Name of Monument:

Khanqah of Baybars al-Gashanqir

Location:

The khanqah was erected on part of the edifice of the great Fatimid Ministry, overlooking Jamaliyya Street, Cairo, Egypt

Date of Monument:

Hegira 709 / AD 1309

Period / Dynasty:

Mamluk

Patron(s):

Sultan Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Gashanqir (r. AH 708–9 / AD 1309–10).

Description:

The Khanqah of Baybars al-Gashanqir overlooks Jamaliyya Street, and is characterised by a large façade made of stone which is located on the western side of the building. The façade of the mausoleum, which is situated within the khanqah together with its enormous dome, occupies a large part of the building's façade. The entrance is located on the southern end of the facade and is composed of a recessed wall, crowned by an arch, with a semi-dome roof. The area below it is ornamented with corner muqarnas with pendentives. The entrance is panelled with marble, and carved with Qur'anic verses in black and white marble. Along the entire length of the building façade there is an engraved epigraphic inscription in thuluth script. The inscription consists of the decree to construct the building and grant it as an endowment for the sufis, and also names the sponsor. Above the roof of the portal is a minaret that is composed of three stories, each of which is separated by muqarnas tiers. The minaret is crowned by a pinnacle in the form of a small lobed dome. It resembles the summits of Ayyubid minarets which assumed the form of a mabkhara (an incense burner) such as the minaret of the Madrasa of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub, also in Cairo. The minaret also has the remains of ceramic tiling reminiscent of that used on the minaret of the Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad in the Citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, also known as Citadel of the Mountain (Qala'a al-Jabal).
The khanqah consists of a rectangular, central open courtyard measuring 16.50 m x 20 m; there are two large iwans on its east and west sides, the bigger of which is the qibla iwan measuring 10 m x 12 m. In the middle of the qibla iwan there is a stone mihrab, which is simple and devoid of ornamentation. This might be due to the fact that the building was a sufi khanqah. At the north and south sides of the courtyard are the cells or the living quarters designated for the sufis. The waqf deed for the khanqah indicates that the building comprised three stories which included 100 sufi cells for permanent residence. Today only 11 of these cells are extant. The floor of the mausoleum is decorated with black and white marble and the walls are adorned with fine marble revetment to a height of 3.6 m. The mausoleum contains the grave of the builder and a lofty mihrab panelled with fine marble. Many of the building's annexes, such as the bakery and the kitchen areas, have been destroyed.

View Short Description

The khanqah (a hostel built to accommodate Sufis) had 100 cells on three floors, and a kitchen that provided each Sufi (mystic) with meat, food, three loaves of bread and dessert daily. For its upkeep the Sultan used craftsmen from Damascus, Aleppo and lands in upper and lower Egypt. When Sultan Ruqn al-Din Baybars al-Gashanqir was dethroned, Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad arrested and killed him. He seized all the establishment's property and deleted the Sultan's name from the epigraphic band on its facade. The khanqah remained out of service for 20 years.

How Monument was dated:

The building was dated based on an inscription band in the entrance passageway, which includes the date that construction was completed. Furthermore, the waqf deed specific to the building mentions that the Sultan Rukn al-Din Baybars ordered construction in 707 (1307) when he was a commander, and before he assumed power. The waqf document bears the number 6–22 and is preserved in the Office of National Archives in Cairo.

Selected bibliography:

Abd al-Wahab, H.,Tarikh al-Masajid al-Athariya bil Qahira [History of Historical Mosques in Cairo], Cairo, 1994.
Creswell, K. A. C., Muslim Architecture in Egypt, Vol II, Oxford, 1960.
Rizq, A., Khanaqahwat al-Sufiya fi Masr fi al-'asr al-Ayyubi wa al-Mamluki [Sufi Khanqahs in Egypt in the Ayyubid and Mamluk Periods], Cairo, 1997.
Salem, al-Sayyed Mahmoud 'Abd al-Aziz, al-Ma'din al-Masriya – Nazra 'Amma 'an Aslaha wa Tatawuriha mundu al-Fath al-'Arabi hatta al-Fath al-Othmani [Egyptian Minarets – A General View of the Origins and Development from the Arab Conquest to the Ottoman Conquest], Cairo, 1959.

Citation of this web page:

Tarek Torky "Khanqah of Baybars al-Gashanqir" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;23;en

Prepared by: Tarek TorkyTarek Torky

Tarek Abdel Aziz Torky holds a BA in Islamic and Coptic Antiquities from Cairo University (1982). He is currently Head of the Statistics Department at the Information Centre of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and reporter of the committee set up to prepare for the celebrations of the centennial of the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo. As Expo Curator for the Discover Islamic Art project in Egypt he prepared the database information for the Egyptian monuments included in the project and participated in formulating the dynastic and cross-dynastic exhibitions. He has participated in the first phase of the Islamic Art in the Mediterranean project as product manager and prepared the texts and photos for the catalogue Mamluk Art: the Splendour and Magic of the Sultans (MWNF, 2001). In 2002 he obtained a scholarship for Med. Master on new technologies for valorisation and management of Mediterranean Cultural Heritage in Ravello, Salerno.

Copyedited by: Majd Musa
Translation by: Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: ET 23

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