The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo
The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo
The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo
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elow: <strong>The</strong> minaret <strong>of</strong> the madrasa<br />
<strong>of</strong> Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad.<br />
142 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Art</strong> and <strong>Architecture</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Islamic</strong> <strong>Cairo</strong><br />
shafts separated by two balconies supported<br />
on muqarnas corbels. <strong>The</strong> first shaft is pat-<br />
terned with chevrons zigzagging vertically<br />
up the column, and the second has chevrons<br />
banded horizontally. <strong>The</strong> third shaft is tapered<br />
and ribbed, terminating with a bulbous<br />
ribbed dome. Under the dome is a band <strong>of</strong><br />
faience inscription in white and blue, and<br />
the rest <strong>of</strong> the shaft and dome is principally<br />
covered with green mosaic tiles. <strong>The</strong> first,<br />
lowest, shaft <strong>of</strong> the other minaret is rectangular,<br />
the second cylindrical, and the third<br />
is an open hexagonal kiosk terminating with<br />
a similarly tapered shaft surmounted by a<br />
bulbous ribbed dome. <strong>The</strong> first two shafts<br />
are plain but the top <strong>of</strong> the third is decorated<br />
with the same faience as the other<br />
minaret. Al-Maqrizi records that at this time<br />
craftsmen from Tabriz set up workshops in<br />
<strong>Cairo</strong>, and Michael Meinecke has identified<br />
one thirteenth-century miniature from Tabriz<br />
showing similar bulbous domed minarets. 13<br />
<strong>The</strong> interior follows the traditional<br />
plan <strong>of</strong> the hypostyle mosque and there is<br />
little sense <strong>of</strong> innovation. <strong>The</strong> arcading and<br />
windows around the sahn are uniform, and<br />
there is no differentiation on the qibla side.<br />
<strong>The</strong> crenellation above the inner façades is<br />
stepped, unlike the round-headed crenellation<br />
on the exterior, which adds to its fortified<br />
character. <strong>The</strong> prayer hall is four aisles<br />
deep with the arcades running parallel to the qibla wall, and the<br />
three riwaqs are two aisles deep. Like the mosque <strong>of</strong> Baibars, the<br />
dome over the mihrab covers nine bays, but this one, with a dia-<br />
meter <strong>of</strong> 15 metres, is much smaller. <strong>The</strong> original, made <strong>of</strong> wood<br />
and covered with Persian green and blue ceramic tiles, collapsed in<br />
1531. It rests on wooden muqarnas pendentives and the whole<br />
superstructure is supported on antique granite columns. Perhaps<br />
the most distinctive features <strong>of</strong> this interior are the ablaq masonry<br />
in the voussoirs <strong>of</strong> the arcades and around the windows and the<br />
variety <strong>of</strong> antique columns with capitals taken from Pharaonic,<br />
Roman and Coptic sources. <strong>The</strong> interior decoration, consisting <strong>of</strong> a