E.031 Mosque of Al-Rifa'i

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Creator

Denis Baly

Creation Year

January 1960

Image ID

E.031

Alternate Identifier

B05.031

Subcollection

E - Lower Egypt, Edfu, and Bodrum

Abstract

The mashrabiya (protruding window) in the tomb chamber of the Al-Rifa'i mosque, "which lies opposite the Madrasa of Sultan Hasan, on the site of a zawiya acquired and demolished by the princess Khushyar, consort of Ibrahim Pasha and mother of Khedive Isma‘il (1863– 79).

Description

The architect Husayn Pasha Fahmi was empowered to build a mosque with tombs for Shaykh ‘Ali al-Rifa‘i, a saint formerly buried in the zawiya, and Shaykh ‘Abd Allah al-Ansari, a companion of the Prophet, as well as mausoleums for the founder and her descendants. The result is one of the earliest revival monuments in Cairo. Its neo-Mamluk architectural style and decoration establishes a visual relationship with its neighbor built five hundred years earlier, even though the plan— with its overall symmetry and frontal axiality as well as the large number of funerary chambers around the central prayer chamber— is quite novel" (71, Williams). For a wider view of the El-Rifa'i mosque, see images E.020, E.022 and E.030. -MA

References

Williams, Caroline. Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide. The American University in Cairo, 2002.

Image Notes

Creation date unknown. Photograph processed August 1960. Formerly cataloged as B.05.031. Notes written on the slide or index: Rifai Mosque.

Image Format

35 mm slide

Geographic Reference

Cairo, Egypt