page_title: City of the Dead (Cairo)
section_title: Mamluk period (1250-1517 CE)
hierarchical_section_title: City of the Dead (Cairo) / History / Mamluk period (1250-1517 CE)
caption_attribution_description: English: The mausoleum (partly ruined) of Princess Khawand Tughay or Umm Anuk, wife of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, buried here in 1348. The remains include the large dome seen here and a large vaulted iwan next to it. There used to be another, smaller, dome on the other side of the iwan, but that has disappeared. The other prominent dome in the background is that of the Tomb of al-Ashraf Azrumuk, dating to 1504.
context_page_description: The City of the Dead, or Cairo Necropolis, also referred to as the Qarafa, is a series of vast Islamic-era necropolises and cemeteries in Cairo, Egypt. They extend to the north and to the south of the Cairo Citadel, below the Mokattam Hills and outside the historic city walls, covering an area roughly 4 miles long. They are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of "Historic Cairo".
  The necropolis is separated roughly into two regions: the Northern Cemetery to the north of the Citadel, and the older Southern Cemetery to the south of the Citadel. There is also another smaller cemetery north of Bab al-Nasr.
  The necropolis that makes up "the City of the Dead" has been developed over many centuries and contains both the graves of Cairo's common population as well as the elaborate mausoleums of many of its historical rulers and elites. It started with the early city of Fustat and arguably reached its apogee, in terms of prestige and monumentality, during the Mamluk era. Throughout their history, the necropolises were home to various types of living inhabitants as well.
context_section_description: The Mamluk sultans (1250 to 1517) were prolific builders, but most of the sultans and Mamluk elites preferred to be buried in monumental mausoleums attached to mosques and madrassas built in the city rather than in the Qarafa. In 1290, they established a new cemetery just south of the Citadel, east of the existing cemetery around the tomb of Sayyida Nafisa, on land formerly used for military training and exercises. Only a relatively modest number of Mamluk funerary monuments were built here, although they were of high architectural quality and some remain today. The most significant foundation here appears to have been the Zawiya of Shaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf in 1299, which attracted pilgrims and formed the core of a new habitable district which later became the neighbourhood of al-Qadiriya.
  Under the long reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (1293-1341), Cairo's prosperity led to increased use of the Qarafa necropolis and to its revitalization, with the "Smaller Qarafa" of Ayyubid times (around the Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i) now re-merging with the "Greater Qarafa". This period marked the height of Cairo's wealth and power, and in turn probably marked the high point of the Qarafa in terms of prestige and splendor.
  In the later 14th century Cairo's population declined significantly due to the arrival of the plague. Despite the disasters, Mamluk elites continued to build extensively across Cairo. The focus of development, however, shifted from the old Qarafa, which was by then fully saturated, to new areas of development north of the Citadel, which later became what is now known as the Northern Cemetery. This desert area located between the Citadel, the city walls, and the Moqattam hills was crossed by the important pilgrimage road which led to Mecca. The road grew in importance during the Mamluk period as the Mamluks' military dominance in the region ensured the safety of the pilgrimage route. The road was dotted by buildings such as caravanserais, restaurants and stables which serviced travelers. Starting in 1265, Sultan Baybars turned the area into a large hippodrome for equestrian games, training, and military parades, and it became known as Maydan al-Qabaq. In 1320, Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad put an end to the games and the military functions of the area were abandoned, but it came to be inhabited by Sufi orders searching for space outside the crowded city. In turn, the Mamluks began to build their mausoleums here, also looking for more space. The Bahri Mamluks built some funerary structures here, most notably the mausoleum of al-Nasir Muhammad's favourite wife, Princess Tughay (also known as Umm Anuk), who was buried here in 1348, making it one of the earliest surviving structures in the Northern Cemetery today. Her mausoleum was accompanied by a khanqah for Sufis, which became a recurring architectural format for future funerary complexes. It was the Burji or Circassian Mamluks, however, who contributed the most and in their time the new Northern Cemetery came to surpass the old Southern Cemetery (the old Qarafat al-Kubra) in terms of splendor. As elsewhere in the city, their monuments were typically a combination of mausoleum, mosque, madrassa, khanqah and other functions. However, here they were able to build much larger complexes spread over a wider area. Many historians believe that the scale and nature of the constructions point to deliberate efforts at urbanizing the area, rather than simply using it as another necropolis. The funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay, for example, considered a masterpiece of Mamluk architecture, is often described as a "royal suburb", since it included a host of services and establishments to serve both short-term stays and long-term residents. The population of the cemetery in the mid-15th century is estimated to have been around four thousand people.
  The Bab al-Wazir Cemetery, just north of the Citadel walls and south of the main Northern Cemetery, also dates from the Mamluk period. Starting in 1348, a number of Mamluk amirs built mausoleums and religious foundations in this area, fo
caption: View of the Mausoleum and Khanqah of Khawand Tughay (or Umm Anuk), the wife of al-Nasir Muhammad, built before 1348 in the Northern Cemetery
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