Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Inside Amir Taz Palace

Details from yard and the stables - like the pools.







Monday, May 30, 2011

Bathroom ceiling

The bathroom has an amazing coloured-glass ceiling.







Sunday, May 29, 2011

Water wheel and other appliances

The palace was kitted with water, brought up and distributed by an inner water wheel, and with what must have been a fairly well-equipped bathroom facility at the time!







Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Amir Taz

Amir Taz is a beautifully renovated Mamluk city palace, now opened as a museum.







Sunday, May 22, 2011

Roads of Arabia

A short weekend visit to St Petersburg this weekend included getting lost in the Hermitage - but on the plus-side was that I managed to sneak a peek at the "Roads of Arabia"-exhibition, featuring pre-Islamic archaelogical finds from Nabatean and other sites in the Arabian peninsula!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Early summer in Stockholm!

Lilacs, soon in bloom in our backyard! The deep purple ones are called Persian lilacs in Swedish, btw.





Sunday, May 15, 2011

#Jan 25 - talking about Egypt

Listen to Swedish journalist Bitte Hammargren in a 30minute interview on Egypt and the Arab world in 2011.

Off to Amir Taz!

Walking through really old residential districts of Cairo to the fairly recent Mamluk palace museum of Amir Taz (avid reader's of this blog have visited before!).









Friday, May 13, 2011

Mihrab!

Prayers are led and texts read from up front.







Vaults

Inside doors and vaults.





Thursday, May 12, 2011

Carpets and lamps

I really cannot convey the detail of the pieces - note the marks in the carpet, meant to guide the believers in lining up for prayer.









Sultan Hassan courtyard

Each door leads to a school specialized in a one of the sunni law-school traditions, all taught at the madrasa.





Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Inside Sultan Hassan

Very traditional setting with centred ablution fountain in courtyard, but exquisite style!





Current reading



I have only just started, but the subject is truly fascinating.

Monday, May 09, 2011

Outside details of Sultan Hassan

Outside and around the mosque - soon we get to peek in again!







Sunday, May 08, 2011

More Sultan Hassan

Entering Sultan Hassan, the porch and doorway are magnificent!