to address for this anthology. He identifies majlises, qa'as and iwans and retraces the evolution of living units or beits from pre-Memeluke to Mameluke times, ascribing the first known domestic architectural design to an imitation of an army in battle and the first construction to Al-Mutawakkil. "The idea was suggested to him by one of his courtiers, who told him that a king of Hira, of the dynasty of Nu'man of the tribe of Bani Nasr, had a passion for war and, wishing to have it constantly in mind, he constructed at his capital of Hira a building which would evoke an army drawn in battle lines." Taking the original building as his point of reference. O'Kane follows the evolution of the beit up to the typical Mameluke floor plan, then examines the extent to which the secular architecture of the period informed religious buildings, and vice versa.
Several articles on the Waqf or religious endowment follow, which provide the reader with new information and analyses pertaining to this institution. Husam Ismail concentrates on some of the commercial buildings along the Qasaba (the main avenue of the Fatimid city) that were first established during the Ayyubid period, using "The Qaysariyya of Sultan Inal According to Waqf Documents" as a case study.
Sylvie Denoix, on the other hand, addresses more theoretical aspects of the Waqf, which she defines as "an institution common in all Muslim countries [representing] a perpetual endowment. Revenues of land or real estate are legally bound to finance the administration and upkeep of costly institutions providing various religious services, teaching health care and other philanthropic works." These revenues secured a stable income for the institutions' daily maintenance, the wages of their employees and the continuance of the services they provided. It is widely accepted that the Mamelukes, born foreigners without family bonds in their new country, needed legitimacy; this they obtained in part through the construction of majestic buildings and charitable foundations that emphasised their authority. As property owners and donors, they could assert their supremacy over ordinary people. The Waqf system allowed for intensive urban development of the capital showcasing the power and generosity of the rulers and their amirs. "Throughout the three Ayyubid and Mamluk centuries, Cairo was an active site for construction, destruction, restoration and considerable reconstruction," writes Denoix. The topographical proximity in the Waqf between the pious foundations and the revenue-producing estates needed to support them helped bring about urban development and upgrading.
A less known aspect of the Waqf system is examined in "Istibdal: The Game of Exchange and Its Impact on the Urbanization of Mamluk Cairo," by Leonor Fernandez. Modern scholarship has documented the application of the Waqf system and its direct consequences on the development of the urban fabric; nonetheless, argued Fernandez, "none of these studies has looked into the legal process that allowed the founders to acquire in the first place both the land necessary for the construction of their religious foundations and the endowment to ensure their proper functioning." Examining the general terms of Waqf deeds, she points out that certain rules governed the establishment of a religious endowment, the main one being proof that the endower owned the plot of land on which the buildings were to be erected. Only the rightful owner of a Waqf was free to dispose of it as he wished.
As religious foundations increased, land in prime locations became scarce; and what if the coveted plot were already built upon? Fernandez suggests that crafty solutions were found in the practices of outright confiscation or through the legal process of istibdal (exchange). "Ultimately, it seems almost a blessing that qadis did not always adhere to the prohibitions against istibdal set by the waqifs in their endowment deeds. Indeed, thanks to their acceptance of the procedure, the city of Al-Qahira underwent a period of intense urbanization," she writes.
André Raymond then scrutinises a particular endowment deed or Waqfiya, that of the combined fountain and primary school (sabil-maktab) of Youssef Agha Dar Al-Sa'ada, erected by Mohamed Katkhuda Mustahfizan and located in Al-Darb Al-Ahmar. Raymond retraces the complex history of this monument and rectifies previous errors concerning its attribution. Raymond also describes the present state of the buildings, but deplores the recent renovations, which have totally obliterated the original layout" described in the Waqfiya of Youssef Agha.
Several of the following contributions will prove especially interesting to students of art history, while offering a social dimension sometimes neglected by purely visual analyses. In an article titled "Learning from Mamluk Architectural Esthetics," for instance, Khaled Asfour stresses the need for the Mamluks to create charitable foundations as a means of expressing both their qualities and status. "Each Mamluk patron felt the need to express his public presence individually through one or more religious foundations. The building in this respect was part of his image, and not merely a reflection of his status." At the same time, the Mamelukes were careful to retain the main features of the prevailing architecture as, lacking noble origins, they wished to be associated with the legitimacy of their masters and predecessors. Asfour discusses the different ways by which Mamelukes embellished and individualised their monuments while attempting to strike a balance between originality and tradition. He concludes his article by explaining how an understanding of Mameluke architecture can inform modern techniques and help improve architectural practice in the Arab world.
The Decorative Arts section includes a study of "Egyptian Luster-painted Pottery from Ayyubid and Mamluk Periods" by Abdel-Ra'uf Ali Yusuf and "Further Thoughts on Mamluk Enameled Glass" by J M Rogers; these are more specialised examinations of the arts and crafts of the period.
In the Preservation subdivision, Ismail Serageldin broaches the hot topic of the "Revitalization of Historic Cities" and suggests the "Need for a New Economic Analysis." This article paves the way for the following, action-oriented chapters, in which François Vigier discusses methods of protecting the urban heritage in "Reading the Historic City," while John Rodenbeck concludes the volume with an essay entitled "The Present Situation of the Historic City: A Road not Taken," which warns that incompetent restoration is being carried out at present. Rodenbeck elaborates: "These grandiose schemes violate international norms. They are at an opposite of urban restoration and conservation... Generations now alive will thus be the last to experience the joy and wonder of the Mother of the World. Nostalgic memories will eventually fade into legend; and those of us will disappear who were once able to recognize that neither memory nor legend can ever take the place of the real thing."
The Cairo Heritage is a wonderful source of information on the rich and often confusing period of the Mamelukes. It helps clarify several questions that may appear baffling to the student of the period. Sometimes difficult, often entertaining, but always informative, it should be read by anyone serious about studying Cairo's Islamic architecture.
Reviewed by Fayza Hassan
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