Passing a large Moslem Cemetery (Pl. E, F, 2) we come first to the N.E. group of the tombs, all much ruined. These are the Tomb Mosque of Emîr el-Kebîr, son of Bars Bey (p. [446]), the *Monastery Mosque of Sultan Melek el-Ashraf Inâl (1453–68), an irregular quadrangle of 115 by 51 yds., with a fine minaret and dome, and the cubical Tomb of an Emir of El-Ghûri (p. [449]).
We now turn to the S. to visit the *Monastery Mosque of Sultan Barkûk (p. [448]), partly restored of late. It forms a square of 80 yds. each way. The two handsome minarets have been deprived of their bulb-like summits. In front of the mihrâb is a small dome. Of the two mausoleums that on the N. was built in 1400–5 by Barkûk’s sons Farag and Azîz; that on the S., together with the monastery (Khânkâ), was completed by Farag in 1410.
The old chief portal, with its stalactite niche, is on the N. side. To the right of it is a sebîl with an elegant kuttâb (p. [445]). On the left are the ruins of the three-storied monastery and a dilapidated hall connecting the monastery with the tomb of Barkûk’s father, Sharaf ed-Dîn Anas (d. 1382).
From the present entrance in the outbuilding at the S.W. angle we pass through a vestibule and a corridor to the quadrangle (sahn) with its fountain (hanefîyeh). The lîwâns, borne by pillars, are roofed with flat domes, some of which have fallen in. The beautifully proportioned sanctuary, with nave and two aisles, contains three plain prayer-recesses and a stone *Pulpit presented by Kâït Bey (1483; see below). Large double portals lead to the left to the mausoleum of Barkûk and his sons, and to the right to the tombs of the ladies of the family.
Within a walled court a little to the W. are the Tombs of Emirs Suleimân ibn Selîm (d. 1526) and Ahmed. The dome of the former is richly adorned with trellis-work set in lozenge-shaped meshes, and shows remains of the inscribed frieze of blue fayence.
A few minutes’ walk to the S.W., past the large flattened dome of the Turkish Mabed er-Rifaîyeh, brings us to the Hôsh of Kâït Bey (1468–96), once 330 yds. long, the largest family burial-place at Cairo, now occupied by a whole village. A dilapidated dwelling-house (rab), 86 yds. long, and trough, and the tomb-mosque still exist.
The *Tomb Mosque of Kâït Bey, the finest of all the Mameluke tombs, at once strikes the eye with its wall decoration in coloured stripes, the delicate network of the dome of the mausoleum, and the graceful minaret, 131 ft. high. Between the minaret and the railed-in sebîl is the chief portal with its trefoil arch, leading into a vestibule containing the throne of the sultan. The adjoining sanctuary, with its pavement in coloured mosaic, its two inscription-friezes, its kamarîyehs, and stained-glass windows, has been almost entirely renewed. The mimbar or pulpit also is modern. The lîwân opposite still has its fine old timber ceiling. The mausoleum, on the S.W. side of the sanctuary, also shows great wealth of colouring. A colonnade adjacent contains the tombs of the sultan’s four wives.
We now follow the Shâria es-Sultân Ahmed and (to the right) Shâria Karâfet el-Mamalik, cross the so-called Windmill Hill (Pl. F, 3), the central great mound of débris on the E. side of the old town, and thus regain the Fatimite city (Shâria esh-Sharawâni, p. [446]). On the way, from the ‘Point de Vue’ marked on the Plan, we have a fine *View of the city of tombs and the Mokattam Hills behind us.