Cairo 2018 Fathi Habashi

Home , Babylon Fortress, Cairo Citadel, Coptic Cairo, Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Laval University

From the SelectedWorks of Fathi Habashi

April, 2018

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY International License.

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/fathi_habashi/282/ CAIRO IN 20181

My wife and I spent 3 weeks in Cairo. We had good time with the family which is now full of young children. It is a pity - - Cairo became a mixture of a large dirty village and elegant luxurious districts with beautiful houses, hotels, and restaurants. Too many cars are parking in the streets in an unbelievable way. We visited the old Coptic churches of the 3rd century and the old mosques of the Islamic Cairo of the 7th and 8th centuries as well as the citadel built by Salah Al Din in the 12th century.

It is a pity that I do not find my way in Cairo! There are too many highways, called bridges, in the middle of the city and too many advertisement frames. The city became of no character. The streets changed names and monuments were removed, for example, Soliman Pasha statue. Streets should not change names. I remember when I was in London my hotel was on Cromwell Road - - a major street in London; Oliver Cromwell beheaded the King of England in 1649!

Egyptians are enjoying life. They do not care about cleanness, have no sense of beauty, and take the one full month of Ramadan as a holiday during the year doing practically nothing except eating and drinking at night. In the quarter where I spent the three weeks with my wife at her sister’s home and where President Al-Sisi lived when he was Minister of Defence, the residents do not care about wires flying from one building to the other, rubbish things accumulating in balconies, air conditioning and receiving dishes apparatus fixed on walls, etc. Everybody is doing what he wishes in his apartment regardless of harmony between buildings.

In the Balcony of General Gamil Ishac - - the quarter of high ranking officers in the army

When I took a walk in the streets of this quarter I was appalled by the dirtiness of the place, the disorganization, the lack of beauty, the nearly dead trees, etc. This is not

1 In 2018 the author reported on the elegant shopping centers and apartment district in Cairo in his De Re Metallica, volume 8 published by Métallurgie Extractive Québec and available from Laval University Bookstore “Zone”. The visits took place in 2014. strange - - I found the same thing when touring the landmarks of the city where many tourists hurry to visit. This was not the case in my time when I was a student in Cairo. The city was clean and beautiful but the government was corrupt.

Typical street in Cairo

Typical bridges in Cairo

COPTIC CAIRO

Coptic Cairo is the oldest city in the south on the eastern bank of the river Nile while the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis was on the western bank. Its origin was Babylon which was an ancient fortress located near the commencement of the Pharaonic Canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. The canal was completed by Darius and renovated by the Greeks. The settlement was populated by slaves whom Sesostris brought from the Mesopotamian city of Babylon, and named the place after their own city. It was the boundary town between Lower and Middle Egypt. The fortress’ towers are almost 10 m high and 30 m in diameter. The walls are almost 3 m thick.

Babylon became a Christian refuge for those who were persecuted by the Romans of Alexandria. In the age of Augustus, Babylon was the headquarters of three legions. During the Muslim conquest of Egypt the fort was surrounded for seven months before falling in December 640 to the Arab general ‘Amr ibn al-‘As. The Fustat was founded by the Arabs just outside the fortress. Within its enclosure are the Coptic Museum, a convent, and several churches, including the Church of St. George and the Hanging Church.

Babylon Fortress, the origin of Old Coptic Cairo, is on the eastern bank of the Nile while Memphis on the western bank

Modern map showing Old Cairo

Ruins of Babylon Fortress

In Old Cairo in 2018

In one of the shops of Old Cairo in 2018

In Old Cairo in 2018

Santa Barbara church

In Old Cairo in 2018

In the Coptic Museum

Mosque of Amr Mosque of Amr located on Old Cairo was built by the Arabs in 641 as the first mosque in Coptic Egypt in the city called Al Fustat just north of Babylon. At Caliph Umar's request, the Egyptian capital was moved from Alexandria to the new city and became the residence of the Arab governors. With the re-opening of the Red Sea Canal, Al-Fustat became the link between the East and the West.

When the Omayyad were overthrown by the Abbasids, the Askar was founded in 750 slightly to the north as a garrison for the army. In 870 Ibn Tulun founded another capital, Al-Qatta'i, slightly further north of al-‘Askar to emphazise his independence of the Abbasids. The capital remained there until 905, when it was destroyed, and the administrative capital of Egypt then returned to Al-Fustat.

Al Fustat north of Babylon founded by Amr Ibn Alas. Al Askar founded later in 750 and Kata’i in 870

Map of Old Cairo showing Amr Ibn Elas mosque

Amr Ibn Elas mosque built in 641 in Al Fustat

ISLAMAIC CAIRO

Map showing part of Islamic Cairo north of Old Cairo

Part of the previous map showing the Citadel, Rifa’i, Hassan, and Ibn Tulun mosques in the old district called Al Kata’i

Cairo Citadel

Salah Al Din Citadel built between 1176 and 1183 with mosque Mohamed Ali built between 1830-1848

The citadel

Plan of the citadel

Mohamed Ali mosque in the citadel

Outside Mohamed Ali mosque

Mohamed Ali Repairs of the mosque in 1939

A marble column in the mosque

Inside mosque

Ceiling of the mosque

Guide

Mosques Refa’i and Sultan Hassan

Mosques Refa’i and Sultan Hassan in the vicinity of the citadel

Sultan Hassan Sultan Hassan ascended the throne at the age of 13 in 1347. He placed people of his own favour into positions of power. Discontented Emirs arrested him in 1351 for three years, and promoted his brother Al-Salih to the throne. He returned to power and again attempted to solidify power, but was assassinated. The lavish expenses noted coincide with the Sultan's extensive mosque.

Sultan Hassan mosque constructed in 1362

Entrance to Sultan Hassan Mosque

Inside Sultan Hassan mosque

Inside Sultan Hassan mosque Al-Rifa'i Mosque The Al-Rifa'i Mosque was constructed between 1869 and 1912 by Khushyar Hanim, the mother of Khedive Isma'il to replace the zawya (shrine) of the Iraqi Islamic saint Ahmed al-Rifa'i (1118–1181). She envisioned the new structure as a mausoleum for the royal family of Egypt. She died in 1885, and work was resumed in 1905 by Khedive Abbas II. Shah of Iran is also buried there.

Al Rifa’i mosque constructed in 1869 as a resting place for Mohamed Ali family

Names of Mohamed Ali family tombs

Al Refa’i entrance

Tall columns

Different tombs

Tomb of King Farouk (1920-1965)

Ibn Tulun mosque The mosque is in the neighbourhood of Rifa’i and Sultan Hassan mosque. It was commissioned by Ahmad ibn Tulun, the Turkic Abbassid governor of Egypt from 868– 884 who claimed independence. Ibn-Tulun was the son of a slave, while Kafoor was a former slave himself. The region is in the north of Babylon in an old place called Al Kata’i.

Ibn Tulun mosque

Gayer Anderson Museum The Gayer-Anderson Museum is adjacent to the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in the Sayyida Zeinab neighborhood. The building was owned by Major Gayer Anderson Pasha, who resided in the house between 1935 and 1942. The museum has a vast collection of furniture, carpets, and other objects.

Other districts of Cairo The settlements Fustat, Askar, and Kata’i were later incorporated into the city of Al Qahira (Cairo), founded by the Fatimids in 969. The city was razed in the early 10th century, and the only surviving structure is the Mosque of Ibn Tulun building. The new district is called now Sayyida Zaynab who was the sister of Hassan and Hussain. She was deported to Egypt few months after the Battle of Karbala (October 10, 680 AD) in present-day Iraq. The battle took place between a small group of supporters and relatives of Muhammad's grandson, Hussain ibn Ali, and a larger military detachment from the forces of Yazid I, the Umayyad caliph. Zaynab settled for nine months before her death, and she was buried in the site where a mosque was built on top.

El Mosky was founded by prince Ezz El Din Mosk who was a prince in the reign of Al Sultan Salah El Din El Ayobe. The district starts from El Attaba Square and parallels to Al Azhar Street until they reached Al Azhar Mosque and El Hussein Mosque.

Qansuh Al-Ghuri was the second-to-last of the Mamluk Sultans reigned from 1501 to 1516. His Wikala was built in 1505 housed merchants and their goods and served as a center for trade, storage, transactions and other commercial activity. The construction project involving the creation of his own mausoleum and religious complex a mosque- madrasa.

Qansuh Al-Ghuri

Al Muizz Family

With Fawzi Mona, Sanna, and Nadia

Wassem at Friday

Houssam, Magda, and Magdy Samuel Abadir

On the Nile with Faten [left] and Nadia

Ramy and his children: Farid and Nesma. Ahmed and his children Bahr and Naut

Nesma, Farida, Layla, Farid