b mosque of al Nasir, completed
1303, with a fine portal. East of the Khan-el-Khalil is the mosque of El
Hasan[=e]n, which is invested with peculiar sanctity as containing relics
of Hosain and Hasan, grandsons of the Prophet. This mosque was rebuilt in
the 19th century and is of no architectural importance. In all Cairo
contains over 260 mosques, and nearly as many _zawias_ or chapels. Of the
gates the finest are the Bab-en-Nasr, in the north wall of the city, and
the Bab-ez-Zuw[=e]la, the only surviving part of the southern
fortifications.

_Tombs of the Caliphs and Mamelukes._--Beyond the eastern wall of the city
are the splendid mausolea erroneously known to Europeans as the tombs of
the caliphs; they really are tombs of the Circassian or Burji Mamelukes, a
race extinguished by Mehemet Ali. Their lofty gilt domes and fanciful
network or arabesque tracery are partly in ruins, and the mosques attached
to them are also partly ruined. The chief tomb mosques are those of Sultan
Barkuk, with two domes and two minarets, completed AD. 1410, and that of
Kait Bey (c. 1470), with a slender minaret 135 ft. high. This mosque was
carefully restored in 1898. South of the citadel is another group of
tomb-mosques known as the tombs of the Mamelukes. They are architecturally
of less interest than those of the "caliphs". Southwest of the Mameluke
tombs is the much-venerated tomb-mosque of the Imam esh-Shafih or Shaf'i,
founder of one of the four orthodox sects of Islam. Near the imam's mosque
is a family burial-place built by Mehemet Ali.

[Illustration]

_Old Cairo: the Fortress of Babylon and the Nilometer._--About a mile south
of the city is Masr-el-Atika, called by Europeans Old Cairo. Between Old
Cairo and the newer city are large mounds of debris marking the site of
Fostat (see below, _History_). [v.04 p.0955] The road to Old Cairo by the
river leads past the monastery of the "Howling" Dervishes, and the head of
the aqueduct which formerly supplied the citadel with water. Farther to the
east is the mosque of Amr, a much-altered building dating from A.D. 643 and
containing the tomb of the Arab conqueror of Egypt. Most important of the
quarters of Masr-el-Atika is that of Kasr-esh-Shama (Castle of the Candle),
built within the outer walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon. Several
towers of this fortress remain, and in the south wall is a massive gateway,
uncovered in 1901. In the quarter are five Coptic churches, a Greek convent