El-Aqmar Mosque (Gray Mosque)
Within a brass and copper merchant's district one finds the El-Aqmar, or Gray Mosque, built
in 1125. It is one of the few surviving examples of Fatimid architecture. The interior is almost
original, though the minaret is not. Its name, meaning moonlit, is derived from the pale stone
used in its construction. The Fatimids, intending a long rule, abandoned the earlier use of brick
and stucco in favor of stone. Hence, the structure is innovative as one of the first to employ a
stone facade, and the stalactite decorations in recesses on either side of the entrance are the
earliest examples of this popular style which would be used extensively by the later
Mamelukes. Above the entrance there is a typical Fatimid keel-arch with niche ribbing, also
used here for the first time, with a very fine medallion set into the niche. Again, we find the
typical structure such that the exterior facade aligns with that of its physical world, while the
interior reflects the religious world, using wall thickness to align the qibla wall with the direction
of Mecca.
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Design, Layout and Graphic Art by Jimmy Dunn, an InterCity Oz, Inc. Employee
All content, Graphic Art, Design, Layout, and Scripting Code Copyright 1996 by InterCity Oz, Inc.