Unit No25
‘Ali ‘Ali Salim
|
Coordinates of the main entrance |
30.043432N - 31.269937E |
|
Attribution |
‘Ali ‘Ali Salim |
|
Higri (AH)Dates as given in the Inscription |
|
|
Miladi (AD)Dates as given in the Inscription |
|
|
Inscription Contemporary with the building? |
Yes |
|
Multiple date(s) In the inscription? |
Yes |
|
Assumed Date |
Early 20th century |
|
Based on |
(Based on the style of the neo-Mamluk façade) |
|
Original Use |
Funerary enclosure |
|
Current Use |
Funerary enclosure |
|
Overall condition |
Good |
Features of unit 25
| Present | Count | Material | Comments (see description for details) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free standing structure | No | |||
| Walled enclosure | Yes | stone | ||
| 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) | No | |||
| Wall fountain(s) | No | |||
| Canopy on columns / pillars | No | |||
| Carved marble cenotaph(s) | No | |||
| Decorated limestone tomb-markers | Yes | 1 | Simple, undecorated | |
| Decorated gateway | Yes | |||
| Decorative door-leaves | Yes | 1 | Steel, welded | Modern, recent |
| Decorative window grilles | Yes | 1 | Steel, welded | Modern, recent |
| Decorative shutters | No | |||
| Painted ceiling(s) | No | |||
| Decorative paving(s) | No |
Unusual or unique features
• New openwork grilles were recently installed in the door and window facing the street: a totally unique feature in Egypt, where all properties, both private and governmental, are ever-increasingly being walled in and cut from their surroundings.
Description (The direction towards Mecca (Qibla) is described as eastern and other directions are named accordingly)
A small rectangular walled enclosure opened to the sky, in a row of similar small enclosures currently facing the Salah Salim Road, but distinguished by an elaborate neo-Mamluk façade built of ashlar stone. The façade is bipartite, with two tall rectangular recesses topped with two-tiered muqarnas hoods. The right recess contains a door, the left one, a window. In a typically Mamluk manner, the rectangular openings are topped with rectangular panels of knotted mouldings that frame the lintels and above them flat arches of stepped voussoirs with the intrados forming segmental relieving arches over the lintels. The façade is crowned with a moulding of a Mamluk-period profile and extremely simplified angular geometric crenelation. In both openings are very simple modern decorative grilles of welded steel profiles. There is a single simple limestone cenotaph within the enclosure. The internal walls have recently been lined with a facing of small, brick-size tiles of dense limestone with rough finish to the edges.
Condition of preservation
In good condition, maintained, recently renovated (new cladding to internal walls, new door/window grilles.) However, a crack in the middle pillar of the western façade indicates structural instability.
The embankment of the Salah Salem Road that the enclosure faces is currently used as an informal and illegal garbage and rubble dumping ground.
Information abut the founder, family history, etc.
The date on the tomb marker inside the enclosure is AD 1967
- Field recording by
- Nur Atiya
- Date recorded
- August 4, 2022
- Data entered by
- Yusuf Yassir
- Date entered
- May 8, 2024