The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

286 Pages·2006·21.1 MB·English

by  Richard Yeomans

243-0 A&A of Ismic Cro - prelim 12/6/05 2:22 PM Page i
THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF
I C
SLAMIC AIRO
243-0 A&A of Ismic Cro - prelim 12/6/05 2:22 PM Page ii
ii The Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo
243-0 A&A of Ismic Cro - prelim 12/6/05 2:22 PM Page iii
A A
THE RT AND RCHITECTURE OF
I C
SLAMIC AIRO
R Y
ICHARD EOMANS
(cid:1)
a r n e t
P U B L I S H I N G
243-0 A&A of Ismic Cro - prelim 12/6/05 2:22 PM Page iv
To Ann
THEARTANDARCHITECTURE Credits
OF ISLAMICCAIRO Editorial
House editor: Emma Hawker
Published by Editor: Anna Hines
Garnet Publishing Limited
8 Southern Court, South Street Design
Reading RG1 4QS,UK Art director: David Rose
Tel:[phone] Senior designer: Mike Hinks
Fax:[phone]
E-mail:[email protected] Maps
Website:www.garnetpublishing.co.uk Karen Rose, Julia Lunn
Copyright Reprographics:Nick Holroyd
© Richard Yeomans, 2006
Printed and bound
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in Lebanon by International Press
in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means,
including information storage and retrieval systems, without
permission in writing from the publisher, except by a While every care has been taken in the preparation of this
reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. book, neither the authors nor publishers can accept any
liability for any consequence arising from the use of
First edition information contained within.
ISBN-13: 978-1-85964-154-5
ISBN-10: 1-85964-154-7
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue
record for this book is available from the British Library.
243-0 A&A of Ismic Cro - prelim 12/6/05 2:22 PM Page v
Contents
Map of Cairo vi
Preface 1
INTRODUCTION
Egypt and the Arab Conquest 4
CHAPTER ONE
Umayyad and Tulunid Architecture: Fustat and al-Qata’i 14
CHAPTER TWO
Fatimid Architecture 42
CHAPTER THREE
The Decorative Arts of the Tulunids and Fatimids 70
CHAPTER FOUR
Ayyubid Architecture 100
CHAPTER FIVE
The Architecture of the Bahri Mamluks 124
CHAPTER SIX
The Decorative Arts of the Ayyubids and Mamluks 164
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Architecture of the Burji Mamluks 198
Notes and References 240
Glossary: Islamic and Oriental Terms 251
Glossary: English Terms 253
Chronology of Dynasties and Rulers 256
Table of Dynasties 258
Bibliography 259
Acknowledgements 264
Index 265
243-0 A&A of Ismic Cro - prelim 12/6/05 2:22 PM Page vi
ttoo PPoorrtt SSaaiidd tttooo HHHeeellliiiooopppooollliiisss
aanndd IIssmmaaiilliiaa
BABAL-BAHR KKAAMMEELLSSIIDDQQUUIIPPAASSHHAA AL-GHEISH HUSEINYA
CL
O
T
BEY SSHHEEIIKKHHAALL--AARRUUSSII BBaabb aall- FFuuttuuhh AL-FARDUS ttooAA iiCCrrppaaooiirrrroott
MMoossqquuee ooff BBaabb aall- NNaassrr
aall- HHaakkiimm
BBii AAmmrr AAllllaahh
AL-GHEISHWWoorrkkEEsshhLLoo ppMM ooUUff SSKKBBIIaayytt aall--QQSSuuuushhsuuaannyy mm WWiiaaqkaallaa WAWAuuaaddqqaaff PPooaaffGssAhhLaaAL
tthhee HHoollyy CCaarrppeett AAll- AAqqmmaarr SSaabbiill--kkuuttttaabb
R) Mmoossqquuee GGAAMMAALLIIYYAA
OPERA MIS BBaarrqquuqq Mmoossqquuee Wall
SQUARE ARRAAL..ss-CCMss..uu UCCmmShhKppIuuttrriioocchnhnKHALIGELTTooQQSSmmaaaallllbbiiaahh ’’ oou uAAffnny yBB uuMmiibrrbaaaaii mm ddTtoorrssaammttssaaaannbb KKAAHHmmAAiirrSSNN aaMMbb iiiiAAttll--hhkkLLgguMuM--aattKKllttuu aaHHMmssbbaaaAA affooiiddrrLLffkkrr hhIIaAAaLLssaabbaaIInnddaauu llPp RRaalaalaahhccmmUeeRIYAaann KKaattkkhhuuddaa MmaaBBuuaassrrooqqlluueeqquumm
ttoo MMiiddaann AL-AZHADRS(TELREETGGOOHHAARRAALL--QQAAIIDD SHSHaauuyyssyyaaiiiiddnnnn Mmaa ooaallss-qquuee AL-MANS ENA((OSCCTRiittETyyR HooNff C ttChhEeeEM MDDSSEeeuuETaallTttddEaaE))RnnRYY
TTaahhrriirr SAI MMaauussoolleeuumm alA-Ashshrarfaf
MMIIssuullaassmmeeuuiiccmm AA oorrttff POMRTMBBuTaauA'bbaHa yZZyTyyuuaAAAiwwddLll--aa - KMGmGmiiAllaahhBoouuuss'iqqrrziiuu zMmeeaaAALL-ddMMUUrrSS'IITTZaaZRRZZEEEEssTTaa FFaakkHGHGQQaaooaahChiiooCjjmmuuammaaffam ssnraaaareeaaaailllli ss -- v voomaa GGMaaaafflln--hhllono--DDsuuIIssssseqiiarrqhhnnriiruauaaaeaqqeiAaAanniill --mMddAA zzooUuhhssnnaaqqiirrvvuu eMmeeerrSMAssooHBiitUstsDEyyqqHILKuuAIHeeMGMHABUDAR(BAAL-IAAYLIMIB-RKEBIRQURQUALM-SASU)LTANAHMAR QMQmaaaa’’uuiittss oMomBBllaaeeBBaayyuuuuaammrrssssoobblleeaauuyymm
MMUUHHAAMMMMAAaall--MMSSaaoolliisshhqq TTuuaaeell aaoo’’ffii BBDDRRAAAmMAll-LooM-ssMqqauuarieerdidaannii SALEHSALEM BBAABBWWAAZZIIRR
QQuussuunn(( rrMmeemmooasasqqiinnuussee)) DDAALLII MmSShhaaSSaadduu’’rrbbllttaaaaaassnnnnaa MMHHAA--LLAA SSa((aAAllWWaayyhhyyaa uullAall bblloo--iiDDddff))iinn AAQQDDAAFFEEII
AA
RR
AANNMMAADD OOMMAARR IIbbrraahhiimmHh AAoogguuhhsseeaa N
AAll--SSuullaammaanniiyyaa SSuudduunn Aqsunqur mosque
UBtUBtoorrnniiddiivvggeeeerrssPiittOyyRDDTAASRRAIBBDAALL--GGAAIIMMMMAA AALL--HHIILLMMIIYYAA MmoossqqAamaMAuullll--ee--aaYYGGdduuaarrssaayyuussffaaii RRIIZZDDAAAAWWBB--AALL QQpPaaaalla’’aKKiicttchh eeBBaaaayyyyrrbbaekk mMoossqquuee
M SSuullttaann HHaassaann RRiiffaa’’ii MMoossqquuee
MMUUHHAA NUR AL-ZALA Mmoossqquuee QmQMaaaannddiirrbbaaaassyyaa AAmmiirr 0 250 500 metres
MMMM AAmmiirr TTaazz 0 250 500 yards
AA pPaallaaccee
DD
aaSSllaa- JJnnaaJjwwaarrllii QQAADDRRII MSmSaaoorrggssqqhhuuaaettemmiisshh SkKShhhhaaaanyynkkqqhhaauuhh C I T A D E L
Mmoossqquuee KKhhuusshhqqaaddaannii Al-Nasir mosque
Qmao’istq BuaMmeyTToouuIIbbsslluuqqnnnnuuTeeULUN aall--AAGAHGAhhhonnoaammuddyyuseeeesaaeerrrrddssooii MmnnDMoaMoaAoollff--A RaassLDDSS-BqquuBhhuuAuuAssaaQrrooLLeeIiigg-lleeHaauuOrrSaammRtt MMIIDDAANNSSAALLAAHHAALL--DDIINN Muhmaomsmquaed ASlAiLEH SALEM MAliu fhoarmt mad
ttoo GGiizzaa aanndd
UUnniivveerrssiittyy BBrriiddggeess
aanndd AAqquueedduucctt SSOOUUTTHHEERRNN CCEEMMEETTEERRYY
vi The Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo
243-0 A&A of Ismic Cro - prelim 12/6/05 2:22 PM Page 1
Preface
When I first visited Egypt with a group of friends in marginalize, in our perceptions, Egypt’s Islamic
1964, I had no knowledge of Muslim culture and my identity and brushed aside nearly 1400 years of history.
sole purpose was to see the Pharaonic monuments that This may be explained by old animosities; the West is
had excited my imagination since childhood. After still ill at ease with Islam, so it seeks comfort in the
spending two weeks in Luxor and Aswan, saturating familiarity and distance of the Pharaonic past. As
ourselves in the art and architecture of ancient Egypt, Edward Said has observed:
we returned to Cairo to see if the city had anything else
to offer other than the pyramids and the Egyptian Underlying the contemporary Ameri-
Museum. We consulted our guide book and the can interest in ancient Egypt is
pictures of the Citadel and Sultan Hasan’s mosque therefore, I think, a persistent desire
aroused our curiosity, so we set out to explore Cairo’s to bypass Egypt’s Arab identity, to
medieval monuments. It was in the frantic atmosphere reach back to a period where things
of the Khan al Khalili area of the old city that I first were assumed to be both simple and
encountered Islamic architecture in its living cultural amenable to the always well-
context and the experience was spellbinding. It was intentioned American will.1
something I had been completely unprepared for, and
I woke up to the fact that Egypt had a vibrant Islamic Edward Said sees Western attitudes towards Egypt’s
culture with a magnificent architectural heritage ancient past as an expression of imperialism; having
lasting well over a thousand years. The point was loosened our colonial hold on Egypt, a form of cultural
further endorsed when I later visited the Museum of colonialism took its place.
Islamic Art and saw the wealth of Islamic Egypt’s The first manifestation of this cultural colonialism
decorative art. Nobody had told me about this occurred when Napoleon occupied Egypt between
extraordinary cultural achievement – my Eurocentric 1798 and 1801. He brought with him 167 scholars and
education had ignored it – and the depth of my set up the Commission of Science and Art and The
ignorance was profound. Egyptian Institute to investigate ‘this cradle of the
I have since made numerous visits to Egypt but in science and art of humanity’.2 The result was the
many respects little has changed with regard to publication of a monumental work, Description de
Western ignorance of her Islamic culture. For most l’Egypte: Pupliée par les ordres de Napoléon Bonaparte, ten
tourists, Egypt is the land of the Pharaohs and nothing folio volumes with 3,000 magnificent illustrations, first
else. In the West we have somehow managed to published in Paris in 1812. The next decisive event
Preface 1