Research Catalog

The Sultan's fountain : an imperial story of Cairo, Istanbul, and Amsterdam

Title: The Sultan's fountain : an imperial story of Cairo, Istanbul, and Amsterdam / Agnieszka Dobrowolska, Jarosław Dobrowolski.
Author: Dobrowolska, Agnieszka.
Publication: Cairo ; New York : American University in Cairo, 2011.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	NA9413.E3 D69 2011	Off-site

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xiii, 182 pages : chiefly color illustrations; 24 cm

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The small sabil-kuttab (a charitable foundation particular to Cairo that combines a public water dispensary with a Quranic school) built in 1760 opposite the venerated Sayida Zeinab Mosque is almost unique in Cairo: it is one of only two dedicated by a reigning Ottoman sultan, and - astonishingly - it is decorated inside with blue-and-white tiles from Amsterdam depicting happy scenes from the Dutch countryside. Why did the sultan, Mustafa III, cloistered in his Istanbul palace, decide to build a sabil in Cairo? Why did he choose this site for it? How did it come to be adorned with Dutch tiles? What were the connections between Cairo, Istanbul, and Amsterdam in the middle of the eighteenth century? The authors answer these questions and many more in this entertaining and beautifully illustrated history of an extraordinary building, describing also the recent conservation efforts to preserve it for posterity. - Inside front cover.

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Columbia University Libraries