Today, Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated a number of archaeological projects, including the Mejri El-Ayoun Wall Socket Tower, the Babylon Fortress and the Ben Ezra Jewish Temple, after the completion of their restoration project, in the presence of Ahmed Issa, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, and Major General Khaled Abdel-Al, Governor Cairo, Ahmed Ebeid, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Court Affairs and Permanent Undersecretary of the Ministry, Brigadier General Hisham Samir, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Antiquities and Museums Projects and General Supervisor of the Projects Sector, and Dr. And Dr. Jamal Abdullah Al-Rahim, Professor of Islamic Archeology at Cairo University.
New archaeological openings
The Magery Al-Oyyun Wall Outlet Tower is a water aqueduct located in the Old City of Egypt, on Mejry Al-Oyyun Street and Salah Salem Road. 292 openings, starting from the intakes tower, which represents the first part of the watering and consists of a hexagonal tower of stone, on the surface of which there are 6 waters, which ascend to it through a ramp from the eastern side of the tower.
In the center of the outlet tower is the top of a large hexagonal basin of red brick to prevent water from leaking into it by means of the six waterwheels that were installed on the roof of the tower as the water is raised to it to pour into small stone basins connected to the large central basin through small channels, which are pointed arches dating back to the era of Sultan al-Ghuri It is carried on pillars of stone. These arches remained in use until 1872.
The history of the socket tower of the Hungarian al-Uyun wall
Its construction dates back to Al-Nasir Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi, where the aim of its construction was to provide the Citadel of Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi with water, then Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun completely renewed it in the year 1312, and Sultan Al-Ghuri established for it during his reign a water outlet with six drivers near the Sayyidah Mosque Aisha.
Nothing remains of the ancient arches that Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi built except for a few remains at the beginning of the stream from the side of the castle facing the mosque of Sayyidah Aisha.
It was completely rebuilt by Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun in two stages, during which he established four canals on the Nile at the mouth of the Gulf to raise water from a small bay at the observation wall, which is known today as the Antar Stable towards the Athar Al-Nabi Mosque.
The architecture of these barrages consists of a huge wall that extends from the mouth of the Gulf to the square of Sayyida Aisha, after it was in the past until the castle. inside the castle.
In the era of Sultan al-Ghuri, another water outlet with six drivers was established for these barrages near Sayyida Nafisa to strengthen the stream of water reaching the castle’s wells, and the aim of its establishment was to supply Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi’s castle with water.
During the Ottoman era, the watering of the mouth of the Gulf, “the stream of eyes”, witnessed a number of reforms in it, and the French campaign used some of its parts as a war fortress for observation and made large openings for its cannons, then Muhammad Ali Pasha constructed a branch for it to reach the dome of Imam Shafi’i and the burial of the royal family.
Restoration project
The works included restoring and maintaining the wooden streams erected on top of the building, removing encroachments on the wall and the ancient sanctuary, treating and cleaning stones, removing layers of soot and dirt, maintaining woodwork and floors in the internal corridors, rehabilitating stairs and covering openings, in addition to raising the efficiency of the area surrounding the monument.