The features of his habitation melted six centuries ago, with the daughter of the Sultan and the maid of the palace, and the revolutionaries of Cairo against the French occupiers took refuge in him, as he embraced a large golden treasure.


That house is known as "Zainab Khatun" whose walls are known for its stories and secrets, and it also chronicled the most prominent events of the Mamluk periods (1550: 1517) and the Ottomans (1517: 1867).

It combines architectural features of the Mamluk and Ottoman eras, which was established in 1486, and relies on an Islamic archaeological collection for the two eras, including "The House of Six Wasila, the House of Hrawi, and the Agency of Sultan Qaytbay".

The house was built in 1486 on the remains of the house of Princess Shaqra, the granddaughter of Sultan Al-Nasir Hassan bin Qalawun, one of the Mamluk sultans.

According to the website of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, the house witnessed a renewal at the end of the Mamluk era, before it was transferred to Sultan Qaytbay at the end of the same period.

The house is attributed to Zainab Khatun, the emperor of Prince Muhammad Bey Al-Alfi, the last angel of the house in the Ottoman era in the late 18th century AD.

Zainab Hatun had a national role during the French campaign (Anatolia Agency)

the Lady of the palace
According to an archaeological official's speech, the house bore the title of its last inhabitant, Zainab Khatoon bint Abdullah Al-Baida, the princesses' bridesmaid.

It was not inferred from the place of her birth or her upbringing, and she was known as the daughter of Abdullah, where the name Abdullah was added to the maidservants and slaves whose parents did not know.

She has a sister, known as "The Set Wasila", who owns a house next to her sister in the Al-Azhar neighborhood of ancient Egypt.

And she was given the title of Khatoon, meaning the honorable lady, after she married Prince Sharif Hamza Kharbutli.

Zainab Khatoon played a national role in Egyptian history, according to the official’s statement, as the popular resistance to the French campaign against Egypt (1798: 1801) participated.

She made the house a shelter for the guerrillas and healing the wounds of the revolutionaries, and made the "Haramlek (an Ottoman term meaning women's councils)" on the second floor a shelter for the revolutionaries, as it provided them with money and supplies.

In the 1990s, 27 bodies were found in a basement of a room in the house, which, according to the archaeological official, is believed to be among the guerrillas wounded by Zaynab Khatoun during the French campaign.

Dating of Islamic architecture dates back to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods (Anatolia Agency)

The big treasure
It is linked to the house of Zainab Khatun with a famous story, where the archaeological official indicates that in the nineties of the last century, a golden treasure was found, one of the largest Islamic treasures, during the restoration, and contains hundreds of gold coins, including coins marked with slogans belonging to Venice in Italy.

The official explains that Zainab Khatoun gave the treasure a charity to the souls of the martyrs, as it was famous among the Egyptians for good and courage.

According to the observations, the architecture of the house reflects the masterpieces of Islamic art in the Mamluk and Ottoman eras, and it is composed of three floors.

The ground floor was taken into consideration at the entrance to respect the privacy of the owners of the house, as its entrance is broken so that the guest does not see the different pillars and rooms.

The house is surrounded by an open courtyard, around which stone buildings, a windmill and rooms for storing grain and food, a water-saving room, a guest room, and a horse stable are surrounded.

As for the first floor, it was for living, and it includes halls (the seat of men) and the king, and the other for guests is a large covered by a wooden ceiling and hanging from a large lantern topped by windows for lighting and ventilation.

The upper halls include mashrabiyas (wooden windows designed with arabesque motifs) that overlook the courtyard, through which women draw attention to visitors and guests.

On the upper floors, bathrooms and small private rooms topped with vaulted domes are occupied by stained glass pieces.

On the third floor are the rooms of the homeowner and the nursery, whether they are born to his owner or maids.