Unlisted historic monuments of the Eastern Cemetry (the "Dessert of the Mamluks") in Cairo, Egypt
The Eastern Cemetery in Cairo
The vast Muslim cemeteries of Cairo, often referred to as the “City of the Dead”, stretch for more than eight kilometres,are of exceptional cultural value because of their unique character as a historic urban unit, form a part of a World
Heritage site that includes some of the city’s most important historic monuments, and are home to hundreds of
thousand people. The Eastern Cemetery section (sahrat al-mamalik] is located to the east of the historic ity. It is
sometimes also referred to as the Northern Cemetery, and in the past was often erroneously named “Tombs of the
Caliphs.” It was first developed in the first half of the 14th century, was the burial ground for sultans and dignitaries in
the Mamluk period (1250 ~1517) and later continued as a cemetery for prominent families. Beginning with Khedive
Tawfiq (d. 1892), members of the Egyptian royal family were buried in the Eastern Cemetery, attracting other
prominent families. Unlike at European cemeteries, the mausolea in the cemetery were huge multifunctional religious
complexes that permanently employed a considerable number of people, so the “City of the Dead” has always been
also the city of the living. Nowadays, the area is place of living and work for a numerous community.
The Forgotten Heritage
The Eastern Cemetery contains numerous listed historic monuments, mainly from the Mamluk period, including some of exceptional value. In contrast, none of its 19th- and 20th-century monuments enjoy legal protection, in spite of their often high artistic value, great aesthetic appeal, and historical importance. The significance of these unlisted monuments derives from the intrinsic artistic value of their design, from the complex relation to the mediaeval architecture of the area that inspired the design, as well as from the historical importance of people buried therein, and of the neo-Mamluk style that at the time of the building was perceived as an expression of Egyptian national identity. Typical funerary monuments are walled enclosures containing tombs and rooms built by the enclosure walls for families visiting the cemetery, a popular custom that still continues. Nowadays, many of these rooms are inhabited, and the enclosures turned into residential courtyards. Usually, the inhabitants are not intrusive squatters, but are in some relation to the families of the buried, which is one of the qualities that make the neighbourhood a unique urban and social landscape. Residential houses have also been built here for a long time.
The Recording Project
After unsuccessfully seeking funding from various donors for years, in 2022 ARCHINOS Architecture started documenting the unlisted heritage of the “Desert of the Mamluks” with funding from the European Union Fund. ARCHINOS is a Cairo-based consulting office incorporated in Egypt in 2008 and drawing on its key personnel’s much longer experience in the country and the region. It specialises in historic preservation including conservation of cultural heritage, in designing in historic context and adaptive reuse of historic buildings, in museum and exhibition design, and in planning and organising cultural events. ARCHINOS has been working in the “Desert of the Mamluks” for many years, since 2014 running in the Sultan Qaitbey area of the cemetery a project that grafts together historic preservation, cultural activities, and social development work, which has been funded primarily by the European Union and the Drosos Foundation. The European Union which after completion of the documentation by ARCHINOS intends to process the records to be compatible with the database of the EAMENA (Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa) project.