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Unit No58

Unknown

Coordinates of the main entrance

30.047444N - 31.274978E

Attribution

Unknown

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

First half of the 20th century

Based on

(based on stylistic features)

Original Use

Funerary enclosure

Current Use

Funerary enclosure (disused, closed)

Overall condition

Poor

Features of unit 58

Present Count Material Comments (see description for details)
Free standing structure No
Walled enclosure Yes 1 stone An empty courtyard
Rooms by the perimeter wall Yes 1 brick Roofless, disused
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 2 NO Possibly present – interior inaccessible.
Decorated gateway Yes 1 stone Main gateway
Decorative door-leaves Yes
Decorative window grilles Yes 8 iron
Decorative shutters No
Painted ceiling(s) No
Decorative paving(s) No

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

A rectangular walled enclosure measuring about 23 x 29 m, with the main (shorter) façade facing west and a secondary façade facing north, and abutting on adjacent structures to the S and E. There is a roofless square room in the NE corner of the enclosure. Sections of walls adjacent to the front and side walls suggest that there was a building along the western (front) wall that has either collapsed or was planned but never finished. The western section of the N wall has apparently been rebuilt after collapse.
In the symmetrical front façade built of ashlar stone, the central section containing the entrance portal is a pishtaq taller than the rest of the wall. Within it, the entrance gate is flanked by flat pilasters, with muqarnas brackets that carry a protruding frame with knotted mouldings around the three-tiered muqarnas over the main gate. Below the muqarnas is a raised plain rectangular panel without any inscription. The lintel of the rectangular door is a flat arch of elaborate joggled voussoirs.
On each side of the gate are four undecorated rectangular windows grouped in pairs. Their lintels are flat arches with simple angular joggling. In the windows are simple iron grilles with spheres at the crossings of their rods, resembling Mamluk-period grilles. The façade is crowned with fleur-de-lys crenellations.
The side (northern façade is plain and undecorated, built in rough stone and plastered.
Overall, the quality of design is mediocre compared to many apparently contemporary structures in the neighbourhood, although the craftsmanship of stonemasonry is of high quality.

Condition of preservation

Damage from rising damp to the lower parts of the walls. The interior was recently plastered, possibly following demolition of some internal walls. A section of the inner face of the northern wall has collapsed.

Field recording by
Hadeer Ahmad, Muhammad Essam, and Esraa al-Mahdi

Date recorded
August 8, 2023

Data entered by
Yusuf Yassir

Date entered
May 21, 2024