EGYPT, Cairo, El Moyed Mosque - Antique Print #1

100+ years old art print ... in excellent condition ... reverse side is blank !

Size: size of image: 7 1/2 x 10 1/2; print size incl. blank margins: 9 1/2 x 12 inches.
Condition: Excellent condition. Printed on heavier paper.
 

 The El-Mu'ayyad Mosque was built Sultan el-Mu'ayyad on the site of a prison in which he had endured such suffering that he vowed, if he ever regained his  freedom, to  replace it with a mosque. The fulfillment of this promise gave rise to one of the most Beautiful mosques in Cairo. Although the prison was  demolished, the site was still  used  for executions and the heads displayed in accordance with tradition. It was here that the sultan Selim had his enemy    Tomanbay, the last of the Mameluke  sultans, hanged in the 16th century. The mosque was built between 1415-1420 against the south wall of the city. The courtyard shown here, has been converted into a garden. The columns of the hall are surmounted by two rows of superposed arches which are reminiscent of the great Ommiad mosque in Damascus, where El-Mu'ayyad was governor. The mihrab has a remarkably fine central, marble-covered decoration and festooned arch stones, while the minbar is decorated with polygonal panels inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ivory. The two minarets, which stand on the two salient angles of the Bab Zuwaila (1092), offer a panoramic view of Cairo. To the east is the outline of the city wall and its  towers   buried beneath the rubble.