A Fatimid monument: the Mausoleum of Ikhwat Yusuf

In collaboration with ARCE - American Research Center in Egypt

The Mausoleum of Ikhwat Yusuf is a Fatimid monument with later Ottoman additions located in Cairo’s Southern Cemetery at the foot of the Mokattam outcrop. The mausoleum is one of very few surviving Fatimid period (AD 969-1171) monuments in Egypt and contains an elaborately carved stucco mihrab (prayer niche), a brick dome, stone arches, vaults, and secondary domes. In 2022, ARCE began a conservation and restoration project at the monument that will include a digital restoration, in collaboration with Factum Foundation followed by the conservation of the mihrab.

The carved stucco mirhab © Osama Dawod for Factum Foundation

In March 2022, Osama Dawod and Otto Lowe arrived in Cairo and recorded the mausoleum’s stucco mihrab in high-resolution using photogrammetry. They also provided hands-on photogrammetry training at the site for inspectors from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, as part of a field training program ARCE coordinated to complement its work at the mausoleum.