Unit No7

Wafaa family funerary enclosure

Coordinates of the main entrance	30.045406N - 31.273382E
Attribution	Wafaa family funerary enclosure
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	Before 1321 AH
Based on	the earliest date written on cenotaph
Original Use	Funerary enclosure
Current Use	Funerary enclosure, residential and commercial
Overall condition	Good

Features of unit 7

	Present	Count	Material	Comments (see description for details)
Free standing structure	No
Walled enclosure	Yes	1	stone
Rooms by the perimeter wall	Yes	8
Freestanding structure(s) in enclousure	Yes	1	wood	A wooden pergola
Dome over the tomb chamber	No
Neo-Mamluk architectural decoration	No
Garden layout	Yes	1
Sabil(s)	Yes	1	stone
Wall fountain(s)	No
Canopy on columns / pillars	Yes	2	wood
Carved marble cenotaph(s)	Yes	3	3	3 old richly decorated cenotaphs, 2 simpler, newer ones
Decorated limestone tomb-markers	No
Decorated gateway	Yes	1	stone
Decorative door-leaves	Yes	6	wood
Decorative window grilles	Yes	1	wood / stained glass	Also simple decorative steel grilles in windows
Decorative shutters	No
Painted ceiling(s)	No
Decorative paving(s)	No

Unusual or unique features

• A garden layout takes up the bigger portion of the enclosure, which is an uncommon ratio.
• Elaborate wooden canopy inside the courtyard

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

A walled enclosure with single-storey structures in U-shape along the main (eastern) elevation and eastern part of the side walls. The front facadee is symmetrical, with three plain windows covered with semicircular arches on each ide of the central entrance gate, which has a simple, banded neo-classical architectural framing, wooden door leaves decorated with neo-classical motifs, and a decoratibe iron grille in the semicircular arch above the dooor. In the side walls, windows in the eastern section are irregularly placed. The back parts of the side walls and the back wall of the enclosure are plain, without a cornice or architectural divisions. An undecorated secondary entrance is placed in the middle of the northern elevation. A rectangular sabil window with simple iron grille and fitted with wooden shutters is placed in the rounded northeastern corner, and above it a marble plaque (now whitewashed) is placed, divided into four calligraphic panels.
The U-shaped residential zone in the eastern part of the enclosure is divided into two symmetrical 3-bedroom apartments separated by a shared shaded corridor accessed from the main gateway and with a a wide opening onto the courtyard covered with a segmental arch. In the upper part of the opening is a wood-and-glass screen of fine craftsmanship, composed af a delicate pattern of interlacing twelve-pointed stars. A wooden shading canopy on slender wooden supports runs along the courtyard-facing walls of the
residential units. Another shaded wooden canopy elevated two steps above ground level is located in the located in the southwestern corner of the enclosure. It features arabesque motifs of wooden lattice openwork and covers three richly decorated marble cenotaphs.
In the north-western quarter, a non-shaded burial space, also elevated two steps above the ground level, highlights the burial zone. A fenced planting space in the centre of the courtyard acts as a buffer between the burial and the residential zones.
Numerous marble plaques with funerary inscriptions are mounted on the inside of the side walls of the enclosure, apparently relocated from cenotaphs. They include dates of late 20th and also 21st centuries.