Islamic Cairo

After the Cairo Citadel, we stopped at a couple of Cairo's must-see mosques

At the 14th century Sultan Hassan mosque we admired this, the oldest known exiting Koran reading stand, which is still in use. The wood carving and inlay were beautiful - I'm not sure if the picture does it justice.






















Here more pretty light fixtures at Sultan Hassan. (It was nearly empty of visitors)























Plastic lights and gawdy Eid decorations adorn the tomb of the important Sufi Sheikh Ali Al Rifai at Al Rifai mosque (only a century old), just next door to Sultan Hassan.



Al Rifai is also the burial spot for the last king of Egypt and (pictured here) the final shah of Iran. The shah received medical treatment at Duffy's alma mater George Washington University (just like Reagan and Cheney and Dan!). The shah's room was filled with beautiful marble panels in creams, greens, and browns. It also had an exceptionally nice Persian carpet left by his widow.