Wf1/4624(9)

Inscription: Signed 'Frith' in the negative.

Genre: Urban Topographical Photography

Caption sub-titled: 'With the Mosque of Mohammad 'Alee, from a cemetery to the south-east, at the foot of the Gebel El-Mukattam.' Distant view of the Citadel, with the Mosque of Muhamad Ali rising prominently at its centre: 'The Citadel (El-Kal'ah) was founded by Salah-ed-Deen (Saladin, A.D. 1176-7). It overlooks Cairo from the south-east, crowning a rocky hill 250 feet above the level of the plain; and was constructed mainly of the material of a number of small pyramids, adjacent to those which still form conspicuous, though distant objects, as seen from this elevation. The great mosque within its walls we watched for years in its slow progress [the mosque was only completed in 1857]. It is the Mosque of Mohammad 'Alee; and there, by his direction, he was interred. The architecture is of a mixed character, and not rich in decoration, though the building is very costly: its columns are of alabaster, and its proportions have a certain grandeur; but the minarets, being very lofty, and peculiarly slender, produce an incongruous effect. To the right of it is the extensive ruined mosque of the Sultan Mohammad Ibn-Kala-oon, with two minarets, and the base of a dome. It was built in the early part of the fourteenth century. On the round tower, a little more to the right, may be traced a telegraph, the first of a series extending to Alexandria ... The lower strata of the Mukattam range will interest the geologist, and many a powerful glass will be used to magnify the base, which, in two semicircular projections, is happily brought into the right of the view. The Gebel El-Mukattam commands the Citadel, as the latter commands Cairo. Between them runs a shallow valley, in which the most interesting objects are the cemetery in this view, and the picturesque houses and enclosures attached to it. These were erected for the accommodation of mourners who periodically pay their visits here to wail at the tombs of their relations and friends ...'