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Unit No23

‘Abd al-Mone‘im al-‘Ayyat and/or his mother Zeinab Muhammad

Coordinates of the main entrance

30.042867N - 31.271961E

Attribution

‘Abd al-Mone‘im al-‘Ayyat and/or his mother Zeinab Muhammad

Higri (AH)Dates as given in the Inscription

1327

Miladi (AD)Dates as given in the Inscription

Inscription Contemporary with the building?

Yes

Multiple date(s) In the inscription?

Yes

Assumed Date

Based on

Original Use

Mausoleum

Current Use

Mausoleum

Overall condition

Good

Features of unit 23

Present Count Material Comments (see description for details)
Free standing structure Yes 1 stone
Walled enclosure No
Rooms by the perimeter wall No
Freestanding structure(s) in enclousure No
Dome over the tomb chamber No
Neo-Mamluk architectural decoration Yes
Garden layout No
Sabil(s) Yes 1
Wall fountain(s) No
Canopy on columns / pillars No
Carved marble cenotaph(s) No Interior inaccessible
Decorated limestone tomb-markers No Interior inaccessible
Decorated gateway Yes 1 Ashlar stone
Decorative door-leaves Yes 2 Steel, welded Modern, recent
Decorative window grilles Yes 3 Wrought iron
Decorative shutters No
Painted ceiling(s) No Interior inaccessible
Decorative paving(s) No Interior inaccessible

Unusual or unique features

• An unusually shaped cruciform window in the front elevation.

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

Most of the rectangular lot with the shorter side facing the street is built up, with a small courtyard in the north-eastern corner. The main (south) façade is built of ashlar stone faces a short, narrow lane closed by a gate where it branches off the Sultan Ahmad Street. The south-western corner is rounded and contains a sabil, which is now partially blocked by a structure built on the neighbouring lot. The straight part of the southern façade is tripartite, divided by simple rusticated pilasters with muqarnas corbels in place of capitals. The corbels carry stone blocks aligned with the course under the cornice on top of the wall and above an elaborate three-tiered muqarnas frieze. The frieze is therefore divided into sections that look like flat hoods of rectangular full-height recesses in which windows were typically placed in Mamluk-period mosques. The axis of the façade is ingeniously marked with a wider muqarnas niche with an additional muqarnas unit above. A further section of the muqarnas frieze continues over the rounded corner that contains the sabil window. The façade is topped with elaborate fleur-de-lys crenellation copying the style of late Mamluk buildings from the reign of Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri. The upper part of the front façade is a tall parapet wall. The undecorated side elevations, built of rough stone, plastered and and topped with a cornice identical with this of the front façade, are much lower.
The entrance gate, the window left of it and the sabil window are topped with a typically Circassian Mamluk arrangement of a rectangular panel of knotted mouldings that frames the lintel and above it a flat arch of stepped voussoirs with the intrados forming a segmental relieving arch over the lintel. The left section of the tripartite façade features an unusual small quatrefoil window, and above it, an empty rectangular panel framed with a moulding. The relieving arches over all the openings in the front façade are decorated with ceramic tiles of a simple geometric pattern not directly related to Islamic art. Over the entrance gate is a marble panel with a calligraphic inscription in raised relief stating the name of the interred person and the date.
The interior was inaccessible at the time of recording.

Condition of preservation

The building is in good condition and well maintained. Recently restored in 2016.

Information abut the founder, family history, etc.

The date AH 1327 in the inscription over the entrance door corresponds to AD 1909.
The inscription names Lady Zeinab Muhammad known as Umm ‘Abdu (Mother of ‘Abdu.)
A marble panel mounted on the right side of the front facade mentions the renovation by the family in the year 2016 of “the burial ground of ‘Abd al-Mone‘im Muhammad al-Ayyat known as ‘Abdu”.

Field recording by
Amr Abotawila, 5 September

Date recorded
September 5, 2022

Data entered by
Yusuf Yassir

Date entered
May 8, 2024