User:Fatemehebrahimi199/Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr

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Golden mosaic in Umayyad Mosque of Damascus

The Mausoleum of Shajar-al Durr is a building commissioned and constructed by the female Ayyubid Sultan Shajar al-Durr. It is located outside of the city walls of Qahira on al-Khalifa Street or Shurafa Street and is believed to have been built in the Islamic year 648 A.H. (1250 CE). This mausoleum serves as the formal resting place of the queen and commemorates her legacy and rule. Architectural features of this mosque, along with the broader architectural patronage of Shajar al-Durr, influenced future Mamluk architecture.

Shajar al-Durr was an Ayyubid queen and architectural patron who reigned formally as the official sultan of Egypt in May, June, and July of 1250 C.E. following her husband’s death. She is variously referred to as Shajar al-Durr or Shajarat al-Durr (“Tree of Pearls”), the mother of the Sultan’s son, or by her Muslim name, ‘Ismat al-Dunya wa al-Din (“Virtue of the World and the Religion”). Born a slave of Turkic origins, Shajar al-Durr was given to Sultan al-Salih as a gift and eventually became the sultan’s wife. She bore him a son named al-Ashraf Khalil in 1238 C.E. but did not survive beyond a few months. The birth of al-Ashraf Khalil impacted Shajar al-Durr’s social standing and endowed her with political stature. In her lifetime, her status changed from slave-concubine wife, regent, widow, and sultan. She remained a powerful figure at the side of the military commander, who eventually replaced her as the sultan in the seven years following her reign.

Shajar al-Durr’s reign marked the end of the Ayyubid dynasty’s rule of Egypt, Syria, and the Jazira and the start of rule by the Mamluks, an elite corps of military slaves beginning in 1250 C.E. Her architectural patronage of building complexes in Cairo, which combined the civic function of education with the commemorative function of the memorial, had a lasting impact on Islamic architecture.

Mausoleum

The Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr was part of a larger complex that included a madrasa, bathhouse, mosque, palace, and garden. All but the Mausoleum were destroyed by French troops, who occupied the area in the early 19th century.  The Mausoleum functions to commemorate her memory; unlike other mausoleums, it does not serve to memorialize her lineage or the lineage of the Ayyubid Dynasty since she had no previous family or surviving offspring. Shajar al-Durr’s mausoleum also became a place of worship and meeting for women in Cairo much like many other tombs around the city.

The Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr contains 3 entrances. The qibla wall of the Mausoleum contains no exterior doors but it protrudes outward to indicate its significance. Ornamentation on the outside contains several stucco keel-arch niches with scalloped edges, hoods, and fluted lozenges. Above each entrance on the interior, additional keel-arch niches are bordered by two smaller rows of shallower niches with floral motifs, creating a stalactite effect referred to as muqarnas. On the interior walls of the mausoleum, unfinished blue and green foliage and arabesque designs were discovered after a recent renovation and can be seen on the stucco squinches supporting the dome above.

These Fatimid palace wood beams from c. 11th century are similar to the spolia placed in the Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr.

Mosaic from the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

The pointed dome measures 11 meters in diameter, and the square base is 7 meters on each side, united by a highly detailed transition zone.  Two wooden beams run across the mosque’s four walls. Repurposed by Shajar al-Durr as spolia, the beams were originally created for a Fatimid palace. They contain Kufic Naskhi inscription of the Quran ayah 2:255 in cartouches interspersed with poly-lobed medallions. Additional friezes were made to commemorate her as the mother of Khalil, which plausibly dates the mausoleum before Izz al-Din Aybak’s rule.

On the interior, the mihrab is embellished with a concave golden mosaic within a braided border observed on the Eastern qibla wall. It contains a swirling arabesque design with gilded tesserae depicting a tree with lotus buds and pearlescent orb-shaped fruits. This display was the first mosaic and use of tesserae in Egypt at the time, showing the multicultural influences employed in Cairo. The inlay is reminiscent of the mosaics in both the Ummayyad Great Mosque of Damascus and Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Shajar al-Durr possibly saw these buildings while accompanying al-Salih on army campaigns and took inspiration from them for her own mausoleum. With the assistance of skilled artisans, she crafted her mausoleum with the influences of these noble sites. Unlike the dark blue and green colors present in mosaics from Damascus and Jerusalem, Shajar al-Durr adopts a simplified color pallet for her mausoleum. Instead, her mosaic includes the colors black, green, gold, and red. Additionally, mother of pearl inlays within the mosaic allude to the meaning of her name “Tree of Pearls."  

The Mausoleum exhibits influence from Syria and incorporates spoila from a Fatimid palace to commemorate Shajar al-Durr as sultan. After acquiring the throne from her late husband al-Salih, she obtained much of his estate and thus utilized funding and other resources to construct her own tomb. While construction of al-Salih’s mausoleum was underway, Shajar al-Durr’s tomb was also being assembled by the same artisans who created the Mausolea of the Abbassid Caliphs. This is evident in the architectural elements of a high pointed dome, a square base, and a middle transitional zone speckled with trios of carved-out hexagonal windows. Stucco detailing is seen on the exterior of the building with fluted keel arched niches that reflect the Fatimid-Ayyubid architectural style of this era.

Architectural Contributions:

Shajar al-Durr, using her status as Sultan al-Salih’s favorite wife, was a notable architectural patron in Cairo. Architectural patronage served to establish power and legitimacy, for “as a woman, former slave, and an affine (related through marriage but not blood) of the Ayyubid household, her position could not be anything but precarious.”   Both Shajar al-Durr and Sultan al-Salih contributed to the “huge and imposing” citadel in Cairo, originally built by Saladin, as Ayyubids worked to reconfigure the building to serve ceremonial purposes. To this building, Shajar al-Durr added a throne room, known as Martabat Khatun. Also, according to historian al-Maqrizi, Shajar al-Durr built a residence for herself attached to the Tulunid palace.

Once al-Salih died in 1249 at the age of 44, the responsibility for building a mausoleum “to house his mortal remains and commemorate his deeds” fell to Shajar al-Durr. Thus, the construction of al-Salih’s tomb was left entirely up to Shajar al-Durr because al-Salih’s son Turanshah was unwilling to complete the task. The tomb was purposefully constructed adjacent to the Salihiyya madrasa, a school built by al-Salih and Shajar al-Durr, in order to commemorate his good deeds. She sought to include unique and extravagant aspects to the structure taking approximately six months to complete.

Demonstrating continuity between Fatimid and Ayyubid architectural styles, both the madrasa and mosque emphasize Fatimid-derived exterior ornamentation. This included stucco keel-arches, which left “a lasting legacy” on Cairo and eventually became “a hallmark of Mamluk architecture." One year after his death, in 1250, the remains of Sultan al-Salih were installed within his tomb. Her decision to build his tomb adjacent to the madrasa he commissioned became “an innovation that was followed in the endowed complexes of Mamluks.” This began a trend in Cairo in which the tomb of a patron would be attached to the contribution they had given to the city and is seen in the connection of the tomb and his madrasa. In doing this Shajar al-Durr effectively changed the course of Egyptian architecture from then on.

Legacy:

Renovations and research continue on the complex today. Historic accounts suggest that Qalawun, who came to rule as a Mamluk Sultan in the years following Shajar al-Durr’s death, possibly added gilded mosaics to the mausoleum in the 1280s. However, these accounts are unconfirmed and most likely were constructed by al-Durr herself. Centuries later in 1902 and 1927-1930, the Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l’art Arabe conducted preservation on the mausoleum by recovering its exterior surfaces and removing crumbled fabric. Again in 1990-2006, the Ministry of State for Antiquities preserved its appearance by adding another stucco finish layer to the building. Finally, during the building's 4th restoration headed by Athar Lina and overseen by May al-Ibrashy in 2015 and 2016, restoration efforts uncovered the presence of wall paintings in the transition zone of the mausoleum. These paintings, dated to the same year as the dome's construction in 1251, contained motifs of greenish-blue lotus buds and swirling arabesque in poly-lobed panels.