Cairo In the Details
MS
Working through my photos from Cairo I often find myself struck at the beauty in the details. The walls of a building may be quite plain overall, but above an entrance or a window there will be finely crafted work in stone. These photos are from the Mausoleum of al-Salih, the last of the Ayyubid Sultans. He died fighting off the Crusaders and his wife Shajar al-Durr briefly took over the role of Sultan. She was the only female Sultan in Cairo’s history, assuming that role in 1250 A.D. Although she kept his death secret for a while, the news finally got out and she erected a mausoleum for him. It’s not a spectacular building, but I am captivated by the work evident in these photos.
MS
MS
The sections above are each right next to each other, yet there doesn’t appear to be much effort in making them match. Each participates in a similar florid and organic design, so they don’t seem foreign to each other. But each also appears to be a unique composition.
By the way, note the “star of David” present on the first and third photos. That star is quite common in architecture, wood work, or what have you. I can’t tell you how many guides have pointed at something like this and said: “See, Muslims were once at peace with Jews..” But obviously there was no relation between Judaism and the six-pointed star for these builders since the designs were used profusely on an important mausoleum for a Muslim ruler. The six-pointed star was just a fancy geometric design.. nothing more.
To the side of this mausoleum are the remnants of the Madrasa of al-Salih.. which was built by al-Salih and not Shajar al-Durr. Just a minaret and the external wall remains. The wall can be hard to see because it is behind a row of merchant stalls. But it is quite striking:
MS
You can see above the top of a pointed keel arch, so named because it resembles a boat turned upside down. Above that arch are some running bands of decoration, including a line of Arabic. This kind of Arabic script is so connected in our minds to Islamic civilization that we don’t think about the fact that Arabic script did not just arrive fully formed, but only reached this “look” after centuries of development. Yes, the script does seem to perfectly complement the arabesque abstractions beside it. But it is probably correct to think of the script as an outcome that fit a particular aesthetic, rather than as the creator of a particular aesthetic.
MS
Here is an example from a couple of centuries later.. the Mosque of Sultan Hasan. There is still the running band of Arabic script along the top, but now there is this block design in the square. That actually contains Arabic as well. Starting from the bottom right and moving around the square you can read the shahada: “No god but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God.” This square gives a sense of the way Arabic could be put to quite different uses.. in this case an abstract blocky symbol.
