After Owen Browne Carter (British, 1806–1859)
Lithograph by T. Boys
From Views of Cairo, Robert Hay. London: Tilt and Bogue,1840.
Principal Entrance to the Great Mosque of Al-Azhar
Color lithograph, 14 1/8 x 20 13/16 in.
Printed lower left: On Stone by T. Boys from a Drawing by Owen Carter, lower right: PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE TO THE GREAT MOSQUE EL-AZHAR
1995.74

Built in AD 970, the mosque of al-Azhar—meaning “The Flourishing”—was founded by the Fatimid Caliph, al Mu‘izz after conquering Egypt. It was the first mosque to be built in Cairo— Egypt’s new capital—and the fourth in Africa. Over the centuries, it has been rebuilt and renovated so many times that it is now generally referred to as a palimpsest of all the architectural styles that have passed through Egypt.  It is also the center of al-Azhar University, one of the oldest universities in the world, established only a few years after the mosque’s completion. Napoleon considered it the most renowned university in the Islamic world and a match for the Sorbonne.