In 2011 the Barakat Trust gave a grant to May Al-Ibrashy a grant to help participate in the Cairo Cemetery Salvage Project (CCSP). The Mausoleum and Sabil‐Kuttab Radwan Agha al‐Razzaz Conservation Project is building 2 of the Cairo Cemetery Salvage Project (CCSP). Building 1 was the Mausoleum of Ruqayya Dudu Conservation Project, and Building 3 was the Project for Conservation of the entrance porch of the mausoleum of al‐Imam al‐Shafi’i.
This project was definitely very extensive and required multiple phases before completion. It is definitely not an exaggeration to argue this was May’s largest ever project to date and indeed was a pretty significant one for the Trust too.
The first phase consisted of documentation, research and site preparation. Dismantling structurally unstable walls. And masonry repairs.
The second phase consisted of creating a database and documentation of marble pieces of dismantled cenotaphs. Restoration of the timber roof, with a total exchange of damaged beams with new ones. And evacuation of the family living in the sabil to a new home.
The third phase consisted of cleaning tests for marbles, decisions on conservation techniques, implementation of consolidation and cleaning works of all dismantled marble. And the reassembly of the cenotaphs. And the restoration of wooden kuttab loggia.
Whilst the monuments and finds were successfully handed over to the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) in Cairo it now remains to collate and synthesise the material for publication.
