When the three-year French expedition started in Egypt in 1798, the Commission of Science and Arts that accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte settled in Sinnari House in Sayeda Zeinab district. The 150-odd-member commission included painters, engineers, technicians, mathematicians, astronomers, geographers, architects, sculptors and interpreters.
At the house, the commission conducted a systematic study of Egypt, its buildings, people, art, customs and traditions. They held workshops inside Sinnar House to be close to the people to study them in depth. Later they produced the comprehensively catalogue Description de l’Egypte (published in five volumes between 1809 and 1829) on all known aspects of ancient and modern Egypt as well as its natural history.
That period was an important part of the history of Sinnari House, whose story of its owner is mysterious, as Mohamed Hegazy, Media Coordinator at Sennari House told the Egyptian Mail.
His name was Ibrahim Katkhuda Sinnari, whose surname refers to the Sudanse city of Sennar where he was born. He came to live in Mansoura, 120 km northeast of Cairo and worked as a doorman.
“When he came to Egypt he learnt how to read and write. He then studied astrology and magic. He created amulets, spells and incantations,” Hegazy said.
“These talents made him distinguished among people, so he became close to Mamluk rulers, thus he came to live in Cairo. He started to build his house in 1783 and it was completed ten years later. It is reported that he spent only two years in the house before his tragic end,” he added.
“Some said that when the French expedition came to Cairo he fled, so they took his house as a residence. Others said that he died in a battle between Mamluks and French forces. A third part said that he was killed at the hand of an Ottoman Hüseyin Pasha, the Navy commander in Alexandria, when the latter invited him and other Mamluks and killed them all and buried them there.”
Hegazy went on to say that in 1913, the Committee for the Conservation of the Monuments of Arab Art restored the house. In the 1940s, it was listed as a monument. In the 1960s, the house hosted the Centre of Archaeological Crafts, affiliated with the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation (EAO).
The house underwent extensive restoration after the 1992 earthquake that hit Egypt and damaged many buildings.
Then it was closed and opened again in 2010 to be a cultural centre affiliated to Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
“We hold exhibitions, seminars, workshops, theatre shows and musical concerts for local residents of all ages. Debates on the future of science and knowledge are also being held here.”
The house design resembles that of Ottoman-era houses. When entering from the vaulted door there is a derkaa, a square space covered with a wooden ceiling that is carved in arabesque style.
In the open courtyard is a water well. There is also takhtaboush, an outdoor benched area between the courtyard and the backyard for the male occupants.
On looking up you can see the mashrabiya window screens overlooking the courtyard.
A semi-circular marble staircase leads to the first floor, where there is a main hall called the salamlek for grand events. There is a shukhshika in the ceiling, a hexagonal skylight.
Another hall is the women-only area, the haramlek.
Sinnari House is located in Monge Alley, which was named after a member of the French commission who settled at the house. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Fridays and Saturdays. It is sometimes open after 5 p.m. at night for concerts.
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