Dr Manniche is a well-known Danish Egyptologist and author of several books includingEgyptian Art (in Danish) and Erotic Life in Ancient Egypt. When a tomb was constructed, depending upon one's wealth and status, an offerings chapel was also built so that the soul could receive food and drink offerings on a daily basis. In the immense historical necropolis of Cairo, the fences fail to hide the rubble of the destroyed mausoleums of the City of the Dead, a UNESCO world heritage site, to build the controversial road to Ferdaus, the “paradise”. North of the historic city is also the Bab al-Nasr Cemetery, named after the northern city gate, which covers a much smaller area than the other two. In 1907, the neighbourhood of Imam al-Shafi'i was connected to the rest of Cairo by a streetcar line which stretched from here to the Pyramids in Giza (though it no longer exists today). It originally developed separately from the rest of the Northern Cemetery but it too dates back to the Mamluk period. The cemeteries are filled with a vast number of tombs dating from various periods up to the modern day. [1][3] The tombs themselves were often a better alternative to squatting or low-quality housing in the inner city, as they provided already-built structures with relatively ample room, although with little access to amenities. He was also the first king to return to Saqqara after several of his predecessors had preferred Abusir, to the North of Saqqara, for their burials.The two other royal monuments built here belong to Pepi I and his son Merenre I, both of the 6th Dynasty. Such was the importance or fame of Pepi I's funerary complex, that its name, mn-nfr was applied to the nearby city of Memphis by later generations. To the south, Saqqara borders on Dashur, which some Egyptologists consider only to have been an extension of Saqqara. [8][9] The palace was later destroyed by Salah ad-Din and the mosque is no longer extant today. This 9 square kilometers area is usually divided into two parts: Saqqara-North and Saqqara-South, which, in turn, can be divided into smaller necropoleis. 1-888-834-1448. [3][1] In fact, the majority of the residents live in regular urban housing and neighborhoods which, through various historical circumstances, developed inside the cemetery zones. At some distance to the South of Sekhemkhet's unfinished complex, three kings built their pyramids. His tomb is of major religious and spiritual importance for many, as an important site of baraka and an attraction for pilgrims from across the Muslim world. It can be divided into the following cemeteries: Massive sarcophagus of a deceased sacred Apis bull in the Serapeum at Saqqara.Source: Phys.org. The Northern Cemetery (also called the Eastern Cemetery, or Qarafat ash-sharq in Arabic, because it was east of the city walls) is relatively younger than the main Qarafa to the south and dates back to the Mamluk period. Al-Qarafa, known as the 'City of the Dead,' is a four-mile-long cemetery from the northern to the southern part of Cairo, Egypt's capital. They are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of "Historic Cairo". [1], Towards the end of the Fatimid period, the necropolis may have declined as the political situation worsened. At its center, the area around the mosque of Qaitbay and north of it is an urbanized neighborhood with multistory apartment blocs. [7], The Bab al-Wazir Cemetery, just north of the Citadel walls and south of the main Northern Cemetery, also dates from the Mamluk period. [1] North of this, the cemeteries around the Sayyida Nafisa Mosque are separated from the rest of the necropolis by the modern Salah Salem ring road, and form the neighbourhood of al-Khalifa which blends into the main urban fabric of Cairo at this point. The presence of Taghrid's palace and mosque may have encouraged them to be buried here alongside the rest of Fustat's population. Its first tombs, dated to the beginning of the 1st Dynasty, were built on the ridge of the desert plateau, probably immediately to the west of the new capital of Memphis. Egypt teases biggest discovery of the year from ancient ‘City of the Dead’ Archaeologists excavating a site claim they’ve found something “very exciting” in an underground shaft labelled the “City of the Dead”. [1] Today, many Egyptians avoid the area at night and believe that the cemeteries are predominantly inhabited by social outcasts and are places of greater criminal activity. [1], In the later 14th century Cairo's population declined significantly due to the arrival of the plague. The site is just outside the village of Lisht, Egypt. [1], The Mamluk sultans (1250 to 1517) were prolific builders, but most of the sultans and Mamluk elites preferred to be buried in monumental mausoleums attached to mosques and madrassas built in the city rather than in the Qarafa. [1] These new establishments, like the old Mamluk ones, included various services which required the constant presence of workers and, by extension, the provision of housing for them. In 1966 the government banned anyone from staying in the cemeteries after sundown, but were unable to enforce this. His tomb became one of the most important sites in the cemeteries even up to the present day, attracting many pilgrims and spurring development in the area at different periods.[1][7]. The province was highly important to the empire for its agricultural and financial support, and governors were often appointed from the highest circles of the Sultan's regime. Picture: AFP. A densely-inhabited urban neighborhood exists east of the Imam al-Shafi'i complex and is generally known by the same name, while another urban bloc, al-Qadiriya, exists directly south of the Sayyida Aisha Mosque and the former gate of Bab al-Qarafa. Saqqara is located near the entrance of the Nile Delta, at the point where the river starts dividing into several arms, on the west bank of the Nile. [13] The intensified urbanization of Cairo itself, and the exclusion of the poorest from government initiatives, resulted in a more urgent need for informal or improvised housing. Since September, archaeologists have uncovered 160 ancient coffins in Saqqara, the Egyptian city of the dead, having remained undisturbed for some 2,500 years. Like many parts of modern Cairo, the neighborhoods here developed in part through the construction of unregulated "informal" housing; which is to say low-cost constructions, often apartment blocs, built privately without the official approval of authorities. (courtesy Khalil Hamra / AP) When one mentions Egypt’s city of the dead, first things that come to mind are mummies, temples and tombs … These were especially important to the Shi'i version of Islam of which the Fatimids were adherents. Throughout its almost 3.000 year long history, Saqqara expanded to cover an area of 6 kilometers from north to south by 1,5 kilometers from east to west. At some distance to the South of Sekhemkhet's unfinished complex, three kings built their pyramids. It is possible that during Pepi's time, Memphis, which probably had started out along the East-side of the edge of the Northern plateau of Saqqara, had grown to have its centre located almost directly to the East of Pepi's pyramid. Share on Twitter. The district, as a whole, has an estimated population of around 108,000 in 2019; however, the district also covers other dense urban areas outside the Qarafa cemeteries. However, starting in the late 19th century and increasing in the 20th century, the pressure of Cairo's intensive urbanization and its ensuing housing shortage led to a large increase in the number of people living in the necropolis zones. It was used and extended during the, , with most of the oldest mastabas closest to the Archaic Tombs. Some of their projects appear to have been designed to urbanize the area, and an estimated population of 4,000 may have already lived here by the mid-15th century. It is located within the Al-Gamaliyya qism (district) of the Cairo Governorate. At the bottom of the municipal burial shaft of the Mummification Workshop (30 m deep), which was discovered in 2018. [16], The southern tip of the Northern Cemetery zone is also referred to as the Bab al-Wazir Cemetery, named after the former Bab al-Wazir city gate nearby. The cemetery continued to be used well into the, To the west of this cemetery, a gallery of tombs for the sacred bulls of Apis, and known today by its Greek name Serapeum,  was constructed from the, The north cemetery consists mainly of late 5th Dynasty tombs, with the tombs of two of Unas' queens. It is possible that during Pepi's time, Memphis, which probably had started out along the East-side of the edge of the Northern plateau of Saqqara, had grown to have its centre located almost directly to the East of Pepi's pyramid. She has also written and illustrated children's books including The Prince who knew his Fate, The Ancient Egyptian Activity Book and The Lion and the Mouse . a technique used by ancient egyptians to preserve human bodies so that they may serve as the eternal home of the immortal ka. [1] During the plague years in the 15th century, the authorities at one point officially banned people from living in the Qarafa, which left many structures unguarded and vulnerable to looting. [1] Badr al-Gamali is responsible for the construction of the nearby city walls (including the gate of Bab al-Nasr), and his decision to be interred here may have marked the beginning of the cemetery, whose fortunes subsequently rose and fell along with those of the surrounding neighborhoods. The Fatimids even built three shrines which were intended to house the remains of Muhammad and of the first two Shi'a caliphs/imams, but the remains were never moved here. Ancient Egyptian ‘city of the dead’ discovery reveals ‘elite’ mummies, jars filled with organs and mystery snake cult. Afp photo Cairo. They were found underground in a zone now dubbed the 'City of the Dead' by some. This can be explained by the fact that during the larger part of the 4th Dynasty, Giza was the main burial place and by the fact that there appear to have been fewer high officials during this 4th Dynasty. The area where the Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'icurrently stands … The ancient Egyptians buried their dead in Saqqara which is 20 miles south of Cairo in the Western Desert for some 3,000 years. [7], Directly south of the mosque, across the Salah Salem road, is the neighborhood of al-Qadiriya, centered around the street by that name. [7], Today, the area east of Imam al-Shafi'i's mausoleum is a densely populated neighborhood named after him, the eastern part of which is also known as al-Tunsi. The spooky never-before-seen video shows a sprawling 'city of the dead' beneath the sands of Saqqara, 20 miles south of Cairo. [12]) By 1947, the census had calculated the population of the districts including the cemeteries at 69,367, with population density having increased by a large factor. [1] Among other measures, the Aqueduct of Ibn Tulun, built to provide water to al-Qata'i and passing through this area, was repaired. Its origins date back to the foundation of Fustat, the first Muslim city and capital of Egypt, established in 642 CE. Starting in 1348, a number of Mamluk amirs built mausoleums and religious foundations in this area, forming another small necropolis still visible today, though it did not blend with the rest of the Northern Cemetery until later. The researchers uncovered a 2,600-year-old cache of mummified animals, including cats, cobras, crocodiles, and the first-ever lion cubs. [1] Later, during Nasser's presidency in the 1960s, the government even built public housing on the edge of the Imam al-Shafi'i neighbourhood to house some of the people displaced by the construction of the Salah Salem highway, and some schools were also built. The cemeteries are located in what were arid desert areas outside the main city and just outside the traditional floodplains of the Nile. This place is also known and spelled as Sakkara or Saccara. Wooden coffins on display during the unveiling of an ancient treasure trove of more than 100 intact coffins at the Saqqara necropolis 30km south of the Egyptian capital Cairo, on November 14, 2020. The City of the Dead, or Cairo Necropolis, also referred to as the Qarafa (Arabic: القرافة‎, romanized: al-Qarafa; locally pronounced as al-'arafa),[1] is a series of vast Islamic-era necropolises and cemeteries in Cairo, Egypt. Archaeologist team leader Dr. Ramadan Hussein said: "The tomb contains mummies of both rich and poor people, as well as evidence of the … A number of other historical mosques and monuments are in the area, including the Mausoleum and Zawiya of Shaykh Zayn al-Din Yusuf (dating from 1298-1299), on al-Qadiriya street, whose presence was probably an early catalyst for settlement in that area. The cemetery's original site was probably just east of Fustat (near the Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i), and expanded from there, with the focus of development shifting to different areas in different periods. [1] Starting in 1265, Sultan Baybars turned the area into a large hippodrome for equestrian games, training, and military parades, and it became known as Maydan al-Qabaq. There is also another smaller cemetery north of Bab al-Nasr. [7] It is now overshadowed by the Salah Salem bypass. [1] Nonetheless, a number of famous historical figures are believed to be buried here, including the Fatimid vizier Badr al-Gamali, the scholar and traveler Ibn Khaldun, and probably the historian al-Maqrizi; though unfortunately the locations of their tombs are now unknown. On a clear day, its most prominent monument, Netjerikhets Step Pyramid, can be seen from Giza, which lies some 17 kilometres to the North, and from Dashur, about 10 kilometres to the South. [7][1], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}30°02′48″N 31°16′35″E / 30.04667°N 31.27639°E / 30.04667; 31.27639, Mamluk funerary architecture in the Southern Cemetery, circa 1867, Mamluk funerary architecture in the Northern Cemetery, circa 1860, Bab al-Wazir Cemetery, photographed late 19th century, Ottoman rule and Khedival period (16th-19th centuries), Recent history (20th century to present day), Sayyida Nafisa Mosque and al-Khalifa neighbourhood, Sayyida Aisha Mosque and al-Qadiriya neighborhood, Population and socioeconomic status (present day), Tozzi Di Marco A. Il Giardino di Allah. The penultimate and last royal funerary monuments that were built at Saqqara are the pyramid complex of Pepi II, at some distance to the northwest of Shepseskaf’s tomb; and the small pyramid of Ibi, to the Northeast. [1], Ottoman rule was suddenly ended by Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt in 1798. These included the workers whose professions were tied to the cemeteries (e.g. Many of the coffins are said to still contain the bodies of the people who were buried inside. Ancient Egyptian ‘city of the dead’ discovery reveals ‘elite’ mummies, jars filled with organs and mystery snake cult A new burial chamber was uncovered along with a wide grave complex with five burial chambers. Charlotte Edwards, The Sun November 10, 2020 7:15pm The name is a toponym derived from the Banu Qarafa ibn Ghusn ibn Wali clan, a Yemeni clan descended from the Banu Ma'afir tribe, which once had a plot of land in the city of Fustat (the predecessor of Cairo). [1] Only a relatively modest number of Mamluk funerary monuments were built here, although they were of high architectural quality and some remain today. Dating to the seventh century, el-Arafa’s graves are not your typical coffin setup. The City of the Dead has been characterized as a slum;[18] however, this characterization is not endorsed by everyone and has been criticized for relying too heavily on the story of the "tomb-dwellers" (people squatting in the tomb structures), whose existence has been sensationalized in the media and whose numbers are almost certainly greatly exaggerated or misconstrued. [1] The funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay, for example, considered a masterpiece of Mamluk architecture, is often described as a "royal suburb", since it included a host of services and establishments to serve both short-term stays and long-term residents. It contains the tomb of 'Aisha, the daughter of Ja'far al-Sadiq, the sixth Shi'i Imam and a descendant of Muhammad. Hussein said that the mission conducted non-invasive testing, called X-ray fluorescence, on the gilded silver mask that was discovered on the face of the mummy of a priestess of the goddess Niut-shaes. The early Muslim city was divided into multiple khittat or plots of land that were allocated to different tribes, and each tribe in turn built their own cemetery and funerary district - often including a mosque - in the desert area to the east of the city. The cemeteries are registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Historic Cairo and contain numerous historic mausoleums and religious sites from a wide range of periods. Today it is sandwiched between two major roads: Shari'a Salah Salem to the west and Kobri Al Ebageah to the east. [1] East of Kobri Al Ebageah is the slum settlement of Manshiyet Nasr rising into the Mokattam hills. The areas around the unfinished pyramid of Sekhemkhet and the so-called Great Enclosure have not yet been fully explored. [1] It contains another cluster of monuments in various states of preservation, such as the restored Mausoleum of Tarabay al-Sharifi and the distinctive tall narrow dome of the Mausoleum of Yunus al-Dawadar. The UNESCO World Heritage Site entry for Historic Cairo refers to this area as the "Qaytbay Necropolis", given the fame of Qaytbay's mausoleum. 6 miles) with 4,000 meter (13,000 feet) peaks looming above the village. The term appears to be specific to this context, and is not used to denote cemeteries in other places like the countryside, nor is it necessarily used in other Arabic dialects. The picture shows the historic necropolis of the City of the Dead in Egypt’s capital Cairo. Hamunaptra (also known as City of the Dead) is a fictional Egyptian city that first made its appearance in the 1999 film The Mummy. [20][3] The combined population of the al-Khalifa and Manshiyet Nasr administrative districts, based on previous census data, is estimated at around 375,000 in 2019. [3], Today, the neighborhoods are similar in quality to other working-class Cairo neighborhoods and have limited but relatively decent infrastructure, including water, electricity, schools, a post office, and other facilities. Set in a remote area of the vast Sahara, Hamunaptra held such high importance that none but the Medjai and the High Priest of Osiris could ever know its location. [1] Throughout their history, the necropolises were home to various types of living inhabitants as well. The news was announced by Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities on Thursday amid ongoing excavations at Tuna el-Gebel—an archaeological site approximately 270 kilometers (167 miles) south of Cairo, nicknamed the City of the Dead. [15][1] In 2020, concerns were raised about the government's plan to build a bridge through the Northern Cemetery, which has resulted in some early 20th-century mausoleums being demolished, with little consultation from locals.[12]. [1] These did not supplant the Great Palaces (located on the site of Bayn al-Qasrayn today), but served as leisurely retreats from the city and as places to stay while visiting the tombs of Muhammad's descendants. [1] After the brief French occupation, Muhammad 'Ali, an Ottoman pasha sent from Istanbul to restore order in 1805, established his own ruling dynasty over Egypt. Tombs from the same family are often grouped together and enclosed in a walled structure or courtyard known as a hawsh or hosh (Arabic: حوش‎; which also has a generic architectural meaning). Saqqara North stretches between the Archaic Tombs just south of Abusir, and the unfinished complex of Sekhemkhet. [1][7], The Southern Cemetery (also known as the "Greater Qarafa", "Qarafat al-Kubra", or simply "the Qarafa"[1][7]) is the largest and oldest necropolis. [1] The tomb enclosures, typically walled structures built to house the tombs of one extended family (also known as a hawsh), are nonetheless considered better, in some respects, than poor-quality housing elsewhere in the city. in ancient egypt, the linen headdress worn by the pharaoh, with the ureaus cobra of kingship on the front. The latter were re-established in Cairo in 1261 by Sultan Baybars following the Mongols' destruction of Baghdad, but they were subsequently restricted to a strictly ceremonial role within the Mamluk Sultanate.[7]. [7] It lies close to the Citadel walls, adjoining the district of al-Darb al-Ahmar, and is cut off from the rest of the cemeteries by the modern Salah Salem road. Ancient Egyptian ‘city of the dead’ discovery reveals ‘elite’ mummies, jars filled with organs and mystery snake cult. On a clear day, its most prominent monument, Netjerikhet’s Step Pyramid, can be seen from Giza, which lies some 17 kilometres to the North, and from Dashur, about 10 kilometres to the South. Saqqara-South requires much more research for us to better understand not only the evolution of Saqqara as the most important Memphite necropolis, but also of the history of Egypt as a whole. [14], The phenomenon of "tomb-dwellers" (people squatting in tombs because of displacement or lack of housing in the city) probably peaked in the 1980s, when they are estimated to have been around 6,000 in number. [1][3] Official attitudes have varied from modest measures to improve living conditions to bold proposals to forcibly move the inhabitants, but no overarching plan has been put into effect so far. This desert area located between the Citadel, the city walls, and the Moqattam hills was crossed by the important pilgrimage road which led to Mecca. The French, citing hygiene reasons, banned all burials inside the city, and cemeteries within the city walls were eventually destroyed and the remains of their occupants moved, leaving only the Qarafa (which was outside the city walls) as Cairo's major burial ground. Its first tombs, dated to the beginning of the 1st Dynasty, were built on the ridge of the desert plateau, probably immediately to the west of the new capital of Memphis. However, many Fatimid officials and elites chose to be buried in the Qarafa. Mountain looming over Dargavs: The City of the Dead ( Wikimedia Commons ) The first mention o… In this early period, monumental mausoleums were quite rare, graves were unadorned, and only the most important tombs might have had some distinguishing structure at all, as early Islam discouraged ostentatious tombs. [5]:190, Under Ottoman rule (1517–1798), Egypt became a province of a vast empire with Istanbul as its capital. 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