The Mohamed Ali Mosque is not the only mosque within the walls The silhouette of the Mohamed Ali Mosque at the Citadel of Salaheddin is the most familiar landmark on Cairo's skyline, writes Rasha Sadeq . It is this mosque, built in the 19th century and modelled on the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, that draws most visitors to the Citadel. No less Turkish in inspiration, though, is the Suleiman Pasha Mosque, a smaller and older mosque which lies at the far end of the Citadel enclosure. But like any tourist on my way there through the complex from the entrance in Salah Salem Street, I could not resist taking a glimpse at the other mosques and museums. The Mohamed Ali Mosque, also called the Alabaster Mosque because of the shining marble which covers its inner and outer walls, was built between the years 1830 and 1848 but not completed until the reign of Said Pasha in 1857. Designed by the Turkish engineer Yusuf Boshtaq, the mosque owes no debt to the Mameluke style but rather to the Ottoman, and closely resembles its exemplar, the Blue Mosque, also known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. The Mohamed Ali Mosque is in two parts: the covered space (the place of prayer) measures 41 metres square and has 136 windows, while the open courtyard is about 54 metres square. Surrounding the huge main dome are four half- domes, and covering the corners are four smaller domes. The primary colours of blue, green, yellow and red painted on the multi- levelled domes make the Islamic embellishments especially eye- catching. Curiosity drew me to the Bir Yusuf (Joseph's Well), also called the Bir Al-Halazun (Spiral Well), but unfortunately it was under reconstruction and not much could be seen. The Yusuf referred to, incidentally, was Salaheddin, not the Prophet Joseph. It was dug by the Amir Qaraqush during the original construction of the Citadel in the 1170s. The entrance is covered by a tower and leads down to the shaft itself. The 10-square-metre shaft is 87 metres deep and cut perpendicularly through the limestone. The water seeps into the base through natural channels, while another shaft is spirally cut around the central well. I was so taken by the beauty of the Citadel that I was forgetting where I'd been planning to go, so I made for the Suleiman Pasha Mosque 150 metres away at the northeast of the enclosure. This mosque was built in 1528 and thus predates the Mohamed Ali Mosque by more than 400 years. It was the first mosque in Cairo to be given an Ottoman forecourt. One climbs a flight of steps to the entrance, but the exterior is rather plain with no indication of the lavishness of the interior which I had seen in photographs. The guard, an old man aged at least 85, was a great help in showing me round the mosque. It was built by Suleiman Al-Khadem during the Mameluke period, and is divided into two parts. The first part includes the mosque itself and a section of the courtyard. Inside the mosque to the right of the door is the mihrab (niche), made of polychrome marble, and the minbar (rostrum), made of plain white marble with pierced panels on the side, while to the left is a bench for the Qur'an reader and a door leading to the courtyard. The ceiling takes the shape of domes and half-domes embellished in an Islamic style. The upper parts of the walls, the interior of the domes and all the woodwork are richly decorated with painted foliate and geometrical motifs and inscriptions, all the work being original and the effect overwhelming. The guard told me that, as with the Mohamed Ali Mosque, the dome was modelled on the Blue Mosque. The second part begins at the courtyard, which was constructed by the Shi'ite Prince Al-Mortadi Magd Al-Khelafa Abu-Mansour. The courtyard leads to two study areas (madaris) where the boys, at the time of the Mamelukes and of the Darawish -- men who dedicated their entire life to prayer and gained spiritual prestige among people -- studied the Qur'an before moving on to the Al-Azhar Mosque to learn more about religion and language. "Did you take a picture?" the guard repeatedly asked me. I followed the old man as he took me into a locked room which he called "Maqam Sariat Al- Gabal", the Sariat Al-Gabal dwelling. I felt a chill as I stepped into the room; it was like a mini cemetery. On the right were the graves of a man and his wife, and on the left a flight of stairs leading down to a brown door behind which, the guard said, was another coffin. I took one step further to find a stone, tent-like grave for five members of a Turkish family. Beside it lay a small, symbolic marble tomb for another Turkish family of four males and three females. At one end were four marble sticks, on each of which was the symbol of a man in the form of a tarboosh (fez) or a turban. At the other end were three sticks with floral carvings on the top to symbolise the women of the family. In the corner was another small room with the large coffin of Sariat Al-Gabal covered by a green cloth on which were written verses from the Qur'an. My guide informed me that Sariat Al-Gabal Bin Abdel-Malek Bin Kinana Al- Qorashi was one of the companions of the Prophet Mohamed. "Did you take a picture?" he added. I wondered about the story behind the strange name. It seems that Sariat Al-Gabal had been standing on top of the mountain of Medina which was surrounded and besieged by the Roman- Byzantine army. Omar Bin Al- Khattab, also one of the companions of the Prophet Mohamed, called upon Sariat Al-Gabal to take shelter from the Byzantines. That was how he came by the name Sariat Al-Gabal, "The one who stands on top of a mountain to observe". Seeking the blessing of the holy man, Suleiman Pasha Al-Khadem was buried next to Sariat Al-Gabal. The Al-Madbutat (Stolen Goods) Museum was my next stop. This is a museum to house artefacts that have been stolen and recovered. Two sarcophagi captured my attention. One was that of a man, Bady-Ist, who is portrayed as protected by the spread wings of the gods. The other was for a woman, Heros-ense. On each sarcophagus chapters from the Book of the Dead are written in hieroglyphs. My last call was to the National Police Museum, which lies at the northwest of the Citadel. I had heard of Rayya and Sakina, the murderous sisters who for a long time eluded police. There are photographs of the two women and their husbands, along with their grisly story. In 1921, about 30 young women were reported missing in Alexandria, all of whom were wearing jewellery at the time of their disappearance. Lieutenant Kamal El-Tarabolsi and his assistant Mahmoud Salah were assigned to investigate the cases. A witness said that she had seen one of the missing girls with two unidentified women in the Cascade Gardens. Through the mother of one of the missing girls, a homicide officer was able to identify a bracelet belonging to a missing girl at the jewellery shop of Mohamed Ali Hassan in Manshiya. The jeweller reported that it had been sold to him by two women he did not know. On 28 March, 1921, the police received a report from a plumber who said that while he was digging pipes he found a human head and a beheaded body buried in the ground. The police investigated the site and found a total of 11 bodies. On being questioned, the owner of the house said it had been occupied by Hassab-Allah Said, his wife Rayya Ali Hammam, their daughter Nefissa, aged 10, and Mohamed Abdel-'Al and his wife Sakina Ali Hammam. He also reported that they had moved out two weeks earlier. A woman reported that she had seen Rayya and Sakina returning to their house one night with a chicken dealer whom she knew personally. Two hours later, the woman heard a subdued cry, but next morning the two sisters denied this. The woman, however, noticed the chicken dealer's shoes on Sakina's feet. In response to this report the police visited the house, but found no one there. On searching the house they found eight bodies buried in the basement. They also searched a house in Kom Al-Dikka and found five more bodies. Further investigations led to a new address in a remote part of Alexandria. A plan of attack was carried out in which Salah, the lieutenant's assistant, was disguised as a professional criminal visiting the suspects. At his signal, a squadron attacked the house and arrested Hassab- Allah Said and Mohamed Abdel-'Al. They confessed that the rest of the gang were now living in Assiut, and there they were arrested, Rayya and Sakina included. They all admitted that, in each case, Rayya, 45, and Sakina, 43, had lured the victims to their house in a variety of ways. Once inside the house the victim was suffocated with chloroform, killed and, after her jewellery was taken, was buried inside the house. On 21 December 1921 the criminal court of Alexandria headed by Ahmed Mursi Pasha condemned both Rayya and Sakina to death along with four other members of the gang. This ended the worst serial killing case of the era. In the Police Museum are photographs of Adham El-Sharqawi, the Egyptian Robin Hood who stole from the rich to give to the poor, and of the serial killer El-Khot, But this will have to wait for my next visit: the Citadel was closing, and I had run out of time. Practical information The Citadel opens from 9am to 5pm. Entry is LE20 for tourists, LE10 for foreign residents and students and LE1 for Egyptians.
