The Mosque of Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani, dating from 1340 CE, is a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
from the era of the
Mamluk Sultanate
The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16th ...
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 ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. Located south of
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 ...
, in the
Darb al-Ahmar neighbourhood, it was built on the outskirts of medieval Cairo by
Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani, with significant help from Sultan
al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun ( ar, الملك الناصر ناصر الدين محمد بن قلاوون), commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad ( ar, الناصر محمد), or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali () or as Ibn Qal ...
. The mosque has a
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 ...
plan similar to the
Mosque of al-Nasir, and its exterior walls are decorated in typical
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 ...
style.
[Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. "Architecture of the Bahri Mamluks". In Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction. Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill, 1989. p. 113] At the time of its building, it was one of the most extravagantly decorated mosques in Cairo, marked by the first fully octagonal minaret and large dome, as well as other architectural innovations.
[Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. "Cairo of the Mamluks". Cairo:AUC Press, 2008. p 183-185] Its history and luxuriousness are directly correlated to the life and prominence of al-Maridani, as it was built with the patronage of his father-in-law, Sultan Muhammad and significant donations from al-Maridani's own pocket.
Historical background
Construction process
The land for the Mosque was in Tabbana quarter of Cairo, and was originally a burial area; in the Islamic year 738 (1337–38 CE) al-Maridani purchased the area on which the sultan and he would commission the mosque. Sultan Muhammad appointed an overseer to purchase the surrounding houses, which he subsequently cleared. To build the mosque, the sultan appointed his master builder, ''al-mu'allim'' (the teacher) al-Suyufi, and provided about 15,000
dirhams
The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass.
Unit of mass
The dirham was a un ...
worth of wood and marble. Construction began in 739/1338–39, and total expenditure for the mosque reached over three hundred thousand dirhams.
[Al-Maqrizi. Mosque of Amir al-Maridani. Trans. Martyn Smith. . Pub 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2011.] Al-Maridani contributed a substantial amount to the mosque's construction, as he was seriously ill throughout it and hoped to make it as memorable as possible.
Life of Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani
Al-Maridani first rose to prominence as the cupbearer of Sultan Muhammad, but the date of this appointment is unknown. The sultan must have favored al-Maridani, as the sultan eventually married his daughter to al-Maridani, making the sultan al-Maridani's father-in-law. In addition to this marriage, the Sultan appointed al-Maridani as the chief of Cairo's police force thereby making him the "
amir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
of a thousand".
When al-Nasir Muhammad died, al-Maridani "slandered the new sultan
al-Mansur Abu Bakr's authority" to another amir, and thus tricked the amir to depose the new sultan.
Al-Maridani continued to have success in "power politics, crossing and double crossing" local players under al-Ashraf Kujuk and al-Salih Isma'il. Ultimately, however, he died in exile as the governor of
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, image_map1 =
...
in 744/1343.
[Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. "Cairo of the Mamluks". Cairo:AUC Press, 2008. p 183]
Description
![alMaridiniqibla](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/AlMaridiniqibla.jpg)
Floor plan and foundation
The Mosque of Amir al-Maridani is built with both hypostyle and
riwaq plans, similar to the sultan's mosque in the
Citadel
A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
In ...
, with a dome above the
mihrab
Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
and three axial entrances. The mosque is not rectangular, however, because of the constraints of urban construction.
[Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. "Cairo of the Mamluks". Cairo:AUC Press, 2008. p 184] Specifically, the northeastern corner was built so that it would not encroach upon Tabanna Street nor a neighboring small lane. It is not, however, as irregular as some mosques in urban Cairo, such as
Ulmas' Mosque. Notably, the only reference for the start of construction comes from the foundation: a band of inscription at the mosque's west entrance suggests that the mosque went under construction in 739/1338–9.
Exterior
The exterior Amir al-Maridani's mosque is typical for an urban Mamluk mosque, characterized by "recesses crowned with
stalactites
A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via
''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble an ...
including double-arched windows".
The mosque has three entrances, with the west entrance on the same axis as that of the prayer niche and the main entrance on the north side of the mosque; each has the shape of an
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 ...
with a pointed arch and is topped by a
medallion of faience mosaics.
The main entrance is a deep recess, crowned by a
muqarnas
Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of I ...
cresting, panelled with marble and richly patterned. The
joggled door
lintels
A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of ...
and the small window framed by colonettes are both common features in Mamluk architecture. In this case, the small outer window corresponds to an inner window with a blue-and-white tile grille. The date of completion appears on the main entrance's crown, and again on the west entrance and in the sanctuary.
The west entrance is decorated differently, with a sunrise motif decorating muqarnas
pendentives
In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...
in the
ablaq
Ablaq ( ar, أبلق; particolored; literally 'piebald') is an architectural technique involving alternating or fluctuating rows of light and dark stone. Records trace the beginnings of this type of masonry technique to the southern parts of S ...
technique of alternating light and dark stone courses. Between the pendentives, a medallion with a smaller medallion in its center is decorated with tile mosaics. The south entrance is entirely undecorated.
The
facade of the main wall, which corresponds to the interior
mihrab
Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
wall, is panelled with recessed windows. The lower windows are rectangular while the upper are double arched with single arched
qamariyyas, multicolored stained glass windows, mirroring them on the interior. The northern, eastern and part of the southern facades are the only ones with these windows, as they would have lined the busiest streets and as such been the most visible walls. The remaining wall sections, around the west and south entrances, are plain and windowless.
The main wall is buttressed by the mihrab, as it protrudes slightly into an otherwise thin outer wall.
The Minaret
Located just to the left of the main entrance, the
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 ...
is the earliest known example of entirely octagonal shaft and pavilion,.
It is also the earliest minaret crowned with a top that is not the
mabkhara
A mabkhara ( ar, مبخر or ) is a censer found across the Arab World and Turkey. The mabkhara was traditionally made from clay or soft stone. Most mabkharas (or ''mabakhir'', the Arabic plural) have a square pedestal base with inward sloping s ...
type. Instead, the pear-shaped bulb sits on top of the eight-columned pavilion crowned with muqarnas; it is replicated on the interior wooden pulpit.
On the wall beneath the minaret, the golden band that runs from the main entrance along the entire facade breaks, and the corner nearest the mosque is missing its colonettes. The
buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...
of the minaret is also built with different stone that the rest of the mosque, indicating that this section of the wall was rebuilt.
Interior
As is the case with many Mamluk era hypostyle mosques, the Mosque of Amir al-Maridani is supported by columns from earlier buildings. In this case, the granite columns were taken from the
Fatimid
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili 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 east. The Fatimids, a dy ...
mosque of
Rashida, though they were originally taken from ancient monuments. Many of the columns have varying heights which is compensated for with different sized pedestals. The eight columns that support the dome, however, are all of equal size, have ancient Egyptian
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 ...
, and were likely brought from
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 ...
.
Courtyard
The facade of the
courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
, created by the surrounding
arcades, is characterized by features that are unusual for Mamluk architecture. The points of the arches are framed with a continuous molding that curls into a loop at the top of each arch, and
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 ...
carved niches and medallions alternate in the
spandrels
A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
of each arcade.
[Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. "Cairo of the Mamluks". Cairo:AUC Press, 2008. p 185] Crenellation
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
crowns the arches, and is also carved in stucco.
Relieving
oculi
An oculus (; ) is a circular opening in the center of a dome or in a wall. Originating in antiquity, it is a feature of Byzantine and Neoclassical architecture. It is also known as an '' œil-de-boeuf'' from the French, or simply a "bull's-e ...
penetrate the spandrels of the second row of arches, and at each corner
and the middle of each wall of the courtyard a small
domicile
Domicile may refer to:
* Home, a place where someone lives
* Domicile (astrology), the zodiac sign over which a planet has rulership
* Domicile (law)
Domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law," which includes the law that governs a p ...
with a mabkhara contains a bright blue bulb of glass.
The fountain in the courtyard is not a part of the original mosque.
The courtyard area is separated from the sanctuary with a
mashrabiyya
A ''mashrabiya'' or ''mashrabiyya'' ( ar, مشربية) is an architectural element which is characteristic of traditional architecture in the Islamic world and beyond. It is a type of projecting oriel window enclosed with carved wood lattice ...
, upon which is a large inscription from the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
. This wooden screen mostly shades the sanctuary from the courtyard's light, making the double windows in the outer wall necessary.
Sanctuary
The sanctuary, while richly decorated at one point is "currently in bad shape".
The
qibla
The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...
wall is decorated with the remains of gilded stucco and
epigraphic bands, with trees at their center. These trees are one of the only extant naturalistic features in Mamluk architectural decoration.
The
mihrab
Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
is made of polychrome marble and has
friezes
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
of small niches with blue-glass colonettes on the side framing its upper edge. The
dado has similar friezes. The walls are decorated with marble
mosaics
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 ...
centered by a
Kufic
Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...
inscription of
Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
, and on the northern wall there is a panel made totally of white marble inlaid with green gypsum. The function of the small room in the southeast corner is unknown.
The pulpit is original and decorated with a geometric star pattern.
Dome
The dome, over the mihrab area, is slightly smaller than the dome of the
Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque
The Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun Mosque is an early 14th-century mosque at the Citadel in Cairo, Egypt. It was built by the Mamluk sultan Al-Nasr Muhammad in 1318 as the royal mosque of the Citadel, where the sultans of Cairo performed thei ...
, and has similar gilded and painted wooden pendentives. The windows in the transitional zone between ceiling and dome are of one oculus over two bays,
and are decorated with stucco
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 ...
grills filled with colored glass.
Sources of information
Other than current observation of its architecture, one of the only sources of information about the Mosque of Amir al-Maridani is the Cairene historian
al-Maqrizi
Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...
. In his two volume work
Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar (al-Khitat), Maqrizi describes the physical layout of medieval Cairo in exact detail, including buildings' construction histories and their connections to greater Cairene society. 650 years after it was written, al-Khitat remains the most useful source of information on buildings and their significance in medieval Cairo.
Unfortunately, he does not provide much background for the Mosque of Amir al-Maridani: he only shares how the site was acquired, some brief summarizing details about the mosque's construction, and Amir al-Maridani's later life history.
One possible reason is that al-Maridani's mosque was relatively young when Maqrizi composed al-Khitat, completed less than one hundred years previously. However, whatever the reason, the lack of description from Maqrizi means that much of the history of the Mosque of al-Maridani is unrecorded and thus unknowable.
Damage and restoration work
The mosque was restored by the ''
Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe The Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe (English: ''Committee for the Conservation of the Monuments of Arab Art'') was an organization established in December 1881 by Khedive Tawfiq which was responsible for the preservation of Is ...
'' in 1895–1903.
Since then, however, it has suffered from neglect and progressive deterioration. Along with the usual accumulation of dust and grime from the desert environment of Cairo and urban pollution, the mosque has also suffered from humidity and water damage due to the rising water table and leaking sewage from the surrounding neighborhood.
The sanctuary (or prayer hall) is in particularly bad condition. Cracks have appeared in the walls and the marble panel decoration was made particularly vulnerable. Between 2007 and 2010, the wooden insets that make up the ornament of the minbar were looted.
A major restoration and rehabilitation project, begun in 2018 and scheduled to last until 2020, has been undertaken by the Egyptian Government in collaboration with the Aga Khan Cultural Services-Egypt (part of the
Aga Khan Development Network
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of private, non-denominational (de jure) development agencies founded by the Aga Khan that work primarily in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa. Aga Khan IV succeeded to the office of the 49t ...
). It will focus on restoring the prayer hall and aims to also integrate the mosque into a tourist route along the Darb al-Ahmar district. The initial estimated cost of the project is , financed by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
Architectural commonalities
* A similar riwaq plan is found in the mosques of
Amir Husayn,
Bashtak, Ulmas,
Sitt Miska/Hadaq,
Aqsunqur,
Qawsun
Sayf ad-Din Qawsun ibn Abdullah an-Nasiri as-Saqi (1302 – April 1342), commonly known as Qawsun (also spelled ''Qausun'' or ''Qusun'') was a prominent Mamluk emir during the reigns of sultans an-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1310–41), al-Mansur Abu Bakr ...
, and
Arghun Shah al-Isma'ili.
* The top of the minaret is similar to the top of the minaret at the Mosque of Bashtak.
* A wooden dome over a mihrab is also found at the mosques of
al-Zahir Baybars
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic peoples, T ...
and al-Nasir Muhammad. Smaller wooden domes are above the mihrab area at the mosques of
Zayn al-Din Yahya in Bulaq and
Habbaniyya.
* The
Mosque of Sitt Hadaq also has recessed panels with windows appearing on only three of the four facades.
* A pattern of three axial entrance is also found at the mosques of al-Zahir Baybars and al-Nasir Muhammad.
* Decorative tile usage is also found at the Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad.
* Marble dados were also found in the sanctuaries of the mosques of al-Nasir Muhammad and
al-Mu'ayyad
Ibrahim ibn Jaʽfar al-Mutawakkil ( ar, ابراهيم بن جعفر المتوكل; died 866), better known by his ''laqab'' al-Mu'ayyad (, was an Abbasid prince, the third son of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil, and brother of al-Muntasir and ...
.
* A similar mashrabiyya is found at
Qalawun's mausoleum.
[Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. "Cairo of the Mamluks". Cairo:AUC Press, 2008. p 96]
See also
*
Lists of mosques
*
List of mosques in Africa
*
List of mosques in Egypt
References
Further reading
*
External links
Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani Mosque
{{Islamic Cairo
14th-century mosques
Buildings and structures completed in 1340
Amir al-Maridani
Amir al-Maridani
Mamluk architecture in Egypt