A panoramic Interior

alsalam alaikom

this is the interior of the nilometer ............

Important Notes

Alsalam alaikom

some notes on the nilometer and its construction


1- this is the oldest original Islamic monument in Egypt...........even Amr Ibn-El-AAS mosque is older than this.........but the original mosque doesnt exist now..........

2- the nilometer was maintained during Ibn TULUN period and in Suotan Qaitbay period and along the time it was maintained regularly................so.........the main building is original from the Abbasid period but maintained along the time......................the last maintainence was during the Ottomans and they added a new Dome  as it is clearly Ottoman Dome pencil-like .

3- the coloumn of the measurment went down by 6 cm (2.5 in) in the 1900s and it was maintained

4- the coloumn is based on wood which is called Gemmeez wood.........i dont know its name in English but it is so called in Arabic......Gemmeeez................it isnt affected by water...............nice brains really :D............i like these open - minded people.................greetings to El-ferghany .................the muslim architect which built this .

Nilometer old picture

Alsalam alaikom


this is an old shot was taken while the nilometer was working.........


notice again this pointed arch.......................study its proportions well

Nilometer old painting

Alsalam alaikom

this is the nilometer of rawda .................we can see how water was measured

nice painting.....................plz.............notice that pointed arch .....
we will talk about it later isA ( if ALLAH wish )

مقياس النيل.............مقدمة

من نماذج العمارة الاسلامية في مصر: مقياس النيل بالروضة


المرجع: كمال الدين سامح، العمارة الاسلامية في مصر، القاهرة، 1991.

- يعد مقياس النيل بالروضة من المنشات العباسية، و قد عرف المصريون منذ أقدم العصور تشييد المقاييس في شتى أنحاء البلاد ليتعرفوا على ارتفاع النيل نظرا لعلاقته الوثيقة بري الارض و تحصيل الخراج. و تشير المصادر العربية إلى العديد من المقاييس التي أنشئت بمصر بعد الفتح العربي لها منها:

v معاوية بن أبي سفيان( 41-60 ﻫ): مقياس انصنا .

v عبدالعزيز بن مروان: أنشا مقياس بحلوان سنة 80 ﻫ .

v بنى أسامة بن زيد التنوفي عامل الخراج، مقياس في الروضة في عهد الوليد بن عبدالملك(86 -96 ﻫ) سنة 92 ﻫ و قد أبطل سليمان بن عبدالملك العمل به فانشأ غيره في سنة 97 ﻫ، أي بعد خمس سنوات.

و في سنة 247 ﻫ أمر الخليفة المتوكل ( 232 – 248 ﻫ) بإنشاء المقياس الذي عرف بعدة أسماء منها:

* المقياس الهاشمي * المقياس الجديد * المقياس الكبير *مقياس الروضة

و يذكر المؤرخ ابن خلكان أن اسم الخليفة المتوكل كان منقوشا في شريط من الحجر يحيط بأعلى فوهة البئر، و قد شيد على يد احمد بن محمد الحاسب، و تحيط بشخصية هذا المهندس الغموض حيث يقول البعض:

1. الذي بنى المقياس هو مهندس عراقي اسمه محمد بن كثير الفرغاني في ولاية يزيد بن عبدالله التركي.

2. قال البعض أن اسمه ابن كاتب الفرغاني و انه كان قبطيا، لكن يقول كريزويل أن الذي ينسب إلى فرغانة التي هي جزء من دولة الفرس لا يمكن أن يكون قبطيا.

3. زعم البعض أن احمد بن محمد الحاسب و احمد بن كثير الفرغاني ما هما إلا شخص واحد و في هذا يقول بوبر، انه هو نفسه احمد بن المدبر الذي ولي خراج مصر.

و ما يزيد من حدة هذا الخلاف أن النقش الحجري الذي أشار إليه ابن خلكان فقد أثناء إصلاحات احمد بن طولون ( 254- 270 ﻫ).

- و هذا المقياس الأثري عبارة عن:

1. عمود رخامي مدرج و مثمن القطاع يعلوه تاج روماني يبلغ طوله 19 ذراع، حفر عليه علامات القياس.

2. يتوسط العمود بئر مربع مشيد بأحجار مهذبة روعي في بنائها أن يزيد سمكها كلما زاد العمق، و على هذا شيد البئر من ثلاث طبقات: السفلى على هيئة دائرة، يعلوها طبقة مربعة ضلعها اكبر من قطر الدائرة، و المربع العلوي و الأخير ضلعه اكبر من المربع الأوسط. و جدير بالإشارة أن سمك الجدران و تدرجه على هذا النحو، يدل على أن المسلمين كانوا على علم بالنظرية الهندسية الخاصة بازدياد الضغط الأفقي للتربة كلما زاد العمق إلى أسفل.

3. يجري حول جدران البئر من الداخل درج يصل إلى القاع.

4. يتصل المقياس بالنيل بواسطة ثلاثة أنفاق يصب ماؤها في البئر من خلال ثلاث فتحات في الجانب الشرقي، حتى يظل الماء ساكنا في البئر، حيث أن حركة المياه في النيل من الجنوب إلى الشمال و بالتالي لا يوجد اتجاه حركة للمياه في الناحية الشرقية و الغربية.

5. يعلو هذه الفتحات عقود مدببة ترتكز على أعمدة مدمجة في الجدران، ذات تيجان و قواعد ناقوسية.

6. و يرتكز العمود الوسطي على قاعدة من الخشب الجميز لأنه الوحيد الذي لا يتأثر بالمياه و ذلك لتثبيته من أسفل، و مثبت من أعلى بواسطة tie-beam أي كمرة، و عليه نقش بالكوفي لآية قرآنية.

7. و عن النقوش و الكتابات الأثرية في هذا المقياس:

· في الجانب الشمالي و الشرقي كتابات أثرية بالخط الكوفي.

· في الجانب الجنوبي و الغربي نقوش ترجع إلى أيام احمد بن طولون سنة 259 ﻫ عندما أصلحه و انفق عليه ألف دينار.

- و قد تناولت يد الإصلاح و التجديد مقياس النيل:

· في عهد احمد بن طولون- مؤسس مدينة القطائع في مصر- و قد أصلحه و جدده سنة 259 ﻫ، و في هذا الإصلاح فقدت النقوش الحجرية التي أشار إليها ابن خلكان كما سبق الذكر.

· عهد الخليفة المستنصر إلى وزيره بدر الجمالي بتجديد المقياس سنة 485 ﻫ و بنى مسجدا في جانبه الغربي عرف بمسجد المقياس.

· قام السلطان الظاهر بيبرس(658- 676 ﻫ) بإضافة قبة فوق بئر المقياس في القرن السابع الهجري.

· تمت بعض الإصلاحات في عهد الاشرف قايتباي ملك مصر(872-901 ﻫ)

· كما شهد إصلاحات أخرى في العهد العثماني على يد كل من:

- السلطان سليم الأول ( 918 – 926 ﻫ )

- السلطان سليمان القانوني ( 926 – 974 ﻫ)

- السلطان سليم الثاني ( 974 – 982 ﻫ)

· حظي بنصيب من جهود الحملة الفرنسية سنة 1214 ﻫ/ 1799 م فنظفوا بئر المقياس من الطمي المتراكم في قاعه كما أضافت قطعة من الرخام مقدارها ذراع إلى عمود القياس و نقش عليها تاريخ 1215 ﻫ/ 1899م.

· قامت وزارة الأشغال العمومية سنة 1305 ﻫ/1887 م بتنظيف المقياس مرة أخرى من الطمي المتراكم بداخله.

· بعد هذه الإصلاحات هبط عمود المقياس بمقدار 3 سم ثم 6سم، فقامت مصلحة المباني بالاشتراك مع لجنة حفظ الآثار العربية بأخذ الاحتياطات اللازمة لإيقاف الهبوط، و كان ذلك عام 1343 ﻫ/ 1925م.

- و عن وظيفة المقياس هو معرفة كمية مياه النيل و بناء عليها يعرفون ما إذا كانت ستروى جميع الأراضي أم سيأتي موسم جفاف أو فيضان، و في هذا:

· إذا كان ارتفاع مياه النيل 16 ذراعا، يعد بشيرا بوفاء النيل و أن الأراضي ستروى و يكون الخراج كافي لسد احتياجات الدولة.

· إذا كان ارتفاع مياه النيل اقل من 16 ذراعا، كان علامة على قدوم الجفاف، و من ثم يهيئ الدولة لأخذ الاحتياطات اللازمة.

· إذا كان ارتفاع مياه النيل أكثر من 16 ذراعا، كان علامة على قدوم فيضان.

Plan & Section of the Nilometer

Alsalam alaikom

this is the plan of the nilometer................u can easily find that is squared ...............it is circular at the botton to be more convinient with water movement

the section view illustrates the three levels of the nilometer :

1- the people level
2- the man who take the readings level
3- the bottom level


we can give the second levels several horizontal levels as the water go up and down and it is clear that the stairs are the only circulation unit

Nilometer of Rowda in Cairo

alsalam alaikom


this is what we call Mekyas el neel


Nilometer is the name given to one of several devices that are different in design but that all serve the same function: measuring water levels in the River Nile and thus allowing the keeping of comparative historic records.

Every summer, torrential rains in the highlands of Ethiopia cause a drastic increase in the volume of water flowing into the Nile from its tributaries. Between June and September, the reaches of the Nile running through Egypt would burst their banks and cover the adjacent flood plain. When the waters receded, around September or October, they left behind a rich alluvial deposit of exceptionally fertile black silt over the croplands. The inundation – akhet in the Egyptian language – was one of the three seasons into which the Ancient Egyptians divided their years. (See Season of the Inundation.)
Rodah Nilometer, Cairo. David Roberts, 1840s lithograph

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the annual flood to Egyptian civilization. A moderate inundation was a vital part of the agricultural cycle; however, a lighter monsoon than normal would cause famine, and too much flood water would be equally disastrous, washing away much of the infrastructure built on the flood plain. Records from Pharaonic times indicate that on average, one year of out every five saw an inundation that was either over-abundant or fell short of expectations.

The ability to predict the volume of the coming inundation was part of the mystique of the Ancient Egyptian priesthood. The same skill also played a political and administrative role, since the quality of the year's flood was used to determine the levels of tax to be paid, in kind, by the peasantry to their rulers. This is where the nilometer came into play, with priests monitoring the day-to-day level of the river and announcing the awaited arrival of the summer flood.

The simplest nilometer design is a vertical column submerged in the waters of the river, with marked intervals indicating the depth of the water. One that follows this simple design, albeit housed in an elaborate and ornate stone structure, can still be seen on the island of Rodah in central Cairo. While this nilometer dates only as far back as 861 AD, when the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil ordered its construction, it was built on a site occupied by an earlier specimen.
Nilometer on Elephantine Island

The second nilometer design comprises a flight of stairs leading down into the water, with depth markings along the walls. The best known example of this kind can be seen on the island of Elephantine in Aswan. This location was also particularly important, since for much of Egyptian history Elephantine marked Egypt's southern border and was therefore the first place where the onset of the annual flood was detected.

The most elaborate design involved a channel or culvert that led from the riverbank – often running for a considerable distance – and then fed a well, tank, or cistern. These nilometer wells were most frequently located within the confines of temples, where only the priests and rulers were allowed access. A particularly fine example, with a deep, cylindrical well and a culvert opening in the surrounding wall, can be seen at the Temple of Kom Ombo to the north of Aswan.

While nilometers originated in Pharaonic times, they continued to be used by the later civilizations that held sway in Egypt. In the 20th century, the Nile's annual inundation was first greatly checked, and then eliminated entirely, with the construction of the Aswan dams. While the Aswan High Dam's impact on Egypt and its agriculture has been controversial for other, more complex reasons, it has also had the additional effect of rendering the nilometer obsolete.

The whole region

The lantern from the minaret :D

this is the lantern from the minaret.............................nice shot

Sultan Qaitbay mosque interoir

nice shot for that interior.....................not mine :D

The way to the minaret top

this is the stairs.................it is spiral upwards

this too for the stairs

I was there............above the minaret صورة من فوق المئذنة

yes..........it is me ........................it is too difficult to go upward a minaret but i did it


really fantastic feeling when u r in the top

need ur comments

Dome details تفاصيل القبة

Details of Al-mihrab تفصيلة في المحراب

A detail in AL -mihrab................down2up photo

Al-mihrab in Sultan Qaitbay mosque المحراب

This is Al-mihrab - directing to MAKKA to AL KAABA -in Sultan Qaitbay Mosque and the top area with the radiation rays like a light to reveal the truth

المحراب في مسجد السلطان قايتباي و في الجزء الأعلى منه يوجد الاشعاع الذي يعبر عن اشعاع النور و الحق و يرمز كذلك الى المركزية

Door details تفصيلة باب

This is a door detail in Sultan Qaitbay mosque...................................

تفصيلة باب في مسجد و مدرسة السلطان قايتباي

Google Earth it

The lantern outside

this is the lantern ...........you can realize that it is built from wood

it has environmental role their to renew the air and getting the light in

الشخشيخة The lantern

This is the lantern from inside......................it provide light to the interior and increases the spiritual experiment

As usual it has octagons and octagonal stars

Ceiling...................Islamic Art

This is a very beautiful part of the Islamic Art................it is the ceiling of Sultan Qaitbay mosque ....................u can find how accurately were these people............it is really fantastic......................every inch and every point..........................Greeting really for Moslims.............
Soon there will be a video here :D

Sultan Qaitbay Minbar

alsalam alaikom

this is a piece of Sultan Qaitbay Minbar ( the place where the khateeb tell a speech ) ..........................it indicates the whole Islamic Architecture soul and princibles

Islamic Architecture - or Islamicture as i call - has the centrality, all from one and all that refers to Tawheed..............Worshipping one God .......ALLAH

Sultan Qaitbay mosque discribtion

Egyption Mosques - Table Of Contentes
Egyption Mosques Manuscript
5.THE MAMLUK PERIOD, 648 - 923H. (1250- 1517 A.D.) .

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38- THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN QAYT- BAY (IN THE MAMLUK CEMETERY) 877- 879H.(1472- 1474) .
THE founder of this mosque was al- Malik al- Ashraf Abu an- Nasr Qayt- Bay, who was brought to Egypt by a slave- dealer, Mahmud ibn Rustum, in 839H. (1435/36). He was bought by al- Malik al- Ashraf Barsbay, and remained among his Mamluks until he was sold to al- Malik az- Zahir Abu Sa'id Jaqmaq, and remained in his service until he set him free. He subsequently occupied several offices until he ascended the throne in Ragab 872H. (1468). His reign lasted for twenty nine years and a few months, and he died in 901H. (1496) , at the age of about eighty- six.
Muslim architecture flourished greatly in his reign. Numerous and varied structures were built; they were characterised by their good proportions, rich ornament, and fine craftsmanship. Although he paid special attention to military buildings, founding the Qayt- Bay fortress in Alexandria, and the fort of Rosetta, he also preoccupied himself with civil and benevolent establishments, thus constructing houses, wikalas, sabils, and drinking- troughs, of which there are many in Cairo. He also repaired and renewed many of the buildings founded by his predecessors.
His care for the construction of mosques was in no way less than for buildings of other kinds. In Cairo, he built three well known mosques, the first at Rawda, the second at Qal'at al- Kabsh, and the third, to which is annexed his mausoleum, in the Mamluk Cemetery, sometimes known as Qayt- Bay's Cemetery.
This mosque is not only a prominent landmark of the cemetery, but also a magnificent specimen of a Mamluk mosque of the end of the ninth century H. (15 th A.D.) , remarkable for fine craftsmanship, beauty of design, and magnificent decoration. Each part of it uncontestably shows that the highest standard of art had been reached. The façade, containing the entrance, the sabil (drinking fountain) with kuttab (for reading classes) above on the left, and the minaret on the right, as well as the dome at the back, forms a harmonious composition. Its minaret is one of the most beautiful of all the Mamluk period, both on account of its harmonious proportions and the magnificence and good distribution of its ornament. The dome also, with its beautiful decoration carved on the stone, may be regarded as one of the most beautiful of Mamluk domes. The same remarks apply to the rest of the façade, both as regards massing and richness of ornament.
The mosque is designed according to the cruciform madrasa plan. It consists of a covered sahn, with a shukhsheikhah (skylight) in the middle of its roof, surrounded by four iwans, the largest of which is the sanctuary. Above the arches runs a band of inscription, bearing the name and titles of the founder and the date of foundation (877H.).
The ceilings of the four ïw?ns and the sahn are decorated with beautiful gilded ornament, and are characterised by the harmony of their colours.
The stone mihrab in the centre of the qibla wall has a hood inlaid with two trefoils in red stone. Next to the mihrab is a wooden minbar, the two sides of which as well as the door, are decorated with geometrical designs and interlacing star patterns, carved and inlaid with ivory. The kursi (reader's seat) in the mausoleum, as well as the leaves of the built- in cupboards in the mosque, are decorated in the same way as the minbar.
The mausoleum is next to the qibla iwan, and is decorated in the same style as the rest. There is a dado of coloured marble, surmounted by a band of inscription, bearing the name and titles of the founder, as well as some prayers in his favour, some Qur'anic verses, and finally, the date of completion (879H.) In the upper part of the walls of the dome and iwans are windows of fine pierced stucco, decorated with coloured glass. The mausoleum, the iwans, and the sahn are paved with coloured marble.
The architect of the mosque has created a masterpiece in architecture and decoration. Qayt- Bay did not, however, stint the expenditure, so that the mosque, when finished, formed a masterpiece of fine art. The Department for the Preservation of Arab Monuments, towards the end of the 19th. century, took the greatest care in restoring this famous building. This restoration included the woodwork, marble, decoration, and stucco window- grilles.
Plates 124- 127.
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A historic shot of Sultan Qaitbay mosque

This is a historical shot of Qaitbay mosque.........................................it really presents how was the islamic architecture giving the mosque its importance .............................the islamic civilization is based on the religion of Islam..........so it has a very strong centrality to the mosque.........nice shot anyway

Main perspective

This is the main perspective of Sultan Qaitbay mosque.....................u can see clearly the proportions of the building is very suitable and perfect really...............waiting ur comments...

the minaret المئذنة

this is the minaret of Sultan Qaitbay mosque..................u can see how much detalis is there........................really great civilization

Sultan Qaitbay dome.............too

i like its shape.....................................u ?

The dome of Sultan Qaitbay mosque

salam alaikom

this is another shot for the dome ......................u can imagine how difficault was that to built it ....................................very beautiful really

The Dome

Realy this is rom the most beautiful domes in the mamluk architecture.................it has fantastic proportions and very nice scuptulars........................Sultan Qaitbay Mosque is a jewel in the Islamic Architecture.......................and it is a proto-type of mamluk architecture in Egypt.......................more fotos r coming soon

that was my photo :D

Kaitbay = Qaitbay = qaitbey = kaitbey =kaidbay

Kaitbay = Qaitbay = qaitbey = kaitbey =kaidbay

First interior object in Sultan Qaitbay mosque

alsalam alaikom

this is the first interior element u will meet when u enter Sultan Kaitbay mosque.................it is called el derka..........it is like a receiption area that tells the prayer..........mmmm........u r here in a mosque.........remember........it is not the same way as the life ..........so take care and change ur way to complete entering the mosque......................after that u will move write to enter the mosque.........more fotos will be uploaded soon...............waiting ur comments to improve this site