Madrasa of Amir Sunqur Sa'di

Foundation and construction in the Mamluk period Amir Sunqur Sa'di was the commander of the "royal mamluks" under Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, and a secretary of the army (''na'ib al-jaysh''). courtyard, now located below the floor of the Mevlevi lodge. Modern excavations in the middle revealed a 9th-century Tulunid fountain.|alt= Between 1315 and 1321 CE (715-721 AH), Sunqur Sa'di built a madrasa (possibly intended as a khanqah), a convent (ribat) for women, and a mausoleum for himself. Elsewhere, Hasan Sadaqa is described in historical sources as a wealthy notable, possibly a merchant, who sponsored the building, while his own cenotaph describes him as a Sufi sheikh. The Mevlevis adapted the site for use as a lodge (a takiyya or mawlawiyya) for their order. The original donation by Yusuf Sinan is well-documented and even contained instructions for the establishment's staff and their salaries: these included an imam, a muezzin, and 38 people required for performing the sama (whirling dervish), along with maintenance staff. During further archaeological investigations and restoration of the mausoleum between 2002 and 2007, the marble remains of the unused cenotaph of Sunqur Sa'di were found in the centre of the mausoleum chamber and reconstituted. ==Description==

The madrasa structure itself only partially remains today, as the Mevlevi order built their facilities on top of it. The mausoleum and the sama ceremonial hall are in better shape and have been restored in recent times. The Mamluk-era structure decoration on the mausoleum exteriorThe building's entrance from the street is through a doorway under a canopy of stone-carved decorations. To the left is the mausoleum and the former madrasa, marked by a dome and minaret at the building's corner. The exterior surface of the mausoleum dome, as well as the exterior of the minaret, are covered in lavish carved stucco decoration that is considered uncommon in Mamluk architecture. The minaret's overall shape is typical of the Bahri Mamluk period, with a square shaft and a fluted cap with a keel-arch profile, that is similar to the minaret of the Mausoleum of Salar and Sanjar al-Jawli. Inside, the madrasa's remains are located beneath the 19th-century Sufi lodge's theatre. The walls of the madrasa are made of ablaq (two-coloured) stone, around a central sahn around which were large iwans, and multiple smaller rooms. Only the northwest iwan remains today, adjacent to the mausoleum chamber. In the central courtyard are the remains of a fountain with a lobed profile, excavated during modern restorations, which dates from the Tulunid period in the 9th century. In another corner, an even older well (dating from before 850 CE) was also discovered. squinches and Arabic inscriptions in stucco. Most of the inscriptions are from the Maqama of al-Hariri'', rather than from the Qur'an. The mausoleum chamber is under the northwestern dome (visible from the street), at the structure's northern corner, and contains the cenotaph of Hasan Sadaqa. It is , meaning it is not quite square, and the dome above is slightly elliptic as a consequence. The squinches (the transition zones between the round dome and the square chamber) are composed of pendentives with muqarnas forms, with colored glass windows in between. The chamber's decoration otherwise consists of carved stucco bands containing Arabic calligraphy inscriptions, on arabesque backgrounds, running along the walls. One extraordinary feature of this mausoleum is the fact that these lengthy inscriptions are not from the Qur'an or any other religious text. Instead, they are excerpts from the Maqamat al-Hariri, a collection of stories by the poet al-Hariri which describe the adventures of a vagabond and trickster, Abu Zayd, who travels and relies on his wits and eloquence to survive. Although the Maqamat al-Hariri is valued as a work of Arabic literature and appears to have been popular with the Egyptian Mamluks of Sunqur's era, the decision to include this type of text instead of Qur'anic verses or other religious selections is considered bold and unusual. It may be that Sunqur was a connoisseur of literature, or that he simply had eccentric tendencies, which manifested here. The only Qur'anic inscription in the mausoleum is a short circular inscription of the Throne Verse at the apex of the dome. The rooms of the ribat, built by Sunqur Sa'di, are now offices for the Italian-Egyptian Center for Restoration and Archaeology, which restored the building and opened the museum. The grounds also include a garden which was part of Qawsun's palace next-door but integrated into the precinct by the Mevlevis. 19th-century Mevlevi Sufi lodge ceremonial hall (the ''sama'khana''). The painted decoration dates from 1857.|alt= The Sufi ritual hall/theatre, known as a ''sama'khana (Arabic, "House of Listening") or semahane'' (Turkish), is made largely of wood, in an architectural style reminiscent of late Ottoman Baroque. It is built above the former madrasa's courtyard. The hall is , and is centered around a wide circular floor, under another wide dome, where the sama was performed. The floor is surrounded on all sides by a two-storied gallery, though the old northwest iwan is still accessible on one side. The theatre's current structure was built in 1810 while the decoration dates from 1857. The decoration includes scenes of landscapes, gardens, and birds painted under the dome, plus a circular Arabic inscription at the dome's apex. == See also ==