Cairo museum showcases Ottoman treasures from Egypt, Türkiye

In the heart of the Egyptian capital Cairo stands a unique cultural landmark housing treasures that span centuries of Islamic history.

The building’s significance extends beyond its striking architectural design, as it is home to what the museum describes as “the world’s largest specialized museum of Islamic art,” housing more than 100,000 rare artifacts that reflect the richness and diversity of Islamic civilization across different periods.

Its collections include a notable group of artifacts from the Ottoman era in Egypt and Türkiye, some of which reflect remarkable artistic exchanges between Istanbul and Cairo.

Anadolu visited the Museum of Islamic Art to view Ottoman-era works from Egypt and Türkiye, which showcase diverse aspects of Islamic art and craftsmanship.

The museum’s collections are notable both for their size and diversity, encompassing manuscripts and objects related to medicine, surgery, and herbal remedies, as well as astronomical instruments such as astrolabes, compasses, and celestial globes.

They also include applied arts associated with everyday life, including metal, glass, and ceramic vessels, as well as jewelry, weapons, woodwork, ivory, textiles, and carpets.

The collections feature many unique masterpieces that demonstrate the refined taste and exceptional craftsmanship achieved by Muslim artists.

Since its establishment, the museum has attracted kings and prominent figures from around the world, according to its official description.

Ottoman treasures

Among the most prominent artifacts is a turned-wood mashrabiya dating to the Ottoman era in Egypt in the 16th and 17th centuries.

According to the museum, wooden screens with openings used to cover windows appeared as early as the Ayyubid period and later developed into the form of the mashrabiya.

During the Ottoman period, mashrabiyas took the form of projecting balconies. Their functions included reducing the intensity of sunlight and humidity while preserving privacy in rooms overlooking courtyards or streets by preventing people outside from seeing into homes.

Another exhibit is a collection of Ottoman ceramic tiles dating to the 18th century. The tiles are painted in multiple colors beneath a transparent glaze and decorated with floral motifs centered around a mihrab from which a mosque lamp hangs.

The museum also displays a painted wooden fireplace decorated with ceramic tiles, dating to the Ottoman era in Egypt in the 17th century.

According to the museum, fireplaces became widespread in palaces and residential homes in Egypt and Türkiye during the Ottoman period.

Decorative designs featuring Ottoman floral motifs were often first produced in Türkiye and then transferred to Egypt, where local artists reproduced them. This contributed to similarities between many artistic works produced in the two countries during the period.

The collection also includes a ceramic panel depicting the Grand Mosque in Mecca, dating to the 17th-century Ottoman period in Egypt.

The museum also houses two stained-glass windows set in plaster, dating to the Ottoman era in Egypt in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Muslim artisans excelled at using the reflection of light to create aesthetic atmospheres inside buildings.

Among the museum’s Ottoman holdings is also a wool-and-cotton carpet dating to 16th-century Ottoman Egypt. The style is known as “palace carpets” or “court carpets,” an unconventional style in Ottoman carpet decoration.

The carpet’s field is decorated with intertwined floral motifs and surrounded by three borders, with the middle one being the largest. It has fringes at the top and bottom.

According to the museum, Islamic carpets served different purposes depending on their size and decoration.

​​​​​​​This particular carpet was made to cover the floors of palaces and homes, while its motifs resemble those found on Ottoman ceramic tiles from the same period.

The collection also includes a wool-and-cotton prayer rug dating to the 18th century and attributed to the Turkish city of Kula.

The museum displays pages from “Al-Adwiya al-Mufrada” (The Simple Drugs) by al-Ghafiqi, dating to the 16th-century Ottoman period in Türkiye. Al-Ghafiqi was a physician who lived in Andalusia during the 12th century.

Among the exhibits are also two glass hourglasses dating to Ottoman Egypt in the 16th century.

The collection further includes an 18th-century Ottoman marble tombstone from Egypt. It consists of three sections, one side of which bears inscriptions in Thuluth script, including the Muslim declaration of faith.

Also on display are “khadda bowls” made of copper and bronze and engraved with talismans and inscriptions referring to their supposed therapeutic benefits. They date from the 12th through the 18th centuries and originate from Egypt, Iran, and Türkiye.

The gallery also displays two wool-and-cotton prayer rugs from 18th-century Ottoman Türkiye, attributed to the Turkish city of Gördes.

According to their display labels, Turkish cities were renowned for producing prayer rugs, with each city developing its own style for designing mihrabs. Türkiye also became known for another type called “saff carpets,” characterized by a series of adjoining mihrabs designed for use during congregational prayers.

Historic design

According to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the idea of collecting and displaying Islamic artifacts in a museum dates back to 1880. The building was officially opened in 1903 during the reign of Khedive Abbas Helmy II.

Its facade was designed in the Mamluk architectural style, and the museum is located next to the National Library and Archives.

The museum was damaged in the 2014 bombing of the Cairo Security Directorate before undergoing comprehensive restoration and renovation. It reopened in 2017.

Among its most prominent treasures are a key to the Kaaba from the Mamluk period and a textile fragment bearing the oldest known Kufic inscription in its collection.