![Ancient Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Ancient_Building.jpg)
There have been many architectural styles used in Egyptian buildings over the centuries, including
Ancient Egyptian architecture
Spanning over three thousand years, ancient Egypt was not one stable civilization but in constant change and upheaval, commonly split into periods by historians. Likewise, ancient Egyptian architecture is not one style, but a set of styles diff ...
,
Greco-Roman architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...
,
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ar ...
, and
modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...
.
Ancient Egyptian architecture is best known for its monumental
temples
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
and tombs built in stone, including its famous
pyramids
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...
, such as the
pyramids of Giza
The Giza pyramid complex ( ar, مجمع أهرامات الجيزة), also called the Giza necropolis, is the site on the Giza Plateau in Greater Cairo, Egypt that includes the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Men ...
. These were built with a distinctive repertoire of elements including
pylon gateways,
hypostyle
In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns.
Etymology
The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or un ...
halls,
obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
s, and
hieroglyphic
Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...
decoration. The advent of Greek
Ptolemaic rule, followed by
Roman rule, introduced elements of Greco-Roman architecture into Egypt, especially in the capital city of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
. After this came
Coptic architecture
Coptic architecture is the architecture of the Copt, Coptic Christians, who form the majority of Christianity in Egypt, Christians in Egypt.
Coptic churches range from great cathedrals such as Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral to the smalle ...
, including
early Christian architecture
Early Christian art and architecture or Paleochristian art is the art produced by Christians or under Christian patronage from the earliest period of Christianity to, depending on the definition used, sometime between 260 and 525. In practice, id ...
, which continued to follow ancient classical and
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
influences.
Following the
Muslim conquest of Egypt
The Muslim conquest of Egypt, led by the army of 'Amr ibn al-'As, took place between 639 and 646 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long period of Roman Egypt, Roman reign over Egypt that began in 30 BC. ...
in the 7th century, Islamic architecture flourished. A new capital,
Fustat
Fusṭāṭ ( ar, الفُسطاط ''al-Fusṭāṭ''), also Al-Fusṭāṭ and Fosṭāṭ, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, and the historical centre of modern Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by ...
, was founded; it became the center of monumental architectural patronage thenceforth, and through successive new administrative capitals, it eventually became the modern city of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. Early Islamic architecture displayed a mix of influences, including classical antiquity and new influences from the east such as the
Abbasid style that radiated from the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
's heartland in
Mesopotomia (present-day
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
) during the 9th century. In the 10th century, Egypt became the center of a new empire, the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
.
Fatimid architecture
The Fatimid architecture that developed in the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1167 CE) of North Africa combined elements of eastern and western architecture, drawing on Abbasid architecture, Byzantine, Egypt, Ancient Egyptian, Coptic architecture ...
initiated further developments that influenced the architectural styles of subsequent periods.
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
, who overthrew the Fatimids and founded the
Ayyubid dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
in the 12th century, was responsible for constructing the
Cairo Citadel
The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin ( ar, قلعة صلاح الدين, Qalaʿat Salāḥ ad-Dīn) is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian ruler ...
, which remained the center of government until the 19th century. During the
Mamluk period (13th–16th centuries), a wealth of monumental religious and funerary complexes were built, constituting much of Cairo's medieval heritage today. The
Mamluk architectural style continued to linger even after the
Ottoman conquest of 1517, when Egypt became an
Ottoman province.
In the early 19th century,
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
began to modernize Egyptian society and encouraged a break with traditional medieval architectural traditions, initially by emulating late
Ottoman architectural trends. Under the reign of his grandson
Isma'il Pasha
Isma'il Pasha ( ar, إسماعيل باشا ; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), was the Khedive of Egypt and conqueror of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his gran ...
(1860s and 1870s), reform efforts were pushed further, the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
was constructed (inaugurated in 1869), and a new
Haussmann Hausmann is a German word with former meanings "householder" and "freeholder" and current meaning "house-husband."
Hausmann (Hausman), Haussmann (Haussman), Haußmann, Hauszmann, etc. are German-origin surnames that may refer to:
Hausmann
* Cas ...
-influenced expansion of Cairo began. European tastes became strongly evident in architecture in the late 19th century, though there was also a trend of reviving what were seen as indigenous or "national" architectural styles, seen in the many "neo-Mamluk" buildings of this era. In the 20th century, some Egyptian architects pushed back against dominant Western ideas of architecture. Among them,
Hassan Fathy was known for adapting indigenous vernacular architecture to modern needs. Since then, Egypt continues to see new buildings erected in a variety of styles and for various purposes, ranging from housing projects to more monumental prestige projects like the
Cairo Tower (1961) and the
Bibliotheca Alexandrina (2002).
Ancient
Ancient Pharaonic period
Ancient Egypt's architecture included
pyramids
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...
,
temples
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
, enclosed cities, canals, and dams. Most buildings were built of locally available materials by paid laborers and craftsmen.
Monumental temples and tombs, built in stone and typically on terrain beyond the reach of the annual Nile floods, are the main structures to have survived to the present day.
The most common type of stone used throughout the country was
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, with
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
also commonly used and quarried further south.
Where harder stone was needed,
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
was widely employed,
with
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
also used for pavements.
Monumental complexes were usually fronted by massive
pylons
Pylon may refer to:
Structures and boundaries
* Pylon (architecture), the gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple or Christian cathedral
* Pylon, a support tower structure for suspension bridges or highways
* Pylon, an orange mar ...
, approached via processional avenues (also known as a ''dromos'') flanked by
sphinx statues, and contained courtyards and
hypostyle
In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns.
Etymology
The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or un ...
halls.
Columns were typically adorned with
capitals
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
decorated to resemble plants important to Egyptian civilization, such as the
papyrus plant, the
lotus
Lotus may refer to:
Plants
*Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly:
** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae
**Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...
, or
palm.
Obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
s were another characteristic feature. Walls were decorated with scenes and
hieroglyphic
Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...
texts either painted or incised in
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
.
The first great era of construction took place during the
Old Kingdom
In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...
(), which is also when the most impressive pyramid tombs were built. The oldest monumental stone structure of Egypt is the
Stepped Pyramid of Djoser at
Saqqara
Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. ...
(), while the
Great Pyramids of Giza and the
Great Sphinx were all built roughly from 2600 to 2500 BC.
![Tomb of Ramses V VI in Valley of the Kings on West Bank of Luxor Egypt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Tomb_of_Ramses_V_VI_in_Valley_of_the_Kings_on_West_Bank_of_Luxor_Egypt.jpg)
The construction of great buildings was revived during the
New Kingdom
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
(), when
Thebes served as the main capital. The most impressive monuments from this period include the great temple complex of
Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...
, the
Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the
Luxor Temple
The Luxor Temple ( ar, معبد الأقصر) is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian lang ...
, the
Temple of Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive Rock-cut architecture, rock-cut Egyptian temple, temples in the village of Abu Simbel (village), Abu Simbel ( ar, أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. ...
, the
Ramesseum
The Ramesseum is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the River Nile, across from the m ...
(funerary temple of
Ramses II) and the
Mortuary Temple of Ramses III at
Medinet Habu
Medinet Habu ( ar, مدينة هابو; Egyptian: ''Tjamet'' or ''Djamet''; cop, ''Djeme'' or ''Djemi'') is an archaeological locality situated near the foot of the Theban Hills on the West Bank of the River Nile opposite the modern city of Lux ...
.
Starting with the
Eighteenth Dynasty, the pharaohs were buried in underground tombs, richly-decorated but hidden from sight, in the
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...
.
Domestic architecture was typically built with
mudbrick
A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...
, wood, and
reed mats, and the main towns were situated on the agriculturally rich floodplains of the Nile. As a result, little of this everyday architecture has survived.
Some idea of their form is known thanks to three-dimensional models that were left in tombs, which suggest that they resembled vernacular building types still found in the Nile valley and other parts of Africa today.
Greco-Roman period
![Agilkia Trajankiosk 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Agilkia_Trajankiosk_02.JPG)
During the
Greco-Roman period of Egypt (332 BC–395 AD),
when Egypt was ruled by the Greek
Ptolemaic dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty (; grc, Πτολεμαῖοι, ''Ptolemaioi''), sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty (Λαγίδαι, ''Lagidae;'' after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic ...
and then the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, Egyptian architecture underwent significant changes due to the influence of
Greek architecture
Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greek-speaking people (''Hellenic'' people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC unti ...
.
The capital city of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
was an innovator in architecture and its influence was felt in places such as
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
and
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
. Its plan was largely that of a Greek city, with local elements mixed in. Most of the city has disappeared under the water or under the modern city today, but it was known from descriptions to contain many great buildings including a royal palace, the
Musaeum, the
Library of Alexandria
The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The Library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, th ...
, and the famous
Pharos Lighthouse
The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria (; Ancient Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας, contemporary Koine ), was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the re ...
.
Many well-preserved temples in
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient ...
date from this era, such as the
Temple of Edfu, the
Temple of Kom Ombo
The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple in the town of Kom Ombo in Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt. It was constructed during the Ptolemaic dynasty, 180–47 BC. Some additions to it were later made during the Roman period.
Architectur ...
, and the
Philae temple complex
; ar, فيلة; cop, ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕ
, alternate_name =
, image = File:File, Asuán, Egipto, 2022-04-01, DD 93.jpg
, alt =
, caption = The temple of Isis from Philae at its current location on Agilkia Island in Lake Nasse ...
.
While temple architecture remained more traditionally Egyptian, new Greco-Roman influences are evident, such as the appearance of
Composite capitals.
Egyptian motifs also made their way into wider Greek and
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered on ...
.
Much of the period's funerary architecture has not survived,
though some of Alexandria's underground catacombs, shared by the city's inhabitants to bury their dead, have been preserved. They feature a hybrid architectural style in which both classical and Egyptian decoration are mixed together. The
Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, begun in the 1st century AD and continuously enlarged until the 3rd century, are one notable example and can be visited today.
Late Antiquity and Byzantine period
Coptic architecture
Coptic architecture is the architecture of the Copt, Coptic Christians, who form the majority of Christianity in Egypt, Christians in Egypt.
Coptic churches range from great cathedrals such as Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral to the smalle ...
, which dates from the
Late Antique
Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has ...
or
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
period, is continuous with classical traditions. Egypt was also the site of the earliest Christian monasteries,
which became numerous by the end of the 4th century AD. Almost no traces of Alexandria's ancient churches have been found, but some exceptional examples of
Early Christian architecture
Early Christian art and architecture or Paleochristian art is the art produced by Christians or under Christian patronage from the earliest period of Christianity to, depending on the definition used, sometime between 260 and 525. In practice, id ...
have been preserved in the Nile Valley, such as the
Red Monastery (founded in the 4th century)
and the
White Monastery (c. 440)
near
Sohag
Sohag ( , ), also spelled as ''Sawhāj'', ''Suhag'' and ''Suhaj'', is a city on the west bank of the Nile in Egypt. It has been the capital of Sohag Governorate since 1960, before which the capital was Girga and the name of the governorate was ...
. The continuity between earlier classical and later Coptic architecture can also be seen in the remains of major urban centres such as
Hermopolis Magna
Hermopolis ( grc, Ἑρμούπολις ''Hermoúpolis'' "the City of Hermes", also ''Hermopolis Magna'', ''Hermoû pólis megálẽ'', egy, ḫmnw , Egyptological pronunciation: "Khemenu"; cop, Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ ''Shmun''; ar, الأشموني ...
, where the same craftsmanship appears in both pagan and Christian buildings from the 3rd or 4th centuries. At the
Kharga Oasis in the
Western Desert, the
El Bagawat
El Bagawat, is an ancient Christian cemetery, one of the oldest in the world, which functioned at the Kharga Oasis in southern-central Egypt from the 3rd to the 7th century AD. It is one of the earliest and best preserved Christian cemeteries from ...
necropolis contains tombs and small chapels from both the pre-Christian and early Christian periods, ranging roughly from the late 3rd to 8th centuries.
The Chapel of the Exodus is one of the oldest at this site, built around the early 4th century,
while a nearby church, possibly dating to the 5th century, may be one of the oldest remains of a church in Egypt.
Remains of churches from the 4th and early 5th centuries show that they were built as
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
s with a tripartite
sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...
including a transverse aisle and a straight eastern wall. The Red Monastery and White Monastery at Sohag, representative of the 5th century, have rectangular basilical layouts culminating in a more sophisticated
triconch
A tetraconch, from the Greek for "four shells", is a building, usually a church or other religious building, with four apses, one in each direction, usually of equal size. The basic ground plan of the building is therefore a Greek cross. They are m ...
sanctuary, surrounded by three semi-circular
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
s with decorative niches. By the 7th century, the typical plan of a Coptic church consisted of a basilica with a
barrel-vaulted nave, pillars and aisles along the sides and a transept flanked by three square
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
s covered by domes or
semi-dome
In architecture, a semi-dome (or half-dome) is a half dome that covers a semi-circular area in a building.
Architecture
Semi-domes are a common feature of apses in Ancient Roman and traditional church architecture, and in mosques and iwans in Isla ...
s.
Coptic churches continued to be built during the following Islamic period, usually retaining a basilical plan.
Early Coptic buildings also demonstrate a continuing tradition of rich decoration, including
Corinthian and Byzantine "basket" capitals
and wall paintings. Extensive remains of painted decoration, some of it in early
Byzantine style, can be found in the chapels of the Bagawat Necropolis – particularly in the Chapel of Peace from the 5th to 6th centuries and, in less sophisticated form, in the 4th-century Chapel of the Exodus – and in the triconch of the Red Monastery – painted in various phases from the 5th to 13th centuries.
Many other examples of painted and sculptural decoration from ancient churches are preserved today at the
Coptic Museum
The Coptic Museum is a museum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt with the largest collection of Coptic Christian artifacts in the world. It was founded by Marcus Simaika in 1908 to house Coptic antiquities. The museum traces the history of Egypt from its be ...
in Cairo.
At
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...
, the
Monastery of Saint Catherine
Saint Catherine's Monastery ( ar, دير القدّيسة كاترين; grc-gre, Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Katherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, ...
(originally dedicated to and named after the
Burning Bush) was built by emperor
Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
(r. 527–565).
Today it is the oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery in the world. Although much rebuilt and restored,
the site still retains substantial remains from its sixth-century construction,
including a three-aisled basilical church with a
Byzantine mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
of the
Transfiguration.
Medieval
After the
Muslim conquest of Egypt
The Muslim conquest of Egypt, led by the army of 'Amr ibn al-'As, took place between 639 and 646 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long period of Roman Egypt, Roman reign over Egypt that began in 30 BC. ...
in 640, the region was initially integrated into the
Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...
, followed by the
Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
and
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
. It was then ruled by a succession of autonomous local dynasties and later became the center of several Muslim empires. Early
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ar ...
in Egypt continued to be influenced by Late Antique traditions and soon afterwards by
Abbasid architecture in contemporary Iraq (
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
). Some Islamic-era buildings also reused materials from
Pharaonic
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ann ...
and
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
eras, and in some later cases from
Crusader buildings in the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
.
The greatest architectural patronage of the Islamic period was centered in Cairo, which preserves one of the richest concentrations of medieval monuments in the Muslim world today.
Early Islamic period
![Mosque of Ibn Tulun 2019 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Mosque_of_Ibn_Tulun_2019_1.jpg)
After the conquest of 640, the Arab conquerors established a new city called
Fustat
Fusṭāṭ ( ar, الفُسطاط ''al-Fusṭāṭ''), also Al-Fusṭāṭ and Fosṭāṭ, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, and the historical centre of modern Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by ...
, near the former Byzantine-Roman fort of
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
, to serve as the administrative capital and military garrison center of Muslim Egypt. Later foundations near this initial urban center eventually transformed it into the modern city of Cairo. The foundation of Fustat was also accompanied by the foundation of Egypt's (and Africa's) first mosque, the
Mosque of 'Amr ibn al-'As; though rebuilt many times over the centuries, it still exists today. Its interior consists of a large hypostyle hall with an internal rectangular courtyard. The oldest well-preserved monument of the Islamic period in Egypt is the
Nilometer on the island of
Rawda in Cairo, built in 861.
After reaching its apogee, the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled most of the
Muslim world
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...
, became fragmented into regional states in the 9th century which were formally obedient to the caliphs but ''de facto'' independent. In Egypt,
Ahmad ibn Tulun
Ahmad ibn Tulun ( ar, أحمد بن طولون, translit=Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn; c. 20 September 835 – 10 May 884) was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty that ruled Egypt and Syria between 868 and 905. Originally a Turkic slave-soldier, in 868 ...
established a short-lived dynasty, the
Tulunids, and built himself a new capital,
Al-Qata'i, near Fustat. Its principal surviving monument is a large
congregational mosque
A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.*
*
*
*
*
*
*
...
, known as the
Ibn Tulun Mosque
The Mosque of Ibn Tulun ( ar, مسجد إبن طولون, Masjid Ibn Ṭūlūn) is located in Cairo, Egypt. It is one of the oldest mosques in Egypt as well as the whole of Africa surviving in its full original form, and is the largest mosque in ...
, which was completed in 879. It was strongly influenced by Abbasid architecture in
Samarra
Samarra ( ar, سَامَرَّاء, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The city of Samarra was founded by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutasim for his Turkish professional army ...
and remains one of the most notable and best-preserved examples of 9th-century architecture from the Abbasid Caliphate. The structure consists of a large open courtyard surrounded on four sides by roofed aisles divided by rows of pointed arches supported by large rectangular pillars. The arches and windows are decorated with
carved stucco featuring
geometric
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...
and Samarran-style vegetal motifs.
Fatimid period
![Cairo, moschea di al-aqmar, 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Cairo%2C_moschea_di_al-aqmar%2C_03.JPG)
In the early 10th century, the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
rose to power in
Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( ar, المغرب الأدنى), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (today's western Libya). It included all of what had previously ...
(central North Africa), establishing itself as a rival to Abbasid influence. After
conquering Egypt in 969, the Fatimids moved their center of power to Egypt in 970 by founding another capital,
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, a short distance north of Fustat.
Fatimid architecture
The Fatimid architecture that developed in the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1167 CE) of North Africa combined elements of eastern and western architecture, drawing on Abbasid architecture, Byzantine, Egypt, Ancient Egyptian, Coptic architecture ...
in Egypt followed Tulunid techniques and used similar materials, but also developed some of its own. Their first congregational mosque in Cairo was
al-Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit=The Resplendent Congregational Mosque, arz, جامع الأزهر, Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic ...
, founded in the same year as the city itself. This mosque became the spiritual center for the
Ismaili Shi'a branch of Islam, which the Fatimids followed. Like other congregational mosques of the era, it consists of an open-air courtyard and a covered hypostyle prayer hall. Other notable Fatimid monuments include the large
Mosque of al-Hakim (built 990 to 1013), the small
Aqmar Mosque (1125) with its richly-decorated street façade, and the domed
Mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya (1133), notable for its ''mihrab'' of elaborately-carved
stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
. Under the powerful
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
Badr al-Jamali (r. 1073–1094), the city walls were rebuilt in stone along with several monumental gates, three of which have survived to the present-day:
Bab al-Futuh Bab al-Futuh ( ar, باب الفتوح, , Conquest Gate) is one of three remaining gates in the city wall of the old city of Cairo, Egypt. It is located at the northern end of al-Mu'izz Street. The other two remaining gates are Bab al-Nasr (Victory ...
,
Bab al-Nasr, and
Bab Zuweila
Bab Zuweila or Bab Zuwayla ( ar, باب زويلة) is one of three remaining gates in the city wall of the Old City of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. It was also known as Bawabbat al-Mitwali during the Ottoman period. It is considered one of the ...
).
The Fatimids made wide usage of the
"keel" arch and also introduced ''
muqarnas'' (stalactite-like niches) in the shapes of
squinch
In architecture, a squinch is a triangular corner that supports the base of a dome. Its visual purpose is to translate a rectangle into an octagon. See also: pendentive.
Construction
A squinch is typically formed by a masonry arch that spans ...
es (a technique for transitioning from a square space below to a circular dome above). Floral,
arabesque
The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...
, and geometric motifs were the main motifs of surface decoration, carved in stucco, wood, and sometimes stone. Keel arch-shaped niches, with a centrally-radiating fluted motif, also appear and became a characteristic of later architectural decoration in Cairo.
Figural representations, generally taboo in Islamic religious architecture, were used in the architectural decoration of Fatimid palaces.
Ayyubid period
Saladin dethroned the Fatimid caliphs in 1171 and inaugurated the
Ayyubid dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
, which retained Cairo as its capital. Military architecture was the supreme expression of the Ayyubid period. The most radical change Saladin implemented in Egypt was enclosing Cairo and Fustat within a single city wall.
Some fortification techniques were learned from the Crusaders, such as curtain walls following the natural topography. Many were also inherited from the Fatimids, like
machicolations and round towers; other techniques were developed by the Ayyubids themselves, such as concentric planning.
![Cairo Citadel 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Cairo_Citadel_01.JPG)
In 1176, the construction of the
Cairo Citadel
The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin ( ar, قلعة صلاح الدين, Qalaʿat Salāḥ ad-Dīn) is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian ruler ...
began under Saladin's orders.
It was to become the center of government in Egypt until the 19th century, with expansions and renovations. The Citadel was completed under sultan
Al-Kamil (r. 1218–1238).
All of al-Kamil's fortifications can be identified by their embossed, rusticated masonry, whereas Saladin's towers have smooth dressed stones. This heavier rustic style became a common feature in other Ayyubid fortifications.
After the domination of the Shi'a Fatimids, the Ayyubid rulers were also eager to promote the restoration of
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
Islam by building Sunni
madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
s.
The first Sunni madrasa in Egypt was commissioned by Saladin near the important
Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i
The Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi’i (Arabic: قبة الإمام الشافعي ) is a mausoleum dedicated to Imam Al-Shafi’i, one of the four Sunni Imams who founded the Shafi’i Sunni Islamic school of jurisprudence. Located at the Imam Shafi ...
in Cairo's
Southern Cemetery.
The end of the Ayyubid period and the start of the
Mamluk period was marked by the creation of the first multi-purpose funerary complexes in Cairo. The last Ayyubid sultan,
al-Salih Ayyub
Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub (5 November 1205 – 22 November 1249), nickname: Abu al-Futuh ( ar, أبو الفتوح), also known as al-Malik al-Salih, was the Ayyubid Kurdish ruler of Egypt from 1240 to 1249.
Early life
In 1221, as-S ...
, founded the
Madrasa al-Salihiyya in 1242. His wife,
Shajar ad-Durr
Shajar al-Durr ( ar, شجر الدر, lit=Tree of Pearls), also Shajarat al-Durr (), whose royal name was al-Malika ʿAṣmat ad-Dīn ʾUmm-Khalīl Shajar ad-Durr (; from her nickname , 'mother of Khalil'; died 28 April 1257), was a ruler of Eg ...
, added his mausoleum to it after his death in 1249, and then built
her own mausoleum and madrasa complex in 1250 at another location south of the Citadel.
These two complexes were the first in Cairo to combine a founder's mausoleum with a religious and charitable complex, which would come to characterize the nature of most Mamluk royal foundations afterward.
Mamluk period
![Sultan-Hassan-Moschee 2015-11-14zc](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Sultan-Hassan-Moschee_2015-11-14zc.jpg)
The
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
s, a military corps under the Ayyubid dynasty recruited from slaves, took power in 1250, ruling over Egypt and much of the Middle East until the
Ottoman conquest of 1517. Despite their often violent internal politics, the Mamluk sultans were generous patrons of architecture and are responsible for much of the monumental heritage of
historic Cairo. Some long-reigning sultans, such as
Al-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1293''–''1341, with interruptions) and
Qaytbay
Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay ( ar, السلطان أبو النصر سيف الدين الأشرف قايتباي) (c. 1416/14187 August 1496) was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from 872 to 901 A.H. (1468–149 ...
(r. 1468''–''1496), were especially prolific. Under Mamluk rule, Cairo reached its apogee of wealth and population in the 14th century (prior to its second rise in the modern period).
Mamluk architecture
Mamluk architecture was the architectural style under the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo. Despite their often tumultuous internal politics, the Mamluk sultans were proli ...
is distinguished in part by the construction of multi-functional buildings, whose floor plans became increasingly creative and complex due to the city's limited available space and the desire to make monuments visually dominant in their urban surroundings. Patrons, including sultans and high-ranking emirs, typically set out to build mausoleums for themselves, but attached to them various charitable structures such as madrasas,
khanqah
A khanqah ( fa, خانقاه) or khangah ( fa, خانگاه; also transliterated as ''khankah'', ''khaneqa'', ''khanegah'' or ''khaneqah''; also Arabized ''hanegah'', ''hanikah'', ''hanekah'', ''khankan''), also known as a ribat (), is a buildin ...
s,
sabils, or mosques. The revenues and expenses of these charitable complexes were governed by inalienable ''
waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
'' agreements that also served the secondary purpose of ensuring some form of income or property for the patrons' descendants.
The cruciform or four-
iwan
An iwan ( fa, ایوان , ar, إيوان , also spelled ivan) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...
floor plan was adopted for madrasas and became more common for new monumental complexes than the traditional hypostyle mosque, although the vaulted iwans of the early period were replaced with flat-roofed iwans in the later period. The decoration of monuments also became more elaborate over time, with stone-carving and polychrome marble mosaic paneling (including ''
ablaq'' stonework) replacing stucco as the most dominant architectural decoration. Monumental decorated entrance portals became common compared to earlier periods, often sculpted with ''muqarnas''. Influences from
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
,
Ilkhanid Iran, and possibly even
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
were evident in these trends.
Minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
s, which were also elaborate, usually consisted of three tiers separated by balconies, with each tier having a different design than the others. Late Mamluk minarets, for example, most typically had an octagonal shaft for the first tier, a round shaft on the second, and a lantern structure with finial on the third level. Domes evolved from wooden or brick structures, sometimes of bulbous shape, to pointed stone domes with complex
geometric
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...
or
arabesque
The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...
motifs carved into their outer surfaces. The peak of this stone dome architecture was achieved under the reign of Qaytbay in the late 15th century.
Ottoman and early modern period
Ottoman period
After the Ottoman conquest of 1517, new Ottoman-style buildings were introduced; however, the Mamluk style continued to be repeated or combined with
Ottoman architectural elements in new buildings. The new Ottoman features included the "pencil"-style Ottoman minarets, mosques planned around a central dome, and colorful
tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...
decoration. Compared to earlier periods, however, architectural patronage was smaller, as Egypt was no longer the center of an empire, but merely an
Ottoman province. Some building types from the late Mamluk period, such as sabil-kuttabs (a combination of sabil and ''
kuttab'') and multi-storied
caravanserai
A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...
s (''wikala''s or ''khan''s), actually grew in number during the Ottoman period.
![M Ali mosque 135](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/M_Ali_mosque_135.JPG)
In the 19th century, under the ''de facto'' independent rule of
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
and his successors, new buildings, such as the
Mosque of Muhammad Ali
The Great Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha or Alabaster Mosque ( ar, مسجد محمد علي; tr, Mehmet Ali Paşa Camii) is a mosque situated in the Citadel of Cairo in Egypt and was commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha between 1830 and 1848.
Situ ...
in the Citadel (built 1830–1848), conspicuously employed
Ottoman Baroque and contemporary late Ottoman
Westernizing
Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, economi ...
decoration. The more strictly Ottoman form of Muhammad Ali's mosque and its European-style decoration was a radical break from the traditional Mamluk-influenced architecture of Cairo and symbolized Muhammad Ali's efforts to bring Egypt into a new era.
The new style of this period also appears in multiple sabil-kuttabs built throughout the city, which feature curved street facades carved with new leaf,
garland, and
sunburst
A sunburst is a design or figure commonly used in architectural ornaments and design patterns and possibly pattern books. It consists of rays or "beams" radiating out from a central disk in the manner of sunbeams. Sometimes part of a sunbur ...
motifs.
Khedivate period and European influence
![Palace of Said Halim Pasha DSCF2694](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Palace_of_Said_Halim_Pasha_DSCF2694.jpg)
One of Muhammad Ali's grandsons,
Isma'il
Ismail ( ar, إِسْمَاعِيْل, ʾIsmāʿīl) is regarded as a prophet and messenger and the ancestor to the Ishmaelites in Islam. He is the son of Ibrahim (Abraham), born to Hajar (Hagar). Ismail is also associated with Mecca and the ...
, ruling officially as
Khedive
Khedive (, ota, خدیو, hıdiv; ar, خديوي, khudaywī) was an honorific title of Persian origin used for the sultans and grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire, but most famously for the viceroy of Egypt from 1805 to 1914.Adam Mestyan"Kh ...
between 1863 and 1879, pushed even further for
modernization
Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...
. He oversaw the construction of the modern
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
, which was inaugurated in 1869. Along with this enterprise, he also undertook the construction of a vast new district in European style to the north and west of the historic center of Cairo. The new city emulated
Haussman Hausmann is a German word with former meanings "householder" and "freeholder" and current meaning "house-husband."
Hausmann (Hausman), Haussmann (Haussman), Haußmann, Hauszmann, etc. are German-origin surnames that may refer to:
Hausmann
* Cas ...
's 19th-century
reforms of Paris, with grand boulevards and squares forming part of the urban plan. Isma'il even employed architects recommended by
Baron Haussman. Although never fully completed to the extent of Isma'il's vision, this new expansion composes much of what is
downtown Cairo
Downtown Cairo ( arz, وسط البلد '' "middle of town")'', has been the urban center of Cairo, Egypt, since the late 19th century, when the district was designed and built.
History
Downtown Cairo was designed by prestigious French archit ...
today. This left the old historic districts of Cairo, including the walled city, relatively neglected. Even the Citadel lost its status as the royal residence when Isma'il moved to the new
Abdin Palace in 1874. The city of
Ismailia, named after Isma'il, was founded in 1863 by French engineer
Ferdinand de Lesseps as a base for workers on the Suez Canal project. It too was laid out with wide boulevards and squares.
These projects exemplified a trend of
Francophilia
A Francophile, also known as Gallophile, is a person who has a strong affinity towards any or all of the French language, French history, French culture and/or French people. That affinity may include France itself or its history, language, cuis ...
that was present during this time in both Cairo and Istanbul (the Ottoman capital), as the elites of both places began to value French ideas and Parisian aesthetics.
In the design of buildings, not only Paris but also
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
were sources of inspiration.
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
interpretations of French and
Italianate styles served as models for architecture during the reign of Khedive
'Abbas Hilmi (r. 1892''–''1914). The
Beaux-Arts and
Secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
(Austrian
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
) styles of Vienna are widely evident in new buildings around the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
Egypt's first
architectural competition was held in 1894 for the design of the
Egyptian Museum, housing the country's growing collection of antiquities. The winner, French architect Marcel Dourgnon, designed a large
Neoclassical building completed in 1902.
![Mezquita abu el abbas-alejandria-2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Mezquita_abu_el_abbas-alejandria-2007.JPG)
In the late 19th century and early 20th century a "neo-Mamluk" style appeared, partly as a nationalist response against Ottoman and European styles, in an effort to promote local "Egyptian" styles (though the architects were sometimes Europeans).
Examples of this style are the
Mausoleum of Tawfiq Pasha (1894),
the present
Sayyida Nafisa Mosque (1895),
the
Sayyida Aisha Mosque (1894–1896),
the
Museum of Islamic Arts building (1903), the
Al-Rifa'i Mosque (1869–1911),
and the
Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque
The Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque ( ar, جامع أبو العباس المرسي) is an Egyptian mosque in the city of Alexandria. It is dedicated to the 13th century Murcian Andalusi Sufi saint Abul Abbas al-Mursi, whose tomb it contains.
It is ...
in Alexandria (1929–1945).
New suburbs and towns around Cairo were created in the early 20th century and experimented with different styles.
Heliopolis, the first Cairo suburb established on the desert fringes, holds one of the most important concentrations of significant early 20th century architecture outside of downtown Cairo. It was founded in 1906 by a private partnership between the Belgian
Édouard Empain
Édouard Louis Joseph, 1st Baron Empain (20 September 1852 – 22 July 1929), was a wealthy Walloon Belgian engineer, entrepreneur, financier and industrialist, as well as an amateur Egyptologist. During World War I he became a known Major Genera ...
and the Egyptian
Boghos Nubar Pasha and it grew over the following decades. Its buildings were designed in a wide range of styles, including Neo-Islamic or Neo-Mamluk,
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
, or
eclectic
Eclectic may refer to:
Music
* ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014
* ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996
* Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act
* Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
combinations of Orientalist and
Modernist styles. The Heliopolis Company buildings lining some of its main streets, completed towards 1908, are in a Neo-Islamic/Neo-Mamluk style designed by Ernest Jaspar, while
Baron Empain's own palace, completed in 1911 by
Alexandre Marcel, is a flamboyant imitation of
Hindu temple architecture
Hindu temple architecture as the main form of Hindu architecture has many varieties of style, though the basic nature of the Hindu temple remains the same, with the essential feature an inner sanctum, the ''garbha griha'' or womb-chamber, where ...
adapted to the layout of a Beaux-Arts building.
A "neo-Pharaonic" style also appeared in the early 20th century and was used by some architects. The
Mausoleum of Saad Zaghloul
The Saad Zaghloul Mausoleum ( ar, ضريح سَعد زَغلول) was built following the death of Egyptian prime minister Saad Zaghloul, and was completed by architect Mustafa Fahmy in 1936. It is located in Downtown Cairo, Egypt near Zaghloul' ...
(1928–1931), designed by Mustafa Fahmi (d. 1972), is one example.
Though
Egyptian Revival architecture was popular in Europe and North America during the 19th century, its popularity as a national style in Egypt itself was ultimately limited.
Modernism and present day
20th century modernism
![Gurna Mosque R01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Gurna_Mosque_R01.jpg)
From the 1930s, Modernism began to dominate Cairo's architecture, replacing the earlier revivalist styles. Among the prominent architects was
Sayed Karim, who championed the
International Style International style may refer to:
* International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture
*International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art
*International Style (dancing), a term used in ...
and
Brutalism
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
. He also founded the first Arabic-language magazine on architecture, ''al-'Imarah'' (), which promoted contemporary designs and was an important step in the development of modern Egypt's architectural culture.
Towards the mid-20th century, some Egyptian architects began challenging the dominance of Western styles and ideas.
The most influential was
Hassan Fathy (living 1900–1989), who began his career in the 1930s. He aimed to use traditional vernacular mud-brick construction, adapted to modern context.
His architecture was "aimed at comforting its subjects toward ... modernity". The village of
New Gourna (built 1945–1948), near
Luxor
Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
, is an example of his works.
Ramses Wissa Wassef
Ramses Wissa Wassef (1911–1974) was an Egyptians, Egyptian Copts, Coptic architect and professor of art and architecture at the College of Fine Arts in Cairo and founder of the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre.
Biography
Ramses Wissa Wassef was b ...
, one of Fathy's students, is another example of this trend. He adapted features from
Nubian
Nubian may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan.
*Nubian people
*Nubian languages
*Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat
* Nubian ibex
* , several ships of the Britis ...
and mudbrick architecture in Upper Egypt into his buildings.
![The magnificent tower in Egypt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/The_magnificent_tower_in_Egypt.jpg)
There were repeated efforts in the 20th century to address the booming population through large-scale urban developments and housing projects in various locations. A number of new satellite cities were founded around Cairo with this intention.
Newer public buildings and monuments also date from the second half of the 20th century after the
1952 revolution. In the 1950s President
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
remodeled
Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...
, the symbolic heart of the capital. Next to the square, the new
Arab League Headquarters was erected on the site of a demolished British army barracks. The
Cairo Tower, a 187-meter tall observation tower with a lotus-motif design, was built between 1955 and 1961
and designed by Egyptian architect
Naoum Shebib. It was the tallest all-concrete structure in the world upon completion
and it is the most recognizable symbol of post-1952 Egyptian architecture. The
Cairo Opera House
The Cairo Opera House ( ar, دار الأوبرا المصرية, ''Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya''; literally "Egyptian Opera House"), part of Cairo's National Cultural Centre, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to mos ...
, originally opened in 1869 under Khedive Isma'il and designed as an imitation of
La Scala
La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...
in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, burned down in 1971. It was replaced by a new opera house and cultural complex begun in 1985 and opened in 1988, designed by a Japanese architectural firm.
In 1975, President
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...
opened the
Unknown Soldier Memorial, designed in the shape of a hollow pyramid, in Cairo. (Sadat was later buried here after
his assassination.)
21st century
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...
did not take hold in Cairo in the last decade of the 20th century as it did elsewhere; at least not consciously. At the turn of the millennium, historicist or pseudo-historicist trends began to reappear, as seen in the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
building (1999), which references ancient Egyptian architecture, and the
Faisal Islamic Bank
Faisal, Faisel, Fayçal or Faysal ( ar, فيصل) is an Arabic given name.
Faisal, Fayçal or Faysal may also refer to:
People
* King Faisal (disambiguation)
** Faisal I of Iraq and Syria (1885–1933), leader during the Arab Revolt
** Faisal ...
Tower (2000), which references historic Islamic architecture.
![Bibliotheca Alexandrina -- Library outer view - 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Bibliotheca_Alexandrina_--_Library_outer_view_-_2.jpg)
In Alexandria, the idea of paying homage to its famous
ancient library with a new building was floated as early as 1972. This was eventually realized as a massive new library, the
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which opened in 2002. It is shaped like an inclined cylinder or disk, with the outer walls made of granite carved with characters from all the world's
alphabet
An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...
s.
In the tourist center of
Sharm El Sheikh, the
Al Sahaba Mosque, completed in 2017, is a fusion of Ottoman, Mamluk, and Fatimid styles. It was designed pro bono by Egyptian architect Fouad Tawfik Hafez.
Conservation challenges
Much of Egypt's 19th-century and 20th-century architecture has been vulnerable to demolition and redevelopment. Modernist architecture is often seen as having little cultural value and receives relatively little attention or documentation, despite the large volume of construction activity in cities like Cairo during the modern period. Egyptian law also requires buildings to be at least a hundred years old before being eligible for heritage status, leaving much of the country's more recent heritage unprotected.
In recent years, Alexandria's older urban heritage, much of it dating from the colonial period, has come under threat from poorly-regulated demolitions and development. In Cairo, a large number of modern heritage buildings have disappeared, ranging from former villas to large-scale buildings and city blocs. Parts of Cairo's historic
Northern Cemetery (also known as the City of the Dead), which contains funerary architecture built across many centuries, are also under threat from government infrastructure projects. Parts of the necropolis, mainly dating from the early 20th century, were demolished in 2020. The plans have been criticized by some scholars, architects, and archeologists. In Luxor, the historic Tawfiq Pasha Andraos Palace, built in 1897 near the ancient
Luxor Temple
The Luxor Temple ( ar, معبد الأقصر) is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian lang ...
, was demolished in 2021, sparking criticism and debate.
References
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
Digital copies of ''Majallat al-Imarah''(1939 to 1949), the modern architecture magazine founded by Sayyed Karim, hosted at
ArchNet
{{Egypt topics
category:Architecture in Egypt