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Unit No37

‘Amar Family

Coordinates of the main entrance

30.041149N - 31.270698E

Attribution

‘Amar Family

Higri (AH)Dates as given in the Inscription

1276

Miladi (AD)Dates as given in the Inscription

Inscription Contemporary with the building?

Yes

Multiple date(s) In the inscription?

No

Assumed Date

Based on

Original Use

Burial Chamber

Current Use

Residential

Overall condition

Fair

Features of unit 37

Present Count Material Comments (see description for details)
Free standing structure Yes 1 stone Abutting on other structures
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 No
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 wood
Decorated gateway No
Decorative door-leaves No
Decorative window grilles No
Decorative shutters No
Painted ceiling(s) No Possibly present (interior inaccessible)
Decorative paving(s) No Possibly present (interior inaccessible)

Unusual or unique features

An elaborate inscription panel in wood with a poetic inscription

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

An extremely simple small single-story building measuring ca. 4.5 x 9.5 m. Free-standing, i.e. not within a defined enclosure, but abutting to the north and west on neighbouring structures. Built of rough stone and plastered, with the undecorated entrance door built of ashlar stone and covered with a semi-circular arch in the southern façade. There is an undecorated rectangular window with a simple iron grille to the left of the entrance door. Over the window (partially blocking it) is a huge wooden panel with elaborate calligraphic inscription. The inscription praises the Shaykh Yunis al-Buhi in poetic verse. There was an overhanging wooden eave shading the southern wall, of which only remnants of wooden brackets remain. Instead, a very simple wooden pergola for grapevine has been crudely constructed. The building contains two rooms.
The western one has an octagonal ceiling lantern covered with a small dome of lath-and-plaster construction. The eastern room, apparently a vestibule, has a small simple window in the undecorated eastern façade. A secondary entrance to it was pierced in the southern wall, then crudely blocked. The interior was inaccessible at the time of recording.

Condition of preservation

The building is not in danger of imminent collapse. However, damage from rainwater to tops of the walls indicates inadequate roof cover, and the bottom of the walls are damage by rising groundwater. All woodwork is desiccated. The roof lantern misses much of its cover and the glazing.
The wooden inscription panel has been painted in green recently (after 2015.)

Information abut the founder, family history, etc.

The date 1276 in the wooden inscription panel corresponds to AD 1859 or 1860

Field recording by
Amr Abotawila and Radwa Abu Senna

Date recorded
August 11, 2022

Data entered by
Hania Abdelmeguid

Date entered
May 8, 2024