Mosque of Ibn Tūlūn, Cairo, Egypt

"The early mosques were essentially congregational. The mosque of Ibn Tūlūn, built in 879, which is completely homogeneous, is of vast size, covering some six and a half acres. This mosque has retained an early feature which has disappeared elsewhere, the ziyāda, the large walled enclosure surrounding, or partly surrounding, a mosque, protecting it from the houses and bazaars which tended to crowd up to the walls." [Russell D., 1963: Medieval Cairo and the Monasteries of the Wādi Natrūn. Weidenfeld and Nicolson]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.