Witkowski ksiazka:Layout 1 · Islamic monuments of Cairo, a museum for artifacts discovered in Cairo’s Necropolis, workshops of the Supreme Council of An-tiquities supplying other

Maciej G. Witkowski

AMIR QURQUMASCOMPLEX IN CAIRO

Witkowski ksiazka:Layout 1 2007-09-19 11:00 Page 191


THE MISSIONThe Cairene funerary monument of

the Great Amir Qurqumas (No. 162 on theIndex List of Cairene Monuments), situatedon Cairo’s so-called “Northern Necropolis”,in the Darrasa quarter, was the object ofrestoration and investigation by a Polish-Egyptian Mission for the Restoration ofIslamic Monuments in Cairo from 1972 to2000.

In effect of this work, a protected an-tiquities zone was established around thismonumental complex which also includesthe much dilapidated now, but still majesticfunerary complex of the Sultan Al-AschrafInal (No. 158, built in 1451-6), remains ofa large funerary enclosure ascribed to theadmiral Guirbash Al-Karimi (Qashuq) andsome anonymous installations, still standingbetween these major constructions. The de-cision had at least one advantage: it isolatedthe monuments from the local community ina quarter that, in opposition to the popularnames it bears – Madinat al-Mawt (City ofthe Dead) and Turab or Maqabra al-Ghafir(Tombs or Cemetery of the Guardians), isquite alive. This in effect has prevented anyfurther, uncontrolled spoliation.

Three institutions were involved inthese works: the Egyptian Antiquities Or-ganization, Polish Centre of MediterraneanArchaeology of the University of Warsawand the Polish State Ateliers for the Preser-vation of Cultural Heritage (Kielce branch).During that time the mission was headedby Andrzej Misiorowski (1972-4), IreneuszNieduziak (1974-7), Jerzy Kania (1977-1989), Andrzej Żaboklicki (1990-1), JarosławDobrowolski (1992-5) and again Jerzy Kania(1995-2000). However, the formula of co-operation, conceived many years ago in acompletely different reality, outlived its via-bility in a free market economy, forcing thePolish side to withdraw from the project in2001.

The main objective of the missionwas to preserve the monument and adapt itfor modern purposes, these changing overthe years from a recreation area, a center forthe architectural documentation of restoredIslamic monuments of Cairo, a museum forartifacts discovered in Cairo’s Necropolis,workshops of the Supreme Council of An-tiquities supplying other sites in Cairo, andultimately a tourist attraction (archaeologi-cal zone) with an operating mosque. What-

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Amir Qurqumas complex in Cairo


ever the end result will be, in the course ofits work the mission succeeded in carryingthrough the most thankless (becausemostly invisible) interventions: restoringthe stability of the foundations, securingthe disintegrated wall structure and complet-ing missing sections (including in 1989-91some of the most endangered parts of theneighboring Inal complex), thus returningthe building to its original shape, installingnew roofing (while completing fragmentsof original ceilings still left in situ) and, lastbut not least, securing passages and fittingindividual rooms of the building with ade-quate safety measures (staircases, pave-ments, barriers, balustrades, etc.). Parallelingthese fundamental activities was a focus onaesthetic finishing touches, like the restora-tion of the minaret topping and its bal-conies, the missing monumental podia atthe entrances, wall cresting (sharafat andmuqarnasat), the marble dados decoratinginteriors, iron and wooden gratings as wellas stone and stucco-and-glass openwork win-dow decoration (qamariyyat), also woodwork(e.g. doors, window shutters, wall cup-boards, rafraf roofing shadowing the kuttab,etc.). Finally, work was initiated in 1998 onthe conservation and consolidation of pre-served wooden ceilings and their inscribedsupporting bands (abandariyyat/izarat).

The work of the mission, which haslargely contributed to the more attractivepresent appearance of the monument, waspreceded by extensive research on parallelforms in Cairo. Such studies were instrumen-tal in deciding, for example, what the so-called Tahuna building should look like. Thus,this structure, which was ultimately turnedinto a workshop for heavy-duty woodwork-ing, received an interior arrangement thatfollows preserved examples of industrial and

casernal architecture from the CaireneCitadel.

The mission’s program did not includeany large-scale archaeological excavations,but these proved necessary wherever thestability of the walls had to be checked,the original form of a staircase recognizedand the water-supply and sewage systemstraced. Moreover, cleaning and landscapingaround the buildings led to two major dis-coveries. First, in 1984-5, the foundations ofa completely destroyed rab’a building, origi-nally part of the complex, were identifiedsoutheast of the complex (on the street side).Then, in 1985-6, the accuracy of descriptionscontained in the preserved foundation act,waqfiyya, referring to the northwesterncourtyard as the hawš, ‘burial ground’, wasverified. Together with the crypts openedearlier (1974-8) under the main qubba of thecomplex and in its extensions, these exca-vations yielded a wide range of anthropo-logical data concerning the people buriedthere.

THE MONUMENTA real understanding of the complex

came with the opportunity to compare thepreserved architectural evidence with de-scriptions contained in the foundation act,called specifically hogga or waqfiyya. Sucha written will was a must for every piousfoundation in medieval Egypt, creating aneconomic base for its maintenance. Docu-ments of this kind give a closer look at theorganization of the awqaf and the everydaylife of such estates, while recording preciselytheir furnishings. Although the original hoggaof Qurqumas remains unknown, its copy, theKitab al-Waqf, recorded in 1536 (containingalso duplicates of all the other legal docu-ments of the Amir still preserved at the

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time) was identified in 1913 by L. Patricolo(active in the restoration of the Qurqumascomplex in 1913-19) in the archives of theCairene Ministry of Awqaf under No. 901. The impressive funerary foundation of theGreat Amir Qurqumas was raised on thewestern slopes of the Muqattam Hills,gently descending here towards the walledcity of Al-Qahira in an area called in Mamluktimes Al-Sahara (litt. ‘desert’). This term,however, was almost certainly used as a des-ignation of the city area fuori le mura whichwas actually built over quite heavily.

The main, i.e., qibla facade of theimposing Qurqumas complex, some 110 mlong (truly worthy of the sultan himself!)gave on the main road of Cairo’s “Northern”(rather “Eastern” in fact) Cemetery, calledalso the “Maghribi Pilgrims’ Road”. The rearelevation looked out on the city itself. As awhole, the complex was clearly inspired bya similar funerary complex of Qait Bay(No. 99, built in 1472-4), situated some1.5 km to the south on the same cemetery,while the rear of the buildings, looking to-wards the city, shows a striking resemblanceto the Al-Ashrafiyya complex, erected bythe same sultan in Jerusalem. The impressivebeauty of the complex inspired numerousartists, including David Roberts, RichardDadd and Adrien Dauzats.

To return to the material evidence,the preserved elements of the Qurqumaswaqf-complex (starting from the west end)cover the following: • Qasr (‘Palace’; not dated), unique in Cairo,erected on a hawš, that is, burial groundwith four tombs and 21 earth graves, all butthe tombs containing multiple burials (from2 to 21 bodies), most probably belonging tothe poorer “clientele” of the Amir’s house-hold.

• Qubba (‘Mausoleum’ with dome, one ofthe largest of this kind in Cairo), originallya free-standing, simple but impressive fu-nerary unit with six fasaqi (vaulted cryptscontaining multiple burials, from 3 to 67bodies) of the mamluk elite class; later on,extended towards the north and west bythe addition of two halls (provided eachwith four fasaqi) and joining the Qubbawith the Madrasa and Qasr.• Madrasa, typical Cairene ‘mosque-school’on a cruciform plan (two large iwans on theqibla and opposite side, and two smallsid[i]llas on the remaining two sides) inte-grated (next to the main entrance) with asabil-kuttab (‘Well’ for dispensing water onthe ground level, combined with a ‘primaryschool’ for teaching the Quran above). ThisMadrasa has some unique features: a sus-pended dikka, internal corridor running be-tween the walls around the sahn space onthe level of the first floor of the building,small room with no access (maybe part ofthe malqaf, that is, the ventilation system)and a blind cell (used by the imam to con-centrate before prayer) just below it. A sep-arate staircase allows almost direct accessto the ablution area (many times rearrangedand now in a dilapidated state) and to theriwaq.• Riwaq (or arwaqa), huge block of eightpaired residential units (with storeroomson the ground floor and living quarters onthe first) for sufis serving in the complex(therefore, also often called somewhatabusedly ‘khanqah’).

Opposite the riwaq, towards thenorth, there was an economic annex, de-scribed in the waqfiyya deed as: • Tahuna, that is, ‘Mill’, which never assumedits intended function, but was used subse-quently (as proved by excavations) as a


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stables or barn, primitive farmstead, militarymagazines (18th-20th century), and finally,after restoration, a woodwork workshop.

Added to these standing remainswere two other buildings listed in the foun-dation waqfiyya, namely:• Rab’a, a kind of ‘Hostel’ for pilgrims andmerchants, very similar in structure to theabove mentioned riwaq/arwaqa and situ-ated opposite the main body of the founda-tion (the income from this building wasreferred to as a major means of support forthe waqf), the existence of which wasproved by excavation (during the diggingof foundations under a fence constructedaround the monument in 1984-5), and• Tibaq, which was a ‘Casern’ for Qurqumas’own mamluks, situated nearby accordingto the waqfiyya (its exact localization how-ever remainis unknown; most probably itsruins have been covered � if not entirelydestroyed � by modern constructions).

According to the available epi-graphic evidence, the Qubba was com-pleted in the month of Zu-l-Qada’ 911 (= 26March�24 April 1506) and the Madrasasome 18 months later, in the month ofRagab 913 (= 6 November�5 December1507). The exact chronology of the re-maining elements remains to be deter-mined. All one can say is that everything butthe tahuna was almost certainly com-pleted by the time that the waqfiyya was fi-nally written down, that is, before December1510.

THE FOUNDERThe best résumé of the life and career

of Qurqumas (along with numerous detailsfrom his life) comes from Ibn Iyas’ famouschronicle Badai’ al-Zuhur…, but importantnotes appear also in the works of other

serious historians of late Mamluk times,namely Abd al-Rahman al-Suyuti and Shamsal-Din Ibn Tulun. These sources, combinedwith Qurqumas’ own Kitab al-Waqf, permita reliable reconstruction of the life of theAmir. Of Circassian origins, this mamluk ofQait Bay (1468-96) keeping in the back-ground of mainstream events under thissultan’s ephemeral successors, was slowlyclimbing the accepted ladder of honoursto reach a peak in his career as Amir al-Umara and Atabek of the Egyptian armyunder Qansuh Al-Ghawri, the last greatBurji Mamluk ruler (1501-1516), becomingin fact the first after the sultan in the decliningMamluk state. He must have been bornshortly before 1448/9 and died on 25 De-cember 1510, most probably of Paget’sdisease, at the age of about 64 years. Hewas buried in his complex, most probablyin tomb T 2 (situated not in front of themihrab, but in the second row of tombs!).Except for some sins of youth (well fittingthe widely accepted model of a ‘ruthlessmamluk brute’), Qurqumas clearly garnersIbn Iyas’ sympathy as time goes on, thechronicler’s account presenting an imageof a modest man, not particularly skilful in themartial arts nor brave (contrary to his namewhich, taken literally, means Neverfear), buta good commander and organizer, gentleand rather shy, but a righteous person, sen-sitive to any symptom of injustice.

Upon dying Qurqumas left one wife,Fatima, at least four children (two sons,unnamed, and two daughters, Fatima andSitt Muluq) and a younger brother calledAl-Mas/Olmaz (who disappeared 12 yearslater, in 1522, after a quarrel with Khair-bak, traitor of the mamluk cause at MarjDabiq, awarded then by the Ottomanswith the governorship of Egypt). The



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Amir’s estate without counting the movableproperty was estimated at about 70,000dinars (ca. 160,000 USD), a rather modestsum for a man who was second in the state!His land property was larger: apart from thewaqf foundation, his real estate embraced

two huge palaces inside the city walls andtwo others outside, a large rab’a-khan(next to the Bab al-Nasr), a hammam, somevillages and land in the Delta, and finallyisolated estates in Giza, Saqqara and even asfar away as in the Sudan(?) and Syria.


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Select bibliographyA. MISIOROWSKI, Mausoleum of Qurqumas in Cairo. An Example of the Architecture and Build-ing Art of Mamluk Cairo, vol. I, Warsaw 1979AUCT. VAR., Mausoleum of Qurqumas in Cairo. Results of the Investigations and Conservation Works,vols II, Warsaw 1985, and III, Warsaw 1991I. NIEDUZIAK, Les tombeaux du mausolée de l’Emir Qurqumas au Caire, EtTrav XI, 1979, pp.179-191I. NIEDUZIAK, Polish-Egyptian restoration work at the burial complex of Amir Qurqumas, in:M. MEINECKE (ed.), Islamic Cairo: Architectural Conservation and Urban Development of the His-toric Centre: Proceedings of a Seminar Organised by the Goethe Institute (October 1-5, 1978),Art and Archaeology Research Papers 6, June 1980, pp. 42-51I. NIEDUZIAK, La fondation “waqf” de l’émir Qurqumas au Caire, EtTrav XIV, 1990, pp. 239-281J. DOBROWOLSKI, J. KANIA, Qurqumas, PAM IV–XII (Reports 1992-2000),1993-2001J. DOBROWOLSKI, The funerary complex of Amir Kabir Qurqumas in Cairo, in: U. VERMEULEN,D. DE SMET (eds), Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk Eras, vol. II: Proceedingsof the 4th and 5th International Colloqium organized at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven inMay 1995 and 1996, OLA 83, Leuven 1998, pp. 265-282J. WRONECKA, Complete translation of and commentaries on the Kitab al-Waqf of Qurqumas(No. 901), (MSS in Polish 1977) M. NAGIB, Kitab al-Waqf and monuments of Qurqumas (MSS in Arabic, Cairo University, n.d.)M.G. WITKOWSKI, The Great Amir Qurqumas. His time, life, deeds and monuments (in preparation)


General plan of Qurqumas’ funerary foundation in Cairo’s “Northern Cemetery”(No. 162) and an early concept for its presentation as a tourist zone:

A = Qasr; B = Qubba; C = Madrasa; D = Riwaq (Khanqa) (Drawing J. Kania)


Example of the rank, heraldic coat-of-arms, of Sultan Qait’bay, shared by Qurqumas with some other mamluks of his period (PCMA Archives)

Two pages from a copy of Qurqumas’ Kitab al-waqf (No. 901) with the beginning of the hogga (foundation act) of his funerary estate

in Cairo’s “Northern Cemetery” (No. 162) (PCMA Archives)


General view of the so-called northern side of the Qurqumas complex (Photo M.G. Witkowski)


Evening view of the Qurqumas complex afterinstallation of lighting in 1999 (Photo J. Kania)

Illuminated manara (minaret) after installation of lighting in 1999 (Photo J. Kania)


General view from the Madrasa roof of Qurqumas onto the extensive funerary complex No. 158 of Sultan Al-Ashraf Inal (built in 1451-1456), adjacent to Qurqumas’ enclosure and included in the same monumental

zone. In the foreground, the upper floor of Qurqumas’ riwaq (khanqa) restored as a permanent ruin (Photo M.G. Witkowski)


The mission at work � graffito drawn in 1998 on one of the limestone blocks by a worker, a jack-of-all-trades

able to handle all the difficult tasks on site (Photo M.G. Witkowski)

Foundation remains of the rab’a once completing the funerary estate of Qurqumas, discovered duringthe construction of a fence around the monumental zone on the side of the modern street (Photo M.G. Witkowski)


Directors

Kazimierz Michałowski 1959-1981Zofia Sztetyłło 1981 (Acting Director)Waldemar Chmielewski 1982 (Acting Director)Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski 1982-1991Michał Gawlikowski 1991-2005Piotr Bieliński 2005 to the present

Deputy Directors

Grzegorz Majcherek 2000 to the presentZbigniew E. Szafrański 2000 to the present

Scientific Secretariesof the Cairo Branch

Tadeusz Andrzejewski 1959-1961Władysław B. Kubiak 1961-1966Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski 1966-1976 Włodzimierz Godlewski 1976-1979Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski 1979-1982Marek Marciniak 1982-1984Włodzimierz Godlewski 1984-1985Franciszek Pawlicki 1985-1995Tomasz M. Herbich 1995-2000

Assistants to the Director

Marek Lemiesz 2000-2002Jadwiga Iwaszczuk 2002-2004Tomasz Pelc 2004-2006Michał Neska 2006 to the present

POLISH CENTRE OF MEDITERRANEAN ARCHAEOLOGY



A R C H I T E C T S

Ministry of Foreign Affairsof the Republic of Poland

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland

Celebrations of 70 years of Polish archaeology in Egyptorganized by the

University of Warsaw

Polish Centre of Mediterranean ArchaeologyUniversity of Warsaw

with financial support from

and

University of Warsaw Chamber ChoirCOLLEGIUM MUSICUMUniversity of Warsaw Foundation

Oil and Gas Drilling Company NAFTA Ltd. Pila Poland

Supreme Council of Antiquities Egyptian Museum in Cairo



Witkowski ksiazka:Layout 1 · Islamic monuments of Cairo, a museum for artifacts discovered in Cairo’s Necropolis, workshops of the Supreme Council of An-tiquities supplying other

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