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A Drive Round Cairo 33
But when you have seen the Kait Bey Mosque, instead of
driving back through it, drive round it, and skirt the
Mohammedan cemetery till you reach the famous Tombs of
Mamelukes. The best of these mameluke tombs, which are
practically mosques, are not to be compared with the best of
the Tombs of the Caliphs on the other side of the Citadel.
But they. are mightily picturesque many of them, and noble
little pieces of architecture. And this cemetery is particularly
rich in picturesque minor tombs, built in the style of our altar
tombs or classical stelae, and enriched with Arabic inscrip-
tions in the gayest colours.
XLIV. The Mosque of Imam Shaf'yi
The ancient and famous mosque of Imam Shaf'yi to which
Saladin attached the first medressa, or collegiate mosqueschool,
lies on the edge of the Tombs of the Mamelukes.
I have seen pictures in the office of the Wakfs of very
ancient and beautiful decorations in this mosque, but I have
never been able to gain admission to it. It is one of the
three mosques from which Christians are supposed to be
excluded.
XLV. The Mounds of Fustat—the First Arab City
on the Site of Cairo
From here you can skirt the range of hills, for the mounds
virtually amount to hills, which cover the ruins of the first
Mohammedan city on the site of modern Cairo, generally
called Fustat. This was built by El-Amr, the general who
conquered Egypt for the Arabs soon after the establishment
of the Mohammedan religion, and was burnt in the middle of
the twelfth century to prevent its falling into the hands of the
Crusaders. Any one is allowed to excavate in these mounds,
and beautiful pieces of Arab pottery anterior to the fire are
discovered there. Many of them may be seen in the
Museum at South Kensington, and I have a collection of
pieces which I dug out myself, in company with Dr.
Llewellyn Phillips, the brilliant Cairo doctor. You can
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