This
lovely nineteenth century sabil was built by the
granddaughter of Abbas I, who ruled Egypt from 1848 to 1854 A.D, and the mother
of Abbas II. Sabil Umm Abbas or mother of Abbas is located in quite a
remarkable spot off Saliba Street at the corner of the side alley ‘al-Siufiya’.
Further along the same alley lies the Palace of Amir Taz
Sabil buildings were almost a fashion
in Cairo, and for long periods of
time sultans, princes and rich merchants gifted the city with many, often built
on busy street corners and whenever possible on the northeast side of a
building, to provide maximum shade and coolness.
It then also became a trend to construct a second story above the sabil used as a kuttab ,a small religious school
where the poor could still be taught reading, writing and the Koran.
Umm Abbas obviously spent lavishly on this little structure turning it into an
architecturally distinguished building. The rounded sabil shows much influence of Turkish
imperial fountains with its historic inscriptions, bronze window grills and
elaborately carved wooden hoods.
Thesabil was recently restored and
today, the upper floor rooms are occupied by a community service organization.
The best view of this complex is from the western end of the street which is
the direction of the Citadel
Although the original purpose of sabils as a fountain is not valid for Cairo and many have been lost or
abandoned since the introduction of the modern water system in Cairo,
there remain almost fifty of them in the city, out of possibly as many as two
hundred at one point, the largest number for any Islamic city.