MOSQUE OF SULTAN HASSAN

Region: Egypt

Created: Nov 16, 2009, modified: Jan 13, 2012, overall rating: 0.000

This is one of the mostbeautiful and monumental mosques in Cairo. The builder of this mosque andschool was Sultan El Nasser Hassan. He was the 19th of the Turkish Sultans tohave reigned in Egypt and the seventh son of the Sultan El Nasser Mohamed IbnKalaoun.

Conspiracies were oneof his era's traits. He decided to build his mosque in the square facing theCitadel of Salah El Din. He began the construction in 1356 and it was completedin the year 1363 by Bashir Agha who was one of his princes. This mosque isconsidered one of the greatest works of Islamic architecture. The mosque is7907 square meters wide. The entrance is 37.80 m high. There is also aschool or a madrassa mosque for the four rites ofIslam.

The court is almost asquare in shape. Each side is about 32 meters in length. On each side there is awan that stands higher than the court. Each wan is roofed with a brick-pointedtunnel-vault with a stone arch. Art lovers consider the arches of its largestwan a miracle of construction.

The walls of the Iwanare covered with colored stone blocks and marble. There is a stuccoinscription containing verses from Surat El Fath in Kufic writing. In themiddle of the wan there is a marble pulpit and tribune of greatcraftsmanship. Around the mihrab there are four marble supports. On theright side of the minbar, which is made of white marble, there is a wooden doorcovered with bronze. At each side of the qibla wall there is a door. The twodoors lead to the tomb chamber. The doors were covered with bronze and goldsilver inlay. The tomb chamber is 21 square meters high. The walls are coveredwith marble up to 8 meters.

The Mosque of SultanHassan has two minarets. One is 82 meters high and is considered one of thehighest Islamic minarets. It is two meters shorter than the two minarets ofMohamed Ali Pasha Mosque which was built 500 years later.

STATUEOF RAMSES II

The statue was found inMemphis, and then taken to Cairo in 1954, to be exhibited in the station square.It is 10 meters high and the double crown represents the unity between the Northand the South. On the back of the statue there is a stanchion bearing thePharaoh's titles, one of which is « The Strong Ox » which is the symbol offertility. Between the statue's legs is a relief of Ramses'wife (Bent-Anath)daughters and one of his three daughters who were given this title. A replica ofthis statue stands now on the road leading to Cairo Airport.

The goldcoffin of Tutankhamon

The gold coffin ofTutankhamon is made of 450 pounds of solid gold. It is perhaps, the finest andgreatest example of goldsmith work in history. Three coffins were used to holdthe body of young king Tutankhamon whodied at the age of 18. The inner and outer coffins are displayed among hiscollection in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. King Tut's tomb was discovered on November 4, 1922 byHoward Carter, after six years ofhard work underneath the rubblethat heaped up during the excavation of King Ramses VI tomb, in Thebes,Valley of the Kings.

KingMentuhotep (Dynasty XI)

This is a rare statueof Pharaoh Mentuhotep of the 11th dynasty. It is one of a group of eight statuesthat were found in his mortuary temple at Deir Al Bahary, west of Luxor, besideQueen Hatshepsut's temple built five centurieslater.

The sandstone statue,which is 2.3 meters high, represents the Pharaoh seated in the Osiris positionwearing a white costume with his crown painted red. The color of the body underthe white cloak is olive black. The statue was found wrapped in bandages like amummy and placed in a funerary niche in his monumentaltemple.

DwarfSeneb and his family (Dynasty VI)

The ancient Egyptiansculptor excelled in this piece of work of the Dwarf Seneb, who was an importantofficial, and his family. He portrayed Dwarf Seneb with his wife holdinghim with her right arm and their two children in the place of the dwarf's shortlegs. This group is made of painted limestone and was found in Seneb's tomb inGiza north of Chephren's pyramid.

Sheikh ElBalad (Dynasty V)

This is the mostfamous wooden statue belonging to theOldKingdom. It is the statue ofthe noble Kaaper who was also known as the great priest. You can seethe dignity reflectedon his features. The eyes are made of quartz embedded incopper lids. It is made of a single block of sycamore wood, apart from thearms. When it was found in 1860 nearSakkarah, it reminded the workers who discovered it of their « Chief of theVillage » or a Sheikh El Balad »,the mayor's assistant, hence itsname.

A groupof black granite (Dynasty XVIII) This is a group ofblack granite representing the mayor Senefer of Thebes sitting beside his wifeSenetnay with their daughter Mut-neferet between them. It dates back to the 18thdynasty during the reign of AmenhotepII.