Near the end of the same thoroughfare, here called Shâria Bâb el-Futûh, we come to the entrance, on the right, of the ruinous Gâmia el-Hâkim (Pl. E, 2), begun, outside the oldest town-wall, by El-Aziz (p. [447]) in 990, on the model of the mosque of Ibn Tulûn (p. [451]), and completed by his son El-Hâkim in 1012. The two minarets, with their heavy square setting, rise from the middle of the second town-wall (p. [446]), which is here well preserved. Their superstructures, crowned with domes and resembling an Arabian censer (mabkhâra), belong to the period when the mosque was restored after the earthquake of 1302.
The two ancient gate-towers, the Bâb el-Futûh (Pl. E, 2; ‘gate of the conquests’) at the end of the street and the neighbouring Bâb en Nasr (‘gate of victory’; reached by the Shâria el-Kassasineh), which was pierced with loopholes in the time of Bonaparte, recall the late-Roman and Byzantine gateway castles. The town-wall (adm. 2 pias.) affords an interesting survey of the whole group of buildings.
We now return to the Gâmia el-Ashraf (p. [446]) to complete our visit to the S. part of the old town of the Fatimites. At the beginning of the Shâria el-Ghûrîyeh (Pl. E, 4), the continuation of the Shâria el-Ashrafîyeh (p. [446]), rises the double monument of the Mameluke sultan Kânsûh el-Ghûri (1501–16), with its fine façades: on the right is the Medreseh el-Ghûri (Pl. E, 3, 4), whose minaret, 213 ft. high, is incongruously crowned with five modern dwarfed domes; on the left is the Mausoleum, with its charming sebîl. The sultan, who fell in Syria, was not, however, buried here.—A few paces to the E., in the Shâria et-Tableta which leads to the Azhar mosque (p. [447]), is the Okella of El-Ghûri (Pl. E, 3, 4), now entirely disfigured.
In line with the Shâria el-Ghurîyeh, farther to the S., is the Shâria el-Akkâdîn (Pl. E, 4). A little to the E. of it, in the side-street Hôsh Kadam (No. 12), is the so-called *Bookbinder’s House (Beit Gamâl ed-Dîn; Pl. E, 4), built in 1637 by the president of the merchants’ guild, an admirable example of an Arabian dwelling-house (fee 2 pias.).
A crooked passage (dirkeh) leads into the court of the Salamlîk, the apartments of the owner, with two well-preserved façades. In the S.W. angle are stairs ascending to the Makad or reception-room, an open colonnade with two arches. Adjoining it is an oriel-window closed with mashrebîyehs (p. [445]), from which the women could overlook the court. Farther on we come to the handsome Kâa, the banqueting-room of the harem, adorned with superb mosaics. In the centre of it is a lower chamber (durkâa) roofed with a wooden dome. The flat timber ceilings of the two lîwâns, or lateral rooms, are very fine.
Still farther to the S., in the same line, runs the Sukkarîyeh (Pl. E, 4), the market for sugar, dried fruit (nukl), fish, candles, etc.—On the right rises the—
*Gâmia el-Muaiyad (Pl. D, E, 4), begun by the Mameluke sultan Sheikh el-Mahmûdi Muaiyad (1412–21), and completed a year after his death. In plan it resembles the convent-mosque of Barkûk (p. [458]). The sumptuous portal, with its striped marble enrichment and stalactite or honeycomb half-domes, is well preserved. The *Bronze Gate, the finest in Cairo, was brought from the mosque of Hasan (p. [452]). The main court and the lateral lîwâns, with their heavy modern outer walls, now form shady grounds. The sanctuary, restored in 1880, is a splendid hall of three arcades with lofty stilted arches. The decoration of the back-wall and the coloured wooden ceiling are charming. To the left of the sanctuary is the mausoleum of the sultan, and to the right that of his family. The two minarets, 167 ft. high, rise from the platform of the Bâb Zuweileh (Pl. E, 4; p. [446]), or Bâb el-Mitwelli, the S. gate of the Fatimite city.
From the Bâb Zuweileh the Shâria Taht er-Rebâa leads to the W. to the Place Bâb el-Khalk (Pl. D, 4; see below); to the S. run the Kasabet Radowân, a Shoemakers’ Market, where the favourite red slippers (p. [97]) are sold, and the Shâria el-Khiyamîyeh, the bazaar for gaily coloured Tent-Covers, leading to the Shâria Mohammed Ali (see below).
To the E. of the Bâb Zuweileh runs a line of streets, bending round to the S., to the Citadel (p. [453]). Nearly opposite the gate, at the corner of Kasabet Radowân and Derb el-Ahmar, is the small Mosque of Sâlih Telâyeh (Pl. E, 4), dating from the reign of El-Âdid, the last of the Fatimites (1160). The sanctuary contains some beautiful stucco ornamentation in the Syrian-Arabian style.—In the Derb el-Ahmar, farther on, to the left, rises the small *Mosque of Emir Kijmâs (Pl. E, 4), built in 1481 by a master-of-the-horse of Kâït Bey (p. [458]). The interior is a perfect gem of its kind.
Farther on this line of streets is called Shâria et-Tabbâneh. On the right rises the *Mosque el-Merdani (Pl. E, 5), one of the largest in Cairo. It was built by the cup-bearer of sultan Mohammed en-Nâsir (p. [448]) in 1338–40 and after having almost fallen to ruin was recently restored. The sanctuary is still separated from the court by its old maksûra, or wooden screen. The prayer-recess and its sides are lavishly enriched with costly mosaics. The dome in front of the prayer-niche, partly restored with cement, rests on ancient Egyptian granite columns.