CAIRO - When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1789, he came with his scientists, scholars and artists to establish a French cultural base in Egypt. They began their mission of making the first European study of Egypt, which they published as Le description de l'Egypte. Beit el-Sennari in Sayeda Zeinab was used to house many of the French artists and scholars at the time. The Ottoman house became the centre of French study of Egypt, and is therefore a very important monument to early Egyptology. Beit el-Sennari was built in 1794 by a Sudanese occulist called Ibrahim Katkhuda el-Sennari. Under the supervision of Comte Gaspard Monge, who led the institute at the time, scientists and historians worked to record the country's ancient Egyptian, Coptic and Islamic history, as well as its contemporary life and geographical, industrial and agricultural aspects. They also wrote, illustrated and published the famous 24- volume Le Description de l'Egypte in 1809. Following the expedition's departure, some French scientists remained in Egypt to revive the institute, which was relocated in 1859 to Alexandria where it gained its current name. In 1880, the institute returned to Cairo and its collections was housed in the Qasr al-Aini building of the Egyptian Scientific Institute. It housed then about 40,000 rare books and manuscripts that predated the French expedition, including 1,635 books and maps and held drawings of bridges, aqueducts and dams, the Description and 18th-century periodicals published by organisations that no longer exist. Among the invaluable items are an atlas of ancient Indian arts, a German atlas of Egypt and Ethiopia published in 1842 and Egypt: Mother of the World written in 1753. In 1995, a team of Egyptian and French experts initiated a restoration process for Beit el-Sennari, which involved pumping out subterranean water, replacing the old and deteriorated drainage system and renovating all the tiles and mashrabiya (wooden latticework). On entering the house from its main door, you look up to find many windows with dark brown mashrabiya all around the house. There is an open-air hall called the sahn (courtyard), which enables the visitor to see most of the mashrabiya screens of the house. They are of the finest variety, made of very small pieces of wood in tight patterns, and many have additional Arabesque carvings within the wood. The visitor's eyes are drawn to a very attractive wooden balcony. Hanging from its ceiling are two charming lanterns much like the famous lanterns of Ramadan. The next room is the main salamlek, a large hall reserved for men, which has a fountain; its window is covered by the largest and most superb mashrabiya screen in the house. The bathroom (traditional hammam) is an interesting place. In its ceiling there is coloured glass through which the sun's rays illuminate the bathroom. There is a second bathroom, with rectangles cut into the ceiling and inset with small pieces of coloured glass, creating a wonderful effect almost like an electric lamp pasted to the ceiling. The next room is the main haremlek, reserved for women of the house where they would have spent much of their time. It had two mashrabiya screens to the left overlooking the sahn. To the right, there are some wooden cupboards that were used by the women to keep their precious items. All the house's doors are made of old wood and decorated beautifully in the Islamic style. Currently the Beit el-Sennari team aim to contribute to the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage, through the implementation of science, arts and cultural programmes. Supported by Bibliotheca Alexandrina, it organises various activities including cultural salon, art exhibitions, concerts, educational courses in calligraphy, hieroglyphics and Coptic language, and scientific roundtable discussions on different levels. It is customary to see people of different ages and backgrounds attending workshops or concerts there. Also some rooms are used for conferences and meetings, adding more life to this wonderful historic site.
Beit el-Sennari is located in small alley named Haret Monge, Midan el-Sayeda Zeinab, near Al-Saneya School, Cairo. Nearest metro station is Saad Zaghloul, then you have to walk for some 15 minutes. Entrance is free.
