The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

oth al-Azhar and the palace were widely differentiated, but it is interesting
to note that classes for women existed in both the exoteric and
esoteric branches of the law, and that the education of women has
always been valued within Ismai’ili Islam. 8
The original mosque of al-Azhar followed the Tunisian model
with a prayer hall five aisles deep facing a sahn bordered on each of
the other three sides with riwaqs three aisles deep. The aisles of the
prayer hall ran parallel to the qibla wall, but a central aisle,
arranged perpendicular to the mihrab, was wider and taller, giving
it a processional emphasis. Three domes were placed over the qibla
aisle, one at the centre over the mihrab, and one at each end in the
corners of the prayer hall. The rounded arches of the arcades were
constructed of stucco-covered brick held by tie-beams and supported
on recycled antique columns. Of this original mosque most of the
south-west wall remains, as well as fragments of the north-east wall
with surviving decorative stucco and round-headed window grilles.
The hood of the original stucco mihrab also survives. This is set in
a frame of finely chiselled Kufic with a hood revealing a tightly
scrolled pattern of tendrils and palmettes entwining a central fivelobed
palmette surmounted by a bulbous chalice. The strength and
richness in the carving of the hood contrasts with the lighter
decoration in the surrounding spandrels, which is the work of
Sultan Salar and was completed after the earthquake of 1303. Its
fragility and lace-like geometrical forms set in flat panelled niches
are similar to the surfaces of the mihrab he installed on the north-
west wall of Amr’s mosque.
The Fatimid stucco panels on the opposite wall are exuberantly
laden with a plenitude of vegetal motifs, including a palm tree,
palmettes and a grape vine framed by bands of Kufic. Certain aspects
of the surface drilling recall Samarran stucco but the style is more
densely floral and organic. Later Fatimid work, dating from the reign
of the imam-caliph al-Hafiz (mid-twelfth century), can be seen in the
dome in the qibla riwaq at the north-west end of the central aisle.
Domes located at this point, corresponding to the mihrab dome, are
common features of Tunisian architecture and they emphasize the
ceremonial and processional aspect of the wider central aisle. The
dome is supported on pointed keel-arches (the shape of an upturned
boat) resting on antique columns braced with wooden tie-beams.
These features define the structural characteristics of Fatimid architecture,
providing a much lighter contrast to the solid brick piers of
Tulunid architecture. The keel-arch was a Fatimid innovation and it
subsequently replaced the round arches of the earlier mosque. It
above: Fatimid mihrab in the Mosque of al-Azhar.
Fatimid Architecture 53