The Cairo Citadel Aqueduct or Mamluk Aqueduct () is a medieval aqueduct system in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. It was first conceived and built during the

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

period (under Salah ad-Din and his successors) but was later reworked by several Mamluk sultans to expand the provision of water to the Citadel of Cairo. Although no longer functioning today, much of the aqueduct structure, including its water intake tower, the Fumm al-Khalig, still stands.

History

The Ayyubid aqueduct

The

Citadel of Cairo The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin () is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rulers. It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residenc ...

was a massive fortified complex and royal residence begun by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) in 1176 CE and most likely finished by

al-Kamil Al-Malik al-Kamil Nasir ad-Din Muhammad (; – 6 March 1238), titled Abu al-Maali (), was an Egyptian ruler and the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Crusade. He was known to the Franki ...

at the beginning of the 13th century. The Citadel was the centerpiece of a new extensive defensive system for Cairo which included building a long wall around both Cairo and the older city of Fustat and connecting it to the Citadel. Salah ad-Din, or one of his

successors, also developed the idea of bringing water from the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

to the Citadel by building a canal along the top of this wall. The aqueduct started from the wall's western end near

Fustat Fustat (), also Fostat, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, though it has been integrated into Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by the Rashidun Muslim general 'Amr ibn al-'As immediately after the Mus ...

(at the shore of the Nile), where water was raised through a series of

waterwheels A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...

, and ran from there to the Citadel. This project was likely carried out or finished by al-Kamil (even though the full course of the defensive wall Salah ad-Din had envisioned was never fully finished). This aqueduct system was built in addition to the famous Spiral Well built by Salah ad-Din (also known as the ''Bi'r Yusuf'') inside the Citadel, which could provide water in times of siege in case the aqueduct was cut off.

The first Mamluk aqueduct under al-Nasir Muhammad

During the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

period, the Citadel was further developed by successive sultans into an even more elaborate complex, with more ambitious buildings. In particular, under Sultan

al-Nasir Muhammad Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun (), commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad (), or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali () or as Ibn Qalawun (1285–1341) was the ninth Mamluk sultan of the Bahri dynasty who ruled Egypt between 129 ...

in the early 14th century the Citadel was expanded and several important palaces and monuments were built within and around it. In 1311 or 1312, al-Nasir Muhammad ordered the renovation and improvement of the Citadel's aqueduct. His predecessor and brother, Sultan

al-Ashraf Khalil Al-Malik Al-Ashraf Salāh ad-Dīn Khalil ibn Qalawūn (; c. 1260s – 14 December 1293) was the eighth Turkic Bahri dynasty, Bahri Mamluk Sultanate, Mamluk sultan, succeeding his father Qalawun. He served from 12 November 1290 until his assassi ...

, was likely responsible for having already built the water intake tower but was likely killed before he could do more. Al-Nasir completed the project. The intake tower was located on the shore of the Nile in the area now known as Fumm al-Khalig, north of Fustat (or "

Old Cairo Old Cairo (, Egyptian pronunciation: Maṣr El-ʾAdīma) is a historic area in Cairo, Egypt, which includes the site of a Babylon Fortress, Roman-era fortress, the Christian settlement of Coptic Cairo, and the Muslim-era settlement of Fustat that ...

" today) and further north than the Ayyubid-era wall and canal. This was where the former '' Khalij'' (or ''Khalig''), an ancient canal that once joined the Nile with the Red Sea, branched off the river. The intake tower is hexagonal and featured four waterwheels (''saaqiyya''s) which raised water to the top of the tower, from where it flowed along a set of channels along the aqueduct. Along the way, al-Nasir built another tower with three more waterwheels raising the water to an even higher level, after which it continued to run along an aqueduct until it reached the foot of the citadel, at which point it was yet again raised by waterwheels in another tower. From this last tower the water then entered into the Citadel and into a reservoir known as the ''Bi'r al-Sa'b Sawaqi'' ("Well of the Seven Waterwheels"), inside the Citadel's Southern Enclosure (near the

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

area) and southwest of the famous Spiral Well of Salah ad-Din. From this reservoir, water was distributed by an underground network to the rest of the buildings in the Citadel. The aqueduct itself consisted of a channel carried along the top of large stone piers and arches, which ran for about one-and-a-half kilometers due east before turning northeast, and after half a kilometer the aqueduct then joins the old canal which was constructed along the top of Salah ad-Din's city wall. This new system increased the amount of water brought to the Citadel, allowing al-Nasir Muhammad to carry out his major building projects in the Citadel, such as his mosque and the great palace known as the ''Qasr al-Ablaq'' ("Striped Palace").

Later Mamluk restoration under al-Ghuri

In 1480, Sultan

Qaytbay Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay (; 1416/14187 August 1496) was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from 872 to 901 A.H. (1468–1496 C.E.). He was Circassian by birth, and was purchased by the ninth sultan Barsbay ( ...

undertook major repairs on the aqueduct. More significantly, from 1506 to 1508 Sultan

al-Ghuri Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri () or Qansuh II al-Ghawri (c. 1441/1446 – 24 August 1516) was the second-to-last of the Mamluk Sultans. One of the last and most powerful of the Burji dynasty, he reigned from 1501 to 1516. Early life Qansuh, born b ...

embarked on a major overhaul of the aqueduct system. He expanded or rebuilt the water intake tower, increasing the number of waterwheels from 4 to 6, and placed his emblem on the tower's walls. The tall arched openings in the western sides of the tower, as seen today, are where the waterwheels were once located. At the top of the tower were other wheels which were turned by oxen to power the waterwheels below. Al-Ghuri also rebuilt many of the aqueduct's arches, and the section of aqueduct closest to the Nile is attributed to him.

The aqueduct after the Mamluk period

The aqueduct continued to be used during the

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

, but fell into disuse during the French occupation of Egypt by Napoleon between 1798 and 1801 when the water intake tower was adapted for use by the French as a fort. According to art historian Caroline Williams, the aqueduct and the ''Khalij'' canal continued to provide water for Cairo up until 1872. In the 20th century, parts of the aqueduct were lost or destroyed due to disrepair and modern constructions; in particular, the final section of the aqueduct near the Citadel has disappeared.

The aqueduct in the present day

Much of the aqueduct's course, except for the section near the Citadel, can still be seen today, as can the massive hexagonal water intake tower from al-Ghuri's renovations. The monument has suffered from neglect and modern encroachments, but underwent some restoration and repairs in the 2000s. As of 2018, there are also plans to redevelop and refurbish the area around the aqueduct so as to highlight it as a heritage monument.

References

{{Islamic Cairo Aqueducts