In
Cairo Bab Zuweila is a medieval gate, which
is still standing. It is famous in history because
in the Mongol era the heads of six messengers
of Hulagu (the Mongol leader) were hanged on
it as a response of the Egyptian Sultan to Hulagu's
threats of attacking Egypt.
Before 1087, Cairo was not really
much of a fortified city with its sun dried brick
walls, though this weakness had demonstrated itself
on occasions. The city had outgrown these old walls,
and along with the attempts by the Turkoman Atsiz
to take Cairo, among other threats from the east,
clearly there was a need for additional fortification.
That year, Badr ad-Din el-Gamali, an Armenian and
the visor of El-Mustansir, employed three Armenian
Christian monks from Edessa in eastern Turkey to build
the three main gateways of the Fatimid wall made of
stone which was to provide fortification. This explains
their Byzantine-Syrian style These massive gates are
called the Bab (gate) el-Futuh, Bab an-Nasr and Bab
Zuwayla. They are each protected by flanking towers.
These gates remain some of the grandest and oldest
monuments in Cairo. This work marks the beginning
of a newly cultivated taste for stone in Cairo.
Though
the city quickly moved beyond this gate Bab Zuwayla,
sometimes called al-Mitwalli after El Kutb al-Mitwalli
by some local inhabitants, defines the southern limits
of the Fatimid City. It is named after the al-Zawila,
a Berber tribe whose Fatimid soldiers were quartered
nearby. Bab al-Mitwalli is a name dating to Ottoman
times since the wali of the janissaries or commander
of the police force charged with maintaining public
order, had his residence and headquarters near here.
However, that same name is also that of a Islamic
saint named Mitwalli al-Butb, who had lived by the
gate and worked miracles. The gate became a venue
for those in need of the saint's intercession. His
spirit is supposed to live behind the west side of
it, where he is said to sometimes flash a light to
let one know he is there.
The
two minarets that helix from the towers belong to
the Mosque of al-Mu'ayyad, which is located just
inside the gate. They were placed atop the gate
some 400 years after it was built, and make it seem
far mightier than the Northern Gates. These minarets
sit on semi-circular towers that are solid stone
for two thirds of their height. The inner flanks
of the towers near the entrance are decorated with
lobed arches. These arches had been used earlier
in North African architecture, and must have been
introduced by craftsmen accompanying the Fatimids
conquest of Egypt. This type of arch is often seen
in later Fatimid and Mamluk architecture.
The
towers flank a recessed, highly articulated gateway
and are joined above the gateway by a curtain wall.
To
support the dome over the entrance passage of Bab
Zuwayla, some Spherical, triangle pendentives are
used. Inside the vestibule to the right, coming
from the south, there is a half domed recess with
two exquisitely carved arches at the corners. They
have a tri-lobed curve and the upper part is treated
like a shell.
The left-hand side was modified when Sultan al-Mu'ayyad
built his mosque.
At
the apex of the panels the arabesque medallions
on the towers and the medallion on the keystone
of the vault of the loggia above its great archway
are representative of Fatimid techniques. Looking
at Bab Zuwayla from within the city, one sees a
gabled roof between the two towers that clearly
show the Byzantine origins of the gate architecture.
Indeed, most features of the walls
and gates are completely foreign to Islamic art,
aside from some Quranic inscriptions.
Perhaps
has a somewhat richer tradition. But Bab Zuwayla
is very similar in design
to the other gates.
Regarding
the gate with Mitwalli al-Qutb, until the early part
of the 20th century, the gate was hung with rotting
teeth, filthy rags, and all sorts of monstrous tokens
of sickness and disease because of the tradition.
If
any one had a headache, it would go away if one drove
a nail into Zuweila, the reflection for that was the
huge wooden gates were therefore defaced with thousands
of nails. If anyone had a toothache, one simply need
is to pull it and hang it on Zuweyla and the pain
would disappear.
The
sultans used to watch the start of the mahmal procession
from the platform extending between the two towers
on the inside in the early Mamluk period. This was
the annual caravan who took the new kiswa, or cloth
covering fro the Ka'ba, which was woven in Egypt,
to Mecca. This platform was also used by the ceremonial
drummers who played there every evening and who signaled
the arrival into the city of amirs who commanded forty
or more Mamluks. Having some sort of ceremonial orchestra
at the city gates was an old oriental tradition. The
gate was also the venue of dancers and snake charmers.
Yet,
by the early 15th century, al-Maqrizi described the
place as being very unlucky. It was the site of executions,
and it was here for example, that Sultan Salim the
Grim hung the last of the Mamluk sultans, Tumanbey
from its entryway in the 16th century (1517). Unfortunately,
the rope broke twice before his neck did. When the
Mongols sent emissaries to Cairo demanding its surrender,
they were promptly sliced up and their heads hung
on this gate. Dishonest merchants might be hung from
hooks or ropes, while beheading, impalement or garroting
were favored for common criminals at the gate.
The
barbells high up on the western gate tower are exactly
what they seem to be, leftovers from a medieval physical
fitness program. The full glory of the gate is best
seen from the south, but one should note the strikingly
medieval passage just on the north side of the gate.
Bab
Zuwayla was the subject of a careful restoration,
in 2001. The western gate tower, the turret and the
minarets are now open to the public, and can be visited
through a door next to the mosque. Inside, relics
are on display, as well as votive offerings left by
local residents for Mitwalli al-Qutb. The minarets
of the mosque provide a wonderful view of Islamic
Cairo. East of the gate the ruins of the Fatimid city
wall extend for about one hundred meters, but are
concealed by modern buildings. In the opposite direction,
the wall makes up one facade of the Mosque of al-Mu'ayyad.
