Publication Date
757 AH / 1356 AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;28;ar
Library Location
The building is located on Saliba Street (Al-Sayyeda Zeinab), adjacent to the northwestern extension of the Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo, Egypt.
Date
757 AH / 1356 AD
Notes
This building contains a mosque, a madrasa and a mausoleum. The school was dedicated to teaching the Hanafi school of thought - one of the four Sunni schools of thought - and it became a stronghold for Hanafi scholars, especially the Persians, as historians mention Sarghatmish’s closeness to the Persian scholars and his great respect for them. The main facade of the building is its northwestern facade, which overlooks the street. The dome of the shrine is above the southern end of the facade. This dome was built similar to the domes of Samarkand. It is an elongated bulb with a long neck and was built of brick. It consists of an external and an internal vault. This façade includes the entrance, which is a recessed wall crowned with an arch and a ceiling with a semi-dome at the bottom of which are muqarnas with pendants. This entrance is similar to the entrance to the Tashtamariyya Madrasa (built in 782 AH / 1381 AD) in the city of Jerusalem. To the left of the entrance is a graceful minaret, 40 meters high, built of stone. This minaret consists of three floors crowned with a carved peak. The octagonal second floor is decorated with a cladding of red and white stone containing geometric decorations consisting of zigzag lines that take the form of a continuous series of the number "7". The minarets of this period were distinguished by the use of this decorative style, which we find, for example, in the minaret of both the Amir Sheikho Mosque and Khanqa, which are located near this building. The design of the building follows the plan of perpendicular madrasas or with a horizontal cruciform plan, as the horizontal plan of the building consists of four ionas organized around an open court with a fountain in the middle. The Qibla Iwan (south-eastern Iwan) includes distinctive architectural and decorative elements. There is a dome with a long neck covering the central part of the iwan. It is similar to the one that covers the shrine, but it is lower in height, and it was the oldest dome erected over a school sanctuary in Egypt. It was demolished and rebuilt in 1940 AD according to its original, old form. On the walls located on both sides of the mihrab, there are remains of an izar (overall) made up of marble panels containing the inscriptions of Prince Sarghtamash and his titles. There is also another panel containing leafy decorations, bunches, and grape leaves. Nine panels of the panels of the walls of the Iwan of the Qibla were transferred to the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo. Clear Persian influences appear in the building, represented in the shapes of the domes and in the decorations of the panels of the walls of the Iwan of the Qibla. This, in addition to the builder’s interest in and honor for the Persians, leads to the suspicion that the building’s architect was Persian.
Sample Text
Tarek Torky “Prince Sarghatmish Mosque and School” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;28;ar
