<< Our Photo Pages >> Qalat Al-Guindi - Hillfort in Egypt in Sinai
Submitted by ilsignorstano on Thursday, 08 September 2011 Page Views: 7261
Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Qalat Al-Guindi Alternative Name: Qalat El-GindiCountry: Egypt Region: Sinai Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Ras Sudr
Latitude: 29.851000N Longitude: 33.130000E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Fortress built in 1187 by Saladin in Southern Sinai. The main purpose was to guard the routes of pilgrimage from Northern Africa to Mecca. It was also used as a caravanserai.
It's built in limestone on a 285 m high escarpment and it rises on a plateau at 645 m above sea level. The water supply came from the Ayn Sadr source, through run-off waters or from cisterns dug in the ground (three underground cisterns are still in perfect state of conservation, one of them with size of 6m x 10m x 5,5 is dated by an inscription from the time of Saladin).
A 5 to 6 m ditch separates it from the ravine whose shape it takes, that of an irregular rectangle. Extending from north-east to south-west over a lengh of between 100 and 150 m with a maximum width of 120 m, it is surrounded by a 2 m thick wall reinforced at regular intervals with square and round towers. It is opened by a monumental square door crowned with a limestone archstone whose keystone bears an inscription in the name of Allah.
There is another inscription in nashki which says:- the name of the founder: Salah ad-din Ab'l Mudhafar Yussuf Ibn Ayub Ibn Khalil, emir of the believers (Saladin)- the name of the builder: Ibrahim Ibn Abi Bahr and his son- date of building: Jumada II 538/1187-nature of the works: two towers, the door and the mosque.
A courtyard is surrounded by several halls to accommodate the guardians and other halls for service purposes. On the western side (20,5 m x 11,30 m) is a meeting room covered with vaults borne by pointed arches. There are two further prayer rooms, one in ruins and the other one relatively well preserved (12 m x 6 m) with a beautiful Mirhab niche enhanced with decorations, namely an epigraphy.
The work is thought to have started with the mosque and its cistern in Rajab 581/1185 and to have been completed with the door and the two towers in Jumada II 583/1187.
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