Publication Date
770 AH / 1368 AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;30;ar
Library Location
The school is located in Bab Al-Wazir Street (Darb Al-Ahmar), Cairo, Egypt
Date
770 AH / 1368 AD
Notes
This building was designated for teaching the Shafi’i and Hanafi schools of thought. It also contains a scribe and two shrines. The main facade of the building overlooks the street, and is divided into sunken, rectangular walls the height of the building, ending at the top with rows of muqarnas. The façade is crowned with a three-petalled leaf crown. The entrance to the school is located to the right of the facade within a recessed wall crowned by an arch and decorated with nine rows of muqarnas. This entrance, with its gilded muqarnas, lush decorations, and Kufic inscriptions, is considered one of the most beautiful and rarest in design. It is influenced by the style of Turkish buildings with Seljuk influences, which are characterized by the decoration of entrances, the density of muqarnas, and the elongation of arches, such as the main entrance of the Yesil group in the city of Bursa in Turkey. The madrasa consists of four perpendicular ionas built of stone surrounding an open courtyard. The largest iwan is the south-eastern qibla iwan, which preserved the marble covering of the mihrab. Some of the sides of the octagonal mihrab columns were decorated with leafy engraved decorations. On each side of the Qibla Iwan is a square shrine room built of stone. The small shrine (men's shrine) is located to the right of the iwan, and was designated for the burial of Sultan Shaaban and his son, King Mansur Haji. The large shrine (women's shrine) is located to the left of the Iwan of the Qibla, and was designated for the burial of Sultan Shaaban's mother, Khawand Baraka (died in 774 AH / 1373 AD), and her daughter Khawand Zahra. Each shrine covers a period, and its transitional areas are provided from the inside with corner arches. This element is considered uncommon in the domes of the Mamluk era, as it was limited to some domes of Mamluk buildings dating back to the second half of the 8th century AH / 14th AD. The use of corner squinches in the transition areas of the domes is considered one of the features of the Fatimid dome since its inception. The two domes are lobed on the outside and resemble the dome of the corner madrasa in Damascus, which belongs to the Ayyubid era, but the two domes in the Umm Sultan Shaaban madrasa are more advanced than the veil of the corner madrasa. What remains of the school indicates that it was richly decorated. The ceilings were colorful and gilded and the floors were covered with marble. Gilding was also used in stone and marble decorations.
Sample Text
Tarek Torky “Umm Sultan Shaaban School” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;30;ar
