Yahya Michot, Pilgrimage Frescoes in Cairo

8/4/2019 Yahya Michot, Pilgrimage Frescoes in Cairo

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Bursa's Green Mausoleum A' From Persia to ParisPilgrimage FIescoesin Cairo A' FEZ


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Philippe De c .

Wh n Egyptian go on IwjJ' nd p rform the holypilgrimag rit in the Hija, th ir hou . arc painted andderated \ ith ene r lating to thi j urn y. hes

m all ver alro like the flowers off redas a w Icome girt to th e n \ l IaJJI Before tim fadethem, th fr 0 ar a radiant manif tation ofpi t and I lamic art.

The (r sc o on the hom of pilgrim are but 1 1aspect of the folk rt whi h can be fund all \ r airo.Hand-painted bill-board and cin rna adv rti in borderthe main treets, On the wall of boutique and tall.caf nd shop, ar often di play d dvertl m nts ofdiffer nt bu ine announcement of merchandi or,if nothing el ,rural seen in affected and bomba ticstyle. Truck, ho -car pu h-earts, thr -wh I dhide, the narrows of tr t v ndors and other vehlcl

all are covered with multi-colour d drawing, g omctricor figurati e. Portrait of Jar, of adat, and theirgue t patriotic ene, cover the wall of hool andclub hou

fany other drawing ha ear Iigiou meaning. orne-times the Cop palnt figure of Theotoko or aintGeorge slaying the dragon on th ir hou e tenors.Picture of circumci ion operation indicate barbers'hop . Koranic verse or piou invocation are writt n* Plea the Glo ry of foreign t rm at he nd ofthi article.

II rand th reo mong other motu on can see vn therepre nt tiom of th Ka ba or of the

aint Hob; (, in prayer. Very popular amongar rtain piou im \ hich are Id forImo t nothing n xt t ayyidna l-Ilu a. nand ayyid

Za nab mo que and at other popular centre of\\'0 hip. The pictur d coral tall and hou ofthe poor of air. Koran pr yer rug calendars ndrcligiou bro hure ar domed with g om tric d 'gnor vl w of holy pia e .

rhi arti lib d on hundr d of fa d photo-graphedwhil strollin through \" riou quarters of Cairo,and esp cially through th poorer r id ntial lion.Indeed, th r ar v ry few pilgrimag Ire oe in thecomm rcial and indu trial area. Mor often. only thapp lation "Hajj" appear on Iacad there, Th r arno de 'gn at all in th m dern part of airo.

h Ire oe of pilgrim 'hou . at figurati and \ arygreatly in tyle, from naive to baroque. from commonimplicity to metaphy .cal . verity. They are the workof relative f th hajji, of arti an , or of children. (1)nly a fe\ ar . n d. In their disparate form and

variety of colour. the de ir e to produce a beautifulwork of art do not appear to be the primary object.I shall concentrate I therefore, in thi article on themeaning of the fte oe rath r than on their ae theticvalue.


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I OLDCAIRO

ART A D RELIGIOARE PART OF

EVERYDAY LIFE

I C A I R O Text and photographs by Jean MICHOT


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ThIS page: Various repre 'entations of tireKa'baOpposite page: A contra t in artistic'techniques; primitive art decorates ouepilgrim's house, a realistic representationadorns another.


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A first glance, the frescoes do not how any unity.hey ar a constellation of scenes distributed at random

on the surfaces of the facade Cree of doors and win-dows. The facade forms the background, the limited areaof the frescoes. It contributes only slightly to theirsigruflcance. For example, floral garland may outlinethe subject , or flower frame the door, and inscriptionaround it welcome the hajji. Although most of thefacade are oovered by drawings or by inscription,entwined perh ps with nowe , this is not a- generalrule for sometimes large surfaces are only distempered.Becau of this blown-up character of the Irescoe it ibetter to analyse their different themes paratelyinstead of each facade as a whole.

H H OLY PLDrawings of th~ Meccan sanctuary appear many times

on the frescoes (2). Because of their diversity, it i noteasy to describe these representations of the Ka'ba, al-though the architectural structure of the monument itselfis quite simple. In a majority of case the Ka'ba ldepicted without any architectural or decorativecontext at all. Then, if shown in more than onedim en .on, thl edifice i often repr nted as a purelyregular cube. On oettain frescoc , the sides of the Ka'bacan also be seen as a sort of triptych and, sometimes,the drawing extends outside of three-dimensional space.

These paintings of the Ka'ba could be considered assimple and unsucce rul sketches hich oCten ignore thelaw of perspective. Beyond thelr naivet-e howe er is it

not po 'bie to see in these drawings ariation on areligious theme? In fact, the de igner's imagination oftencarrie him beyond the limits of the reali tic world .Inconnection with the pilgrimage, he transmits thepresence within himself: the global lustre of the Ka'ba,'f tbe pole of prayer in Islam.

In veral drawings, the Ka'ba Is presented moreprominently. The pilgrims are represented as dark dotsor as coloured line at the foot of the black mass of tbeholy monument. These figures, schematic or moredetailed, may form a crown around the Ka'ba. Some-times, the pilgrims are replaced by actual linear ornoral wreaths. atural or stylised and hearinginscriptions, these wreath encircle the K 'ba like a ringof precious jewels. (3)

More el borated architectural represen ations are ofvarious types. They may be sketche juxtaposed with theKa'ba, without any perspective relating to it. This typeof e ntially deoorati e dr wing may become agarlanded or convoluted frame for the edifice. On somefrescoes, the Ka'ba is presented in a realistic architecturalensemble, but thi ha nothing to do specifically withMecca. The drawing i then vere and metaphysical.Almo always, the pilgrims fill the courtyard, their faceturned towards the Ka 'ba. In a small group of drawings,~he Ka'ba i integrated into a veritable tableau, oftenframed, which realistically represents the holy places ofthe horam in Mecca. Here, in particular, the precisedetail Indicate more than the fruit of simple lmagina-tion. A source of thi last type of Cresco is surely tbereligiou prints sold in Calro, Meanwhile, passing throughthe pri m of the imagination of the designers, the detailsof these prints how new and singular aspects. Althoughab nt from most of the pious image , the pilgrims areshown bere praying In almost every part of the matdr.or pre ing and crowding around the holy monument.

When one examines these different types of frescoes,one s that the de Igner did not bother about thegeographic realities of the sanctuary inMecca. Frequently,the Ka'ba appears alone, simple and without details,pure and absolute. The meaning, whether the presentationis simple or elaborate, is essentially veneration: tbepilgrims are rarely absent.

The most common views of the mosque of Medinashow the arcades of the courtyard, or the facade,surmounted by tbe green dome which covers the tombof the Prophet and dominated by a minaret. Theview of Medina can frequently be seen in magazines, inbrochure and on television, in the iUustrations ofbrochures and on pious images. For tbe painters ofthe frescoes, the architectural reality of this mosqueseem still more indeterminate than in the case of therelatively canonical figure of the Ka'ba, So, ODe findsdiverse mosques, often with no resemblance at all to theone in Medina.

c l ' O S S r O O d S 15


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Offering the water of the Zamzam well

Ofteh. the mosque of Medina is drawn on the walls ofthe pUgrims' houses as a small edifice, more or lesssquare, pierced by a door and some windows andsurmounted by a semi-circular dome and a little minarettopped with a crescent. Depth is rare in the drawings,There are fantastic constructions. However, most or

the views, simple or embellished, recall the small tombsof the Moslem saints in the poorer quarters of cairo.Some palm trees Or a floral border may accompany therepresentation of these edifices. Sometimes, differentelements are added to the Ka 'ba Itself; the two haramsare then combined. On other frescoes, the mosque Isdrawn with a succession of arcades, crowned with a largedome at its centre and one or, more orten, two minarets.Architectutal context and depth are very rare. Thedrawing of certain particular details may be evocative otthe mosque of the Prophet. Facades of another sortpresent rows of arches, disproportionately raised andnarrow. Then, each arch is almost always surmounted bya smail, crescent-shaped cupola. The lamps hanginginside every arch are shown In detail, like spidersdangling Cromtheir webs.

One last type of design, Less popular, shows thearcades jOining at one corner of the courtyard or of thefacade, crowned by the typical pointed dome and bythe minaret of the tomb of the Prophet. Pilgrims some-time pray in the courtyard. Here only appears thereality of the Medina mosque.

Representations of the haram in edina are lessfrequent than those of the Ka'ba. Such representationsare found on those frescoes where the design of theKa'ba is Inspired by holy im~es.


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More than giving a picture of the holy places in Medina. the designer seems intere ted In speaking of aProphet, dead and yet close to the b liever. Most of thescenes of Medina found on the pilgrim' houses resemblethe neighbourhood mosque, where local saints, patronsof everyday life, are venerated. In more elaboratefrescoes, the mosque sometimes becomes a mysteriouslyradiating shrine. It may have a profusion of arcades,cupolas, lamp, stan and flowers, which commemoratethe tomb of a friend. When the designs come closer tothe architecture of the mosque of Medina, this is becauseor the form of the dome under which repo the Onewhom the people may name in ornate inscription :"my Envoy (ro-Vl4li), "my Beloved One" (habibi.).

H R I H SS 0 H FA I H

s we h ve seen before, the pilgrim grouped aroundthe Ka'ba contribute to the religiou aura of the Meecansanctuary. They are often represented only by dots, linesor silhouet e. omeurnes, their positionreveaJ that theyare performing the Iowa' . During prayer, the pilgrimsmay have their hand raised. Their special robes ( ihram)are not alway drawn distinctly.

On some frescoes, the pilgrim is drawn independentlyof the Ka'ba. At times he may be. depicted in Meoina.or without any context. In ihram, one shoulderuncovered, he sometimes has a purse attached to hisbelt, prayer bead in his hand. he pilgrim may bebearded and wearing a turban. Alone or in a large group,he is sometimes shown descending from an airplane.

A fresco depicting a potter's iourney to iecca

A uranderlng dervi sh .burning incense

crossroadS 17


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Other religious theme can be found on the frescoes.First let u 'mention Al8uraq, who also appears oncertain reJigiou prints. The arti t of the pilgrims'house sometimes paint her as a winged horse, leapinginto space, or as an animal which resembles the maje ticAssyrian bulls. The face of the animal, seen from thefront, is that of a young girl, crowned, her long hairfloating 0 er her shoulders. Richly harnessed, she maydisplay a voluptuous bosom.

On some facades the Ka 'ba i placed under theprotection of an ngel, or is venerated by two of themkneeling at each .de. (4) They wear tunics and haveabundant hair. Their wings are spread, their featurestrangely feminine.Rarely, certain frescoes represent the sacrifice of

Abraham. The bearded patriarch places one hand on thehead of his son, who is patiently lying On the block.Abraham raise a large knife, but a winged angel stopshis movement and place a substitute victim inAbraham' other hand. Sometimes, it is the ritualsacrifice of tbe tenth day of D I , a t-Hiiia that is evokedand one can e a man, hands extended, threatening afattened beep with two kni e .

Certain Ireseoe pre nt worshipping figures, stand-ing with hands folded over their breasts, or in profile,seated on a prayer rug. In this case, they stretch outtheir arms with open palm, ying: "Ob Lord! Y8Rabb ", This is a very popular figure in Egypt, u d onpious images and religious tract .

The pilgrim drink the water of the Zamzam weUafter fin' bing the tawat. They bring back small flagonsfuD of "good fortune" for their relation. On thefrescoes, these personages are seen most otten inprofile and on foot. They are bearded and wear a tunicwith a belt, a fez and, sometime , the leather coat of thewater merchants of Cairo. On their backs, they ha e alarge earthen jug or a water-skin; in their hand, one ortwo goblets, or sometimes little cymbal whichannounce their arrival In the streets. One can see thempouring the blessed water and even offering It to some-one and saylog, probably, as is written in an inscriptionabove them: ''Drink and bl the Prophet!" The scenesometime takes place under tree .

The Prophet loved perfume . On Friday and fe tivaldays, incense still perfume Moslem houses and shop .On the wall of the pilgrims' houses, one may occas1onallyfind the drawing of a bearded old man, wearing a turbanand fez and burning incense. He hold in one hand alarge incense burner and In the other, sometimes, incensetick. ~n one fresco, I have seen him wearing thepatched and brightly coloured tunic of the wanderingdervishes with a bag at hls side.

Those are the elements on the frescoes directlya dated with the religious significance of thepilgrimage. They how the depth of feeling of thepainters concerning thi rite.TH \ 0 RF JO R I Y

The pilgrims' houses are decorated with othernumerous drawing unrelated, it seems, to the religiOUSxperience of the hajj. Representations of various meansof transportation, from camel to planes, are the mostfrequent.

Since 1952, the mahmal a palanquin or litter perchedon a camel which u d to accompany the pilgrimagecaravan, no longer exi t except in souvenirs, in theimagination of the people and on the wall of pilgrl"1s'house , where it has orten lost Its escort and is drawnonly some sort of shelter on a camel's back.

The palanquin j from the p t but ilhouette of camelsremain, more or less faithful to reality. Whether in theoid or with an oasi in the background or, more often.On barely outlined terrain, the camel i drawn alone,mounted or not, or in a caravan. Very occasionally, thecamel carries a palanquin - a modem ve tlge of themahmal. camel driver may pr cede the camel and holdhe bridle. The camel driver and metime the traveDerwear cl ic Bedouin clothes. Both may be bearded. Onsome frescoe , the caravan i tran formed into a joyfulmusician' procession.

This fre co probably di plays local talent


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It does not look if he designers of the fre oesappreciate he Egyptian railr ad's new diesels. earlyalway ,they draw antique steam engine, spewing for hblack fumes. The train may carry up to ten carriage,with two or three wheel. Ithough there i nopersp ctive these paintings do not lack detail andcolour: through p' norami window one can see thou,ette of people and a busy engin driver ... It may benighttime, indicated by a white beam shining from theengine' headlights.

Diversity in the' plane drawing imuch greater thanin the train picture. Frequently, the plane look like nothing more than two wooden planks placed on top ofeach other in the form of a cro . The plane may alsohave a long fuselage with small wing on each ide, orthe more graceful aspect of a dolphin or of a flyingfi h. It can even look like a l'O. There is a profu 'onof details: windows, pa ngers, wheel .several propellershaped like sparkling sun, gyptian flag on the tailmulticoloured cockpits. There are also partisan ofmodern technology. It i possible to find faithfuJ repre-sentations of two-se er or large Boeing, even miJitaryje and helicopters. The plane are rarely on the groundand in the air they nev r follow a regular night path.Several look as though they are diving toward theground or engaged in intricate manoeuvring, loops andbarrel-rolls.

Are the ships the favourite traru])ort of the painters?One can believe it because of the multitude of rrescoeon which they are represented. ometimes, it is but ahumble felucca. At other times, tlat-bottomed craft likethe He boat '. or learners like tho of the uez analwith elongated prows extending indefinite, over thew ter are depicted. orne ship , especially the steamers,are drawn quite realistically. However, mo t of thevessel are reconstructed by the painte 'imagination.The river boats are transfonned into arks with a centralbridge-house, their decks tiered like a wedding cake thewhole crowned with smoke funnel and black plume.Bosch could be the inventor of some of these ve 1.

early always, banners and Egyptian flag aredeployed almo t e erywhere on the ship which hasseveral window and doors, ailors, anchors nd propellers.ometimes, the' ve I are not floating on water butseem to be sailing through the air. ome ships are named"Pe e," "Mecca,"" enerated Meet ."

thar drawing manife ting various sentiment of thepeople in Cair decorate the walls of the pilgrim 'house ,to. ationalism i u uaJly pre nt. lag, alr adyhoi ted on top of .the m t of ve I may be deployedon the fac de. The num rou views of he threepyramids of iza are probably mbolic too of thisnationalistic pride. Flowers of every oolour embellishor inv de the va t maj rity of the fre oes. Apart (romsacrificial sheep and camel, there are few animaldepicted. Bird are sometime drawn singing amongflowers and flitting b tween palm tree , or above theKa'ba. There are pairs of doves, rather tout pigeons andlarge peacocks.

Several facades te tiCy to the fear of the evil eye. hehand of Filtima sometime covers the whitewash in orderto drive off Satan. Eyes pierced with arrow seek todestroy envy.There can be magical symbols like riddle also: (or

e ample, a serpent wrapped about a split-open water-me,Ion which it eat, while a dagger is implanted in thefruit, exactly be ide the r ptil ' head.

11 these drawing reflect sentiments and objectwhich are associated, more or Ie ,with the Significanceof the pilgrimage as a whole. Again, to depict a journeyi not the aim of he painter. How couJd all these meansof transport be used at the same time? More d ply thedrawing manifest the atmospher surrounding thireljgious journey: its my tery, remot.ene and the joyof the return. ReU ion i entwined with life, with all itcolours, its daily r und, its natural simplicity, it worrieand pride. Rural scenery, nag and glorious monuments,flowers and birds, joy and, sometime, no talgia, the e IIeye and j alou y. ontinued 01 1 page 40

eras oa: iS 19


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Continued from pa e 19

TH W ITf T TIMO YThough most of the in riptionswhichappear on the

frescoe ar e In simple handwrltine with, in 80m cases,spellini mistakes, one can al find example of trulyfine calligraphy. These inscriptions, traced among thdrawine add to their significance. Like them they bearwitne to the reli(ious feeling in the painters' heart .They speak eloquently of that which r diates Irom thepaintines: the polar characteristic of the Ka'ba, thehouse of God, the realltyof the rite, a faith composed ofrespect and praise, benedictions and hope, love for thEnvoy. They may be verse of the Divine Book. Howeverthe inscription ar e never d tached from everyday life.Some of them welcome the new hajji, call him by hiname, . h him ne w pUerimage, and greet visitors.Superstitiou ntence are mingled with d claration offaith.

These are some of the fresco of the pilgrim 'house which I have seen. It seem c lear that thedesigners do not intend to d scrib the voyage. Thefresco are made to greet the n w pilgrim. How b tterto honour his return from the riche t moment in aMuslim' life? The designer him If participate in thioverwhelmtng experience because he has Islam in hih art. The figures and inscriptions of the fr 0 givevoice to the ntiments of 1 lam toward the pilgrim e.To djfCering degree oertainly it i the vitaUty of therelieion which unifies the disparity of each fresco. Init naivete. the Islam Ih'ed by the d igners, the peopleof Cairo, illuminate the holy place mystical polesmuch more than mere fixed points on a map. Thefrescoes testify that thl mystical [slam, on the otherhand, i integrated into life, and life it If into I lam.either an abstract religion nor an agnostic life, 1 lam,Cairo's pilgrimage fl'escoe reflectit, i a nthesi of

aT

1. The majority of the freso oe are original work. H o w -ever, they can also be painted by prof tonal artiwhose work i recogni ble by the similarity of styleand, sometimes by their signature .2. In spite of it polar aspect, the Ka'ba is not alwaypresent In the tNscoes, and the same i true for themosque in Medina.

3. It i perbap interesting to note that th~ Black tonei rarely depicted in rep ntation of the Ka 'ba.Shown on variou religiou images, it is very oftenomitted from wall adantations of the same. Reverenceis meUy for the Ka 'ba, not for the stone.

4. coordin, to me Mo m legends, it w therchangel Gabriel who brought the black stone,

then white, to braham during the construction ofthe Ka 'ba. ccordlng to others, Gabriel and theangels built the foundation of the K a'ba as Adam'sdwelling.

LOSS RYl-Bur q fant ic of the nocturnal voyage and

ension of the Prophet.h u I.hijja tuner month of th Moslem pilgrimage

Fatima daughter of the Prophet, wife of AllFelucca a smal l narrow ve 1 , with one mast and

sail, u d on the ileHajji pilgrim, the title given to one who has

made the pUgrimage (hajj) to Mecca.sanctuary: the holy place in Mecca,Medina, Jerusalemnorth-west region of the Arabian Peninsula,where Mecca, Medina and Jeddah ar elocated. Popular name for audl Arabia.sacred apparel, prescribed for the pilgrimto ecca.are of the tawa! around the Ka'bafo em saint who, according to tradition,was born In Basra at the end of the firstcentury of the Hejira (the date of theProph t's migration from Mecca to edJna622 -the Islamic calendar commences withthl year)ritual encirclement of th Ka 'bacr d spring of Mecca- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -rQn lated from the French

Jean Michot i currently working on nis doctoral theaton tile philo ophy of Ibn Sino. A a Fellow of thei ational Fund for Scientific Research of Belgium, he

HaramHijaz

IhnunMatafRibi'a

TawafZarnzam

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Yahya Michot, Pilgrimage Frescoes in Cairo