century to the beginning of the sixteenth (when the Ottoman Sultan, Selim II., conquered Egypt), which synchronizes with the Golden Age of the two Mameluke dynasties.

The principal features of a mosque are an open court (sahn) with a fountain in the middle, used by the Moslems for ablutions-a necessary preliminary to Moslem worship-surrounded by a covered cloister (liwan). The more sacred part of the building, (maksura), which corresponds to the choir of a Christian cathedral, is usually screened off from the rest of the building, and here the tomb of the founder is usually placed. In the centre of this sanctuary is the niche (mihrab) showing the direction of Mecca, and the pulpit (mimbar). It is necessary to remember these principal portions of a Mohammedan temple if an intelligent grasp of Moslem ecclesiastical architecture is to be obtained. But it must be remembered that many of the Cairo mosques do not approximate to this normal type, and unfortunately the most correct, architecturally speaking, mosques in Cairo, viz. Amru, Ibn Tulun, and El-Azhar, are either in ruins or have been restored out of all resemblance to the original structure. "Speaking generally," says Dr. Wallis Budge, "there are three types of mosque in Cairo. (1) Courtyard surrounded by colonnades (Amru

and Tulun); (2) Courtyard surrounded by four arches (Sultan Hassan); (3) Court covered with dome (Mohammed Ali)."

There are over three hundred mosques in Cairoindeed, it is said by the Arabs that, as in the case of the churches of Rome, there is one for every day of the year-but most are in ruins; a large number have been laicised, and there remain scarcely over a score that even the most conscientious sight-seer would care to explore. The best worth visiting are Amru (Old Cairo), Mohammed Ali, Tulun, Kalaun, Sultan Hassan, El-Hakim (formerly Arab Museum), El-Akbar (Tekiyet), El-Hassanen, Ibrahim Agha, ElGhuri, Abu Bekr, El-Azhar (Moslem University), El Muaiyad, and the tomb-mosques of Kait Bey, ElAshraf Bursbey, and Barkuk (Tombs of the Caliphs). In some of the larger mosques, such as Kalaun, a whole group of public buildings are comprised: besides the mosque proper, there will be found a hospital, school, court of justice, monastery, library,

etc.

A ticket (price two piastres), which can be usually obtained from the hotel porter, is required for visiting all the mosques, but El-Azhar is not always accessible even with a ticket. For some of the mosques it is necessary to obtain the ticket at the Wakfs Office (Administration of the Mosques) in the Place Abdin.

The proceeds of the tickets are devoted to the fund for the restoration of the mosques. Then at each mosque a gratuity of two piastres will have to be given for the loan of slippers. Four or five piastres are often demanded of English visitors but two are quite sufficient. It will be seen then that a systematic tour of the mosques is rather a costly undertaking.

Itinerary of the Mosques.-Those who wish to do all the principal mosques within the walls (for the Citadel and Tombs of the Caliphs require a separate visit) in one excursion should take a donkey for the whole morning (ten or twelve piastres) and follow this itinerary, simply telling the donkey-boy the name of the desired mosque in turn, and directing him to show the nearest way to each.

By this means a hurried tourist can visit the principal mosques in about four hours. It would be better, of course, to devote two mornings to this tour, taking the mosques south of the Mooski one morning, and the mosques north of this thoroughfare the next morning.

Starting from the Place de l'Opéra and making for the Place du Mooski, as the junction of the Rue Neuve and Suk-en-Nahassin is now officially termed, take the mosques in the following order :-El-Ghuri, El-Azhar, Muaiyad, El-Akbar, Tulun, Sultan

Hassan, Ibrahim Agha, Hassanen, Muristan Kalaun, Mohammed-en-Nasr, Barkukiyeh, Abu-Bekr, and El

Hakim.

If two mornings can be given to the mosques, on the first morning the tour might end with Ibrahim Agha, and on the second morning a start could be made with Hassanen Mosque, and after El-Hakim there would be time for a visit to the Tombs of the Caliphs and Burckhardt's Tomb.

El-Ghuri. This charming little mosque, though close to the Attarin Bazaar and easy of access, is not so much visited by Europeans as it should be. It was built by the Sultan El-Ghuri, one of the most enlightened of the Circassian Mameluke Sultans, who reigned 1501 to 1516 A.D. The coloured marbles on the walls and floor are particularly fine. The restorations carried out here by the Commission for the Preservation of Arabic Monuments reflect considerable credit on this body.

El-Azhar.-This huge building is unique among the Cairene mosques. It is the largest Moslem university in the world, and one of the oldest, for the old mosque was set apart for study towards the end of the tenth century. Over eleven thousand scholars and three hundred professors are said to be “inscribed on the books" of this ancient foundation. On Friday, the Mohammedan Sabbath, no teaching