Unit No31

Al-Zeini Family enclosure

Coordinates of the main entrance	30.040439N - 31.272559E
Attribution	Al-Zeini Family enclosure
Higri (AH)Dates as given in the Inscription	1327
Miladi (AD)Dates as given in the Inscription
Inscription Contemporary with the building?	No
Multiple date(s) In the inscription?	No
Assumed Date	Before 1327 AH [corresponds to AD 1909]
Based on	(date on a cenotaph)
Original Use	Funerary enclosure
Current Use	Funerary enclosure and residential
Overall condition	Good

Features of unit 31

	Present	Count	Material	Comments (see description for details)
Free standing structure	No
Walled enclosure	Yes	1	stone
Rooms by the perimeter wall	Yes	7	stone, wood
Freestanding structure(s) in enclousure	Yes	1	wood	A separate burial chamber in the corner of the courtyard
Dome over the tomb chamber	Yes
Neo-Mamluk architectural decoration	No
Garden layout	No
Sabil(s)	No
Wall fountain(s)	No
Canopy on columns / pillars	No
Carved marble cenotaph(s)	Yes	2	2	One simple, modern (AD 1975)
Decorated limestone tomb-markers	Yes
Decorated gateway	Yes	2	stone	Very simple arched doorways
Decorative door-leaves	No
Decorative window grilles	Yes	2	iron	Simple grilles in arches over entrance doors
Decorative shutters	No
Painted ceiling(s)	No
Decorative paving(s)	No

Unusual or unique features

• A verandah-like glass-fronted burial chamber built into the courtyard

Description (The direction towards Mecca (Qibla) is described as eastern and other directions are named accordingly)

A rectangular (almost square) enclosure measuring ca. 17.5 x 19 m, with a chamfered NE corner. Positioned at an angle to most of neighbouring lots. There are single-storey rooms by the northern and eastern walls, the ones on the northern side deeper than those by the eastern wall, leaving a rectangular courtyard measuring ca. 12.5 x 9 m in the south-western corner of the enclosure. The main gate placed in the middle of the northern wall and built of well-dressed stone is a simple classical-based doorway covered with a semicircular arch flanked by two flat Tuscan pilasters carrying a very simplified entablature. The secondary entrance in the middle of the eastern façade is a simple door covered with a semicircular arch. The gates, corners, and vertical bands dividing the walls into sections are built of dressed stone, the walls between them are plastered, as are the walls of the courtyard. The windows are plain, undecorated.
In the south-eastern corner of the courtyard stands a wooden structure with a glazed front and a decorative wooden eave, with applied wooden geometric decoration on the lower panels of doors and windows. It its roof is an octagonal wooden lantern covered with a simple wooden dome. The chamber is a later addition built into the courtyard, as it partially blocks one of the windows opening to the courtyard. Within the chamber is a richly decorated carved marble cenotaph with a shahid stela including the name of the deceased shaykh Ahmad al-Zeini and a date A.H. 1327.
Another burial chamber is located in the south-eastern corner of the enclosure and accessed from the entrance hall behind the secondary gate. It contains a simple marble cenotaph decorated with calligraphic inscriptions in sunken (i.e., incised, not raised) relief. A simple shahid on it gives the date 1394 A.H. / A.D. 1975.