City of the Dead (Cairo)
As a city of the dead two broad inhabited by about 300,000 people cemetery districts on the eastern edge of Cairo called. What the locals usually just call al-Qarafa ( Arabic القرافة), ie "the cemetery", called the area at the foot of the Mokattam Mountains extends for several kilometers both north (northern city of the dead) and south (southern city of the dead) of the citadel and became an informal settlement ( slum ) when in the 20th In the 19th century, more and more people (looking for work) streamed into the Egyptian capital and, due to the acute lack of space, partly also settled the historic cemetery area, which in the Middle Ages was still outside Cairo in the desert.
Today, Qarafa, which is criss-crossed by a dense network of paths and roads, contains not only simple tombs and residential buildings, but also a large number of historically highly significant buildings from almost all epochs of Islamic history in Egypt. The most important of these worth seeing monuments can be found in the following lists.
The city of the dead with the northern (necropolis of Qaitbay) and southern necropolis (necropolis of Saiyida-Nafisa and Imam asch-Schafii) has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979 as part of "Historic Cairo" .
Northern Necropolis
The so-called northern city of the dead, in which the mausoleums of five sultans can be found, is located northeast of the citadel between Salah-Salim-Strasse (شارع صلاح سالم) and An-Nasr-Straße (طريق النصر).
monument | Year of construction or time | Epoch (dynasty) |
---|---|---|
Grave of the emir Tash-Temur | 1334 | Bahri Mamluken |
Tomb of Princess Tughay (Umm Anuk) | before 1348 | Bahri Mamluken |
Grave of the princess Tul (u) bay | 1363/64 | Bahri Mamluken |
Tomb complex of the Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq | 1400-1411 | Burji Mamluks |
Grave of the Emir Guzal | 1403 | Burji Mamluks |
Grave of the Emir Jani-Beg | 1427 | Burji Mamluks |
Grave complex of the Sultan Barsbay | 1432 | Burji Mamluks |
Tomb of (Sultan Barsbay's mother) Khadijah Umm al-Ashraf | approx. 1430-1440 | Burji Mamluks |
Tomb of Emir Nasrallah (Kuz al-Asal) | 1441 | Burji Mamluks |
Tomb of the Sufi Sheikh ar-Rifai | Mid 15th century | Burji Mamluks |
Tomb complex of the Sultan Inal | 1451-1456 | Burji Mamluks |
Grave of the emir Barsbay al-Badschasi | 1456 | Burji Mamluks |
Sultan Qaitbay's tomb complex | 1472-1474 | Burji Mamluks |
Tomb of Sultan Qansuh I. | 1499 | Burji Mamluks |
Tomb of the Emir Azrumuk | 1503 | Burji Mamluks |
Burial Complex of the Emir Qurqumas | 1506/07 | Burji Mamluks |
Tomb of the Emir Qurqumas | 1511 | Burji Mamluks |
Tomb of the Emir Sulayman | 1544 | Ottoman rule |
Tomb complex of the Sufi Sheikh Sidi al-Afifi and the Chedive Muhammad Taufiq Pasha | 1894 | Muhammad Ali dynasty |
Sultan Qaitbay's funerary mosque based on a painting by David Roberts
Southern city of the dead
The so-called southern city of the dead, which is even larger than the northern one, is located in the south of the citadel, east of the Ibn Tulun mosque . It extends to the Maadi district and can be roughly divided into the area between Saliba Street (شارع الصليبة) and Saiyida Nafisa Square (ميدان السيدة نفيسة), a central district (directly south of the citadel) and the so-called small Qarafa (located even further south).
monument | Year of construction or time | Epoch (dynasty) |
---|---|---|
Cenotaph of Khadija | around 959 | Ichididen |
al-Luʾluʾa Mosque ("Pearl Mosque") | 1016 | Fatimids |
al-Juyushi mosque (shrine of the vizier and emir Badr al-Jamali ) | 1085 | Fatimids |
Tomb of Saiyida Atika (allegedly an aunt of Prophet Muhammad ) | 1122 | Fatimids |
Tomb of Muhammad al-Jafari (son of the 6th Imam Jafar as-Sadiq ) | 1122 | Fatimids |
Tomb of Umm Kulthum (great-granddaughter of the 6th Imam Jafar as-Sadiq) | 1122 | Fatimids |
Ichwat-Yusuf-Mausoleum ("Mausoleum of Joseph's Brothers") | 1125-1150 | Fatimids |
Tomb of Saiyida Ruqaiya (daughter of the 4th caliph Ali ) | 1133 | Fatimids |
Shrine ( Mashhad ) of Yahya ash-Shabihi | 1150 | Fatimids |
Tomb of al-Hasawati | circa 1150 | Fatimids |
Mausoleum of the legal scholar Ash-Shafii | 1211 | Aiyubids |
Gate and Ivan of the Emir Ismail ibn Thalab | 1216 | Aiyubids |
Mausoleum of the Abbasid Caliphs (including the graves of the ambassador Abu Nadla and two sons of Sultan Baybars ) | 1242 | Aiyubids |
Grave of the Sultana Shajar (at) ad-Durr | 1250 | Aiyubids |
Mausoleum of Fatima-Chatun (Umm as-Salih, a wife of Sultan Qalawun ) | 1283/84 | Bahri Mamluken |
Tomb of as-Sawabi | 1286 | Bahri Mamluken |
Mausoleum of the Sultan Chalil | 1288 | Bahri Mamluken |
Zawiya and Mausoleum of Upper Qadis Zain ad-Din Yusuf | 1298 | Bahri Mamluken |
Tomb of Badr ad-Din Ali al-Qarafi | 1300 | Bahri Mamluken |
Tomb of Princess Urdutakin (Turbat as-Sitt) | circa 1315 | Bahri Mamluken |
Emir Qausun's Mausoleum Chanqa Complex | 1335 | Bahri Mamluken |
Mausoleum-Chanqa complex of the "Sultaniya" (probably referring to the mother of Sultan Hasan ) | circa 1350 | Bahri Mamluken |
Tomb of the Emir Tankiz-Bugha | 1359 | Bahri Mamluken |
Mosque of the emir Chushqadam al-Ahmadi (previously the reception hall ( Qaa ) of the emir Tash-Temur al-Alai) | 1366-1377 et al. 1480-1489 | Bahri- u. Burji Mamluks |
Tomb complex of the Sufi sheikh Umar ibn al-Farid | circa 1460 | Burji Mamluks |
Mausoleum of Abdullah ad-Dakruri | 1466 | Burji Mamluks |
Grave of the Emir Sudun | circa 1505 | Burji Mamluks |
Radwan Bey's tomb | 1686 | Ottoman rule |
Grave and Sabil-Kuttab (public drinking water fountain and Koran school) of Radwan Bey ar-Razzaz | 1754 | Ottoman rule |
Mosque of Saiyida Aisha (daughter of the 6th Imam Jafar as-Sadiq) | 1762 (new building 1895) | Ottoman rule |
Tomb of Uthman Bey Qazdaghli | 1766 | Ottoman rule |
Graves of Ali Bey al-Kabir and Ismail Bey al-Kabir | 1773 | Ottoman rule |
Grave of the polyhistor Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti | 1796 | Ottoman rule |
Hosch al-Bascha (tomb complex of the Muhammad Alis family ) | 1854 | Muhammad Ali dynasty |
Saiyida Nafisa Mosque | 1897 | Muhammad Ali dynasty |
Saiyida Ruqaiya Mausoleum ( Mihrab )
See also
literature
- Caroline Williams: Islamic Monuments in Cairo - The Practical Guide. 6th edition. The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo 2008, ISBN 978-977-416-205-3 .
- Salah Ahmed El-Banasi: Mamluk Art - Splendor And Magic During The Reign Of The Sultans. Museum With No Frontiers, 2001, ISBN 1-874044-37-6 .
- Doris Behrens Abouseif: The Minarets of Cairo. The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo 1985, ISBN 977-424-035-9 .
- Doris Behrens Abouseif: Islamic Architecture in Cairo. Brill, Leiden 1989, ISBN 90-04-08677-3 .
- Hani Hamza: The Northern Cemetery of Cairo. The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo 2001, ISBN 977-424-618-7 .
Web links
- Information and pictures on ArchNet
- general information and illustrated articles about the most important monuments on touregypt
- Melanie Biggeleben: Cairo's city of the dead - when graves become living space. ethmundo.de - online magazine for culture and society, May 31, 2007
- Cairo's Historic Cemetery of al-Suyuti Conflicting Claims. Suyuti Research Project: A Getty Collaborative Project 2011
- Photos (english)
Individual evidence
- ^ Historic Cairo. whc.unesco.org, accessed April 26, 2015 (IDs 89-003, 89-004, and 89-005).
Coordinates: 30 ° 2 ′ 48 ″ N , 31 ° 16 ′ 35 ″ E