Islamic records enshrined in stone
Al-Ashraf Street in Cairo's Al-Sayeda Nafissa area is an open-air museum with exquisite Islamic architecture and monuments. Saleh Lamei, director of the Centre for Conservation and Preservation of Islamic Architectural Heritage, tells the story of each building as he walks by
Al-Ashraf is the most recent name given to the street on which lies the mausoleum of Sultan Al- Ashraf Khalil, the son and successor of Sultan Al- Mansur Qalawun. The street has gone by many other names. At the end of the 19th century it was known as Al-Khalifa, named after the tomb of Mohamed Al-Khalifa. Confusingly, it was also known at that time as Al-Sayeda Sukayna. Whatever its name, this street records the lives of some of the descendants of the Prophet Mohamed.
Al-Ashraf Street extends from the Al-Sayeda Nafissa Square in the south to the intersection with Al-Saliba Street in the north, and from Darb Al- Hossr to the tomb of Sayeda Ruqayya. On both sides stands a wealth of historic religious monuments dating from the Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mameluk and Ottoman eras of Egyptian history. It constitutes an open-air museum of Islamic architecture, a rich concentration of the vigour and grandeur of the city of a thousand minarets.
Among the historic buildings are a number of mausoleums dedicated to people who made a mark not only on Egypt but also on the history of the Arab world. They include the famous Egyptian Queen Shagarat Al-Durr, whose ingenious cunning helped defend Egypt from the Crusaders following the death of her husband Saleh Nijmeddin. Just down the road is the mausoleum of Sultan Al- Ashram Ibn Qalawun, renowned for expelling the last of the Crusaders from the Levant.
Al-Sayeda Nafissa Square is an appropriate starting point for a tour of the street's heritage sites. Here lies the Mosque of Al-Sayeda Nafissa, great-granddaughter of Hassan, one of the Prophet Mohamed's two grandsons by his daughter Fatima and his cousin Ali Bin Abi Taleb. In 808 Al-Sayeda Nafissa immigrated to Egypt where she died in 823. A shrine to her memory was first constructed in the Ayyubid period by Abdallah Bin Al-Sirri Bin Al-Hakam, and was embellished and rebuilt many times in subsequent centuries by the Fatimid caliphs Al-Mustansir Billah (in 1089) and Al-Hafiz Ledin Allah (in 1137), by the Mameluk Sultan Al-Nasser Mohamed Bin Qalawun in 1313, and in 1760 by the late Ottoman era, by Abdel-Rahman Katkhuda. More recently it was renovated by the Ministry of Awqaf (religious endowments).
As we skirt round the Mosque of Sayeda Nafissa and enter its sacred grounds we come to the quba (dome) of the Abbassid caliphs, a square, 90-metre structure dating back to the 13th century. Following the fall of the Abbassid caliphate to the Tartars in 1258, the Abbassid Prince Abu-Qasem Al-Ahmed fled to Cairo. Arriving in 1261 he was welcomed by the Mameluk Sultan Baybars Al- Bunduqdari, who reinstalled him as the Abbassid caliph and dubbed him Al-Muntasir Billah. Cairo remained the seat of the Abbassid Caliphate until the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Sultan Salim.
Back in the square, we turn right and head some 10 metres up Al-Khalifa Street to find the mausoleum of the man after whom the street is now named. Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil reigned as sultan for only three years, but he was the conqueror of Acre and simply beholding the monument bearing his name evokes the sounds of clashing swords as besieging Arab forces stormed that once- impenetrable crusader bastion in 1291.
Some 30 metres up the road on the same side of the street is the Mausoleum of Fatima Khatun, which was completed in 1284. Fatima was the wife of Sultan Qalawun and the mother of his eldest son and first heir, Malik Al-Saleh Alladin Ali Ibn Qalawun. This tomb was once part of a madrasa (school), the Al-Madrasa Al-Khatuniya and Madrasa Umm Al-Saleh, and was used as a tekiya, or Sufi hostel, during the Ottoman period. The madrasa no longer exists, and the mausoleum has fallen into disrepair. The top storey of the minaret has collapsed along with part of the dome. However, one can observe structural elements in the transitional area of the dome that presaged the stalactite supports prevalent in the Mameluk period. The mausoleum is just one of the many religious and urban structures constructed under the Qalawun dynasty, which was in power for nearly a century.
Sayeda Ruqayya was the daughter of Ali Bin Abi Taleb, the fourth caliph. For centuries her tomb, which was constructed in 1133, was used as a mashhad, or oratory, where supplications were made to her. The shrine, an excellent example of late Fatimid architecture, is a rectangular structure topped by a central dome. On the qibla wall of each of the wings is a small mihrab, or prayer niche. One is immediately drawn to the central mihrab. A semi-circular, wood-encased niche framed by two columns, it is capped by a fluted conch with embellishments radiating outwards and is bordered by a strip of inscriptions in Fatimid Kufic script. Leaving the sanctuary, one steps into the shade of a porch with three arches supported by paired columns.
Almost adjacent to Sayeda Ruqayya are two more mashahid belonging to members of the Prophet Mohamed's family: the tombs of Al- Sayeda 'Ateka and Mohamed Al-Ga'fari. Al-Sayeda 'Ateka, daughter of Zeid Bin Amr Bin Nafil Al-Adawiya, married several times. Her first husband was Abdallah Bin Abu Bakr Al-Seddiq, but after his death she married Omar Bin Al-Khattab, the second caliph. Following his murder she married Al-Zobeir Bin Al- 'Awwam and then, after the death of this husband, she married Mohamed Bin Abi Bakr, ruler of Egypt during the caliphate of Ali Ibn Abi Taleb. Some sources maintain that her last husband was one of Ali's two sons, either Hassan or Hussein.
Mohammed Al-Ga'fari (d. 824) was the son of Ga'far Al- Sadeq, the son of Mohamed Al-Baqir, who was the son of Ali Zein Al-Abedin, son of Hussein, son of Ali, which is to say the great-great-great grandson of the Prophet Mohamed and the sixth Shi'a Imam. Built by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hafez in 1120, Al- Ga'fari's tomb is a small square structure topped by a ribbed dome. Triple- segmented windows are set in the transitional area, balancing the curves leading from the square base to the dome. Clearly inspired by the Al- Ga'fari's tomb, that of Al- Sayeda 'Atika still contains some of its original decorative elements, which include some fine stucco work framing the windows and a strip of inscription in ornamental Kufic script.
Across the street we come to the mausoleum of Egypt's last Ayyubid ruler, the Sultana Shagarat Al-Durr, who came to power following the murder of Turan Shah, the son and successor of her husband Al- Saleh Najmeddin. Before that she had displayed her astute political cunning by concealing the death of her husband until Egyptian forces could complete their campaign against the Crusaders, led by Louis IX, who was defeated in Mansoura and taken prisoner. Her tomb is a small, simple domed structure, the finest feature of which is a prayer niche richly adorned with gilded mosaics. The interior of the base of the dome is inscribed with the titles and epithets of the tomb's occupant.
Up the street to the left is the mashhad of another descendant of the Prophet through the lineage of Ali. Mohamed Al-Anwar is presumed to be the son of Zein Al-Abedin, grandson of Ali through Hassan, although some have said that Zein did not have a son by that name. It has also been said that Al-Anwar was the uncle of Al-Sayeda Nafissa. His sanctuary consists of a small mosque with a short minaret constructed over a wooden coffin. This was renovated by Sheikh Marzouq Al-Farrash in 1877.
A little further on we come to the Mosque of Al- Sayeda Sukayna. A daughter of Ali's son, Hussein, Sukayna was born in 667 and died in 735 in Medina, where she was buried. The mosque commemorating her was built by Abdel-Rahman Katkhouda in 1760, renovated by the Ministry of Awqaf in 1850 under the reign of Abbas I and renovated again in 1904 under the Khedive Abbas II.
It is worth making a brief detour off Sharia Al- Ashraf to behold two Ottoman-period houses, that of Amna Bint Salem (1540) and Beit Al-Kritliya (House of the Cretan Woman, built in 1631). These splendid and excellently preserved monuments offer a glimpse into the domestic life in Ottoman Cairo. The two houses were later joined by Major R. Gayer-Anderson, an Englishman who lived in them in the 1930s. Gayer-Anderson's love for art combined with his love of Cairo to create a treasure trove of historical artefacts. What is now known as the Gayer-Anderson House abuts onto the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, a vast and harmoniously designed structure and one of Cairo's major landmarks.
Following our visit to Ibn Tulun and, perhaps, a climb up its spiral minaret, we return to Sharia Al- Ashraf, turn left and come to the sabil-kuttab (water fountain) of Mustafa Tabtabay (1638). The sabil-kuttab, of which there are many examples in Cairo, performed the dual functions of providing life's two essentials: water and religious instruction. While here, we shall take a quick look at the Mosque of Ahmed Kohiya, built in 1310 and renovated in 1737.
We will complete our tour with a visit to the Tomb of Safeyeddin Gohar (1315). The dome of this structure tops the triple-staged transitional area with its stalactite support elements characteristic of Mameluk dome architecture. The dome is pierced by four small stucco windows inlaid with coloured glass.
In his Kitab Al-Ta'rif (Book of Knowledge) the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun relates that he once asked Abu Abdallah Al-Maqrri, an eminent theologian in Morocco, what Cairo was like. The scholar answered, "He who has never seen it does not know the power and glory of Islam." Ibn Khaldun also cited Abul-Qasem Al-Burji, a noted judge from Fas: "What people imagine they can envision without an image to give it form, as the imagination is broader than all things tangible. However, Cairo is broader than everything one can imagine." If anything, a tour of Sharia Al- Ashraf can help us understand how these scholars' observations.
Developing this rich axis of Islamic heritage requires considerable study of the area's demographic, economic and urban conditions. Water, sewerage and electricity networks must be updated. Explorations must be conducted on the ruins of structures on top of which now stand modern buildings of no architectural value. Services and activities that may damage the architectural environment must be relocated. In all these matters, the inhabitants of the area must take a part in the decisions. In this regard, NGOs will have an important role to play in helping residents to understand the value of a comprehensive renovation project and in ensuring that modern structures are built or modified to preserve the area's historical flavour. It will also be important to introduce services to support and encourage tourism, thereby enabling the area to contribute to restoring Cairo to its place as a major centre of world heritage.
Ibn Khaldun called Cairo "the city of the world, the garden of the earth, the congregating point of nations and the font of the dispersed elements of mankind". There is no reason why Ibn Khaldun's words cannot ring true again.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 27 March - 2 April 2003 (Issue No. 631)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/631/he1.htm