Name

Funerary Complex of Sultan Qaytbay

Address
Cairo
Geographical Hierarchy
Coordinates (WGS 84)
Author and Date of Entry
Sarah Keller 2024
Information about the Building

The funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay was built in 877–79 AH / 1472–74 AD.
In 1883, Julius Franz proposed a general restoration, including the windows, of Sultan Qaytbay’s Mausoleum to the Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l’Art Arabe, to prevent it from falling into complete ruin (Rogers et al., 1892, p. 35).
In 1886, he reported that the newly made windows as well as those repaired and restored at high cost were being attacked continuously by birds (Zéki et al., 1887, p. 22). In 1887, a large sum is again reserved for the making and the installing of windows for the mosque (Ghaleb et al., 1889, p. 21).
In 1837, Pascale Coste published an elevation of the qibla wall and the mausoleum (pl. XXXIII) as well as a coloured view of the qibla wall (pl. XXXV). The elevation documents windows that are now lost, which presumably dated mainly to the construction period.
Émile Prisse d’Avennes (1877, vol. 2, pl. XXI) also published a view of the qibla wall, but in a somewhat distorted perspective and with only a schematic representation of the windows.

Literature

Coste, P. (1837). Architecture arabe ou Monuments du Kaire, mesurés et dessinés, de 1818 à 1826. Paris: Typographie de Firmin Didot Frères et Compagnie. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k105839g

Ghaleb, O., Artin, Y., Franz, J., Ezzat, & Grand, P. (1889). Procès-verbal n° 28. Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe (Fascicule 5, exercice 1887–1888, pp. 19–23). www.persee.fr/doc/ccmaa_1110-6824_1889_num_1887_5_4241

Prisse d’Avennes, É. (1869–1877). L’art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire depuis le VIIe siècle jusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe (Vols. 1-4). J. Savoy & Cie. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9688960b

Rogers, E. T., Fahmy, H., & el-Falaki, M. (1892). Procès-verbal n°7. Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe (Fascicule 1, exercice 1882–1883, pp- 30–37). www.persee.fr/doc/ccmaa_1110-6824_1892_num_1882_1_7626