The Gayer Anderson Museum is located within two historic houses in Cairo that were joined together. The houses were purchased in the 1930s by Major R.G. Gayer Anderson, who assembled a collection of antique furniture, carpets, and other objects that he displayed throughout the homes. After his death, the Egyptian government converted the houses into a museum to preserve Gayer Anderson's collection and the architectural heritage. The museum provides visitors a glimpse into historic Cairo homes through 17 rooms filled with artifacts representing ancient Egyptian, Coptic, Islamic, and other Middle Eastern cultures and traditions.

1. Gayer Anderson Museum
(Beyt El Kritliyya)
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2. Bayt al-kritliyya is one of the most beautiful and interesting specimens of
the 17th century Arab domestic architecture left in Cairo and provides an
ideal setting for the furniture, carpets and objects that date back to the
ancient Egyptian period, Coptic and Islamic era. It is located to the South
East corner of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun off of 'Abd al-Magid al-Labban
(Al-Salbiyya) Street in Sayyida Zeinab, Cairo.
Who is Gayer Anderson?
Major R.G. Gayer Anderson Pasha, after
passing through Guy's Hospital, London,
joined the Army Medical Corps in 1904
and was seconded for service to the
British Army in Egypt in 1907. He was
promoted to the rank of Major in 1914,
and in the same year he was made
Assistant Adjutant General for recruiting,
Egyptian Army. He retired from the
British Army in 1920 when he became
for a short period Oriental Secretary to the British Residency, Cairo. He
finally retired on pension in1924 but continued to reside in Cairo where
he interested himself in Egyptology and oriental studies in general,
forming a valuable collection of domestic furniture, faience,
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3. Carpets and other objects representative of the arts and crafts of the Near
East.
In 1935, he was authorized by the Egyptian Government to reside in one
of the old Arab houses under the care of the Arab Monuments
Committee, named Bayt al-Kritliyya, situated at the entrance of the
famous 9th
century Mosque of Ibn Tulun, where he assembled his various
collections and arranged them in a perfect setting for their satisfactory
display. Subsequently, he bequeathed the contents of Bayt al- Kritliyya to
the Egyptian Government and when, owing to ill health, he was forced to
leave Egypt in the spring of 1942, the Egyptian Ministry of Public
Instruction converted the house, and its contents which had always been
fully accessible to the public as long as Major Anderson resided in Cairo,
into the Gayer-Anderson Pasha Museum. H.M.king Farouk graciously
bestowed on Anderson Bey the grade of Pasha in recognition of his
generous bequest to the Egyptian Nation. Gayer Anderson Pasha died in
England in 1945.
The History of the House:
The museum consists of two houses built using the outer wall of the
Mosque of Ibn Tulun as support. The larger house, located to the east (the
outermost side in relation to the mosque) was built in 1632 (1041 AH) by
Hajj Mohammad Ibn al-Hajj Salem Ibn Galman al-Gazzar. It later
came into the possession of a wealthy Muslim woman from Crete, and
the home became popularly known as Beit al-Kritliyya, or "House of the
Cretan Woman." The second house, to the west (the innermost side in
relation to the mosque) was built in 1540 (947 AH) by Abdel-Qader al-
Haddad. It later became known as "Beit Amna bint Salim," after its last
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4. owner. The two houses were joined by a bridge at the third floor level at
an unknown point, and are both collectively known as Beit al-Kritliyya.
The construction of private homes against the outer wall of a
mosque was common practice, with access to both the homes and mosque
via narrow streets. It was reported that in the early 20th century, the
mosque of Ibn Tulun could not be seen from the outside due to the
houses. In 1928 the Egyptian government began to clear the homes, many
of which were in very poor condition, away from the mosque as part of a
plan to make important Islamic monuments more accessible. The
Committee for the Conservation of Arab Monuments objected to the
demolition of Beit al-Kritliyya, however, on the grounds that the home
was extraordinarily well preserved. The home was kept intact, and repairs
were made to the side walls to strengthen them after the neighboring
houses were torn down.
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5. Legends of the house
A number of legends are associated with the Beit al-Kritliyya, which
were collected by Gayer-Anderson and published as Legends of the
House of the Cretan Woman.
Among the legends are:
• The house is built on the remnants of an ancient mountain called
Gebel Yashkur, the "Hill of Thanksgiving." It is believed that this is
where Noah's Ark came to rest after the flood described in both the
Bible and Qur'an, and that the last of the floodwater was drained
through the well in the courtyard of the house;
• The house is protected by a Shaykh, Haroun al-Husseini, who is
buried under one of the corners of the house. He is said to have
blinded three men who attempted to rob the house, who stumbled
around the house for three days and nights until they were finally
caught;
• The well, which is called Bir al-Watawit, "The Well of the Bats" in
the house is said to possess miraculous qualities - for example, a
lover gazing into the water would see the face of his or her
sweetheart instead of his/her own reflection.
# The James Bond film 'The Spy who loved me" was partially shot in the museum,
in the ceremonial reception hall and the rooftop terrace.
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6. Bayt al-kritliyya
The house is entered
through the 'Gate of Honour'. The
first part of the house consists of
huge brown containers of water used
as a Sabil in the past for people who
pass by to drink water on hot days.
A Sabil is part of the Islamic Cairo
culture, though it usually refers to a
fountain. Afterwards, there is a
small corridor that takes one to the
open air hall in the ground floor of
the house. This corridor is filled
with blue plates that Anderson
purchased from Persia. They were used to decorate the walls.
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7. 1-The Courtyard:
Passing through a bent entrance which protects the interior of the house,
we will be in an open courtyard, in the centre of which is a marble
fountain and pavement presented by the Pasha's brother, Colonel T.G.
Gayer Anderson. To the right, in a deep vaulted recess, is the well of the
Bats and in a similar recess is a doorway that leads to the street.
Adjoining these is a servant's room, beyond which is a door in the corner
that leads via a staircase to the Harem, or Ladies Quarter. The Well and
the storeroom were of great importance in the days when the house was
built because the people of the house would be sure of finding food and
water at hand if fighting were taking place in the streets. Large pottery
jars stand around the courtyard and a collection of steelyards and weights
is hung against one of its wall.
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8. The open air hall is rather amazing as one can
see most of the balconies of the house above and
the old walls with the Islamic decorations on
them.
The most interesting item of this hall is a big
wooden box that is connected with a strong rope.
It was used to transfer food and water from stores of the
house, much like an old dumbwaiter.
A corridor on the south side of the courtyard has pictures of
the house and the Ibn Tulun Mosque in the past and they
depicted how it changed over the years. There are also some
floor plans and maps of the house and the mosque. To the right hand side
there are some items that Gayer Anderson collected through time. One of
them is a charming piece of colorful tile that was used on the grounds of
the house. These tiles weren’t made in
Egypt but imported
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10. 2-The Sabil:
A few steps from this corridor lead up to the sabil, or public drinking
fountain. Sabils are charitable foundations for the free distribution of
drinking water, and this example is unique in that it is attached to a house
rather than to a religious building. It is a square room with two barred
windows, which originally had water basins inside them and some brass
cups are fastened to chains to the bars of the windows for the use of
passers-by. The water was originally brought from the Nile by hand and
stored in the vast cistern that lies beneath this room, which is visible from
a hidden opening in the centre of the
floor. The wooden ceiling of the sabil is
beautifully decorated with plates of
gold. It dates to the early 17th
century
A.D.
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11. The current display in the sabil relates to the Legends of the House,
which are represented on a series of tinned copper plates commissioned
by Gayer Anderson and executed by a local artisan.
One of the most interesting things in this room, is the display of a model
of a boat which represents the shape of the Mediterranean boat. The
significance of it is the
representation of the same
old tradition of the
ancient Egyptian of
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12. having the funeral boats that used by the dead person to guarantee his
rebirth in the afterlife.
The First Floor:
3-The Maq'ad (Loggia)
After ascending a few steps on the west side of the courtyard, the visitor
will find a staircase which leads to the maq'qd. Its two sides and front
walls are paneled with mosaic marble and faience tiles. Entering the
maq'ad, the visitor finds himself in a narrow sunken area which was the
place where servants and guests left their shoes before stepping onto the
raised floor. In the back wall are two shallow recesses, one of which is
fitted with a long dikka or seat. In the middle there are beautiful brass
tables with Qur'an and Islamic decorations. There are also some small,
ornate wooden chairs. The front is completely open in order to receive the
refreshing evening breeze. The two other sides have wall cupboards for
glass objects, cups, and bottles. The whole room is furnished with carpets
and comfortable seats.
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13. 4-The winter Qa'a( Reception Room)
This room is the principal hall of this house. Its magnificent appearance
is due partly to the height of its decorated ceiling, partly to its harmonious
proportions, partly to its handsome furniture. Along three of its sides are
ranged long low seats. One of them is wider and deeper than the others,
being the more honourable place. There are some alabaster tables with
Qur'an verses written on the circular edges, stands in the sunken area and
close to it is a tray of the same material, which served as a stand for cups
and sweets. There are also colorful boxes that were used to keep
valuables. The most remarkable pieces in this hall are the large smoking
pipes. Each of them is at least
half a meter long.
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14. Almost all the other contents of the room are however of metal, including
some old copper trays.
5-The khazna (Treasury)
Beyond the Qa'a is a small room called the khazna or Treasury. Now it
contains a small collection of Oriental pictures, some Persian, some
Chinese and some Indian, illustrating religious personages, old stories or
scenes from nature. This room opens onto the top of a staircase exactly
opposite the door of the harem.
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15. 6-The Harem (Ladies Quarter)
The Harem is a spacious and well-lit room. On the two sides that
overlook the street, mashrabiyya or turned wood windows are used. They
break the glare of the sun and the same time enable those inside to see
what is going on outside without being themselves seen by the passers-
by. Among the objects which now embellish this room are two large
Indian wedding chairs of inlaid wood, and some particularly beautiful
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16. Persian wall cupboards with human figures in different attitudes and
signs of the zodiac, which Gayer Anderson obtained from Tehran. There
is a secret chamber in one corner of the room with trapdoor, which
according to legend is where gold of the house was kept.
Second Floor
7&8 The study and the Kuttab
On the way up to the next floor, we will find two rooms; the study
and the Kuttab. The former was Gayer Anderson's personal study and is
approached through a screen with examples of Islamic stained glass. In
the entrance of the room, there are white masks that Anderson made of
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17. him and his family. They are very well made and show some good detail.
There were also fascinating, colorful pieces of glass that were used to
decorate the room. Inside the room there is the chair and the Corona
typewriter that belonged to Gayer Anderson that he used for much of his
writing. All around the walls of the room there are many photographs of
Gayer Anderson alone and with his family. There is also a photograph of
his wife.
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18. The kuttab was originally a room for teaching children the Qura'n and it
is now furnished with a collection of objects related to the theme of
Sufism and
Islamic
Calligraphy.
9-The Roof terrace:
At the top of the staircase, to the right, is the roof terrace which contains a
variety of Ottoman marble basins and sink backs and some large black
pottery jars which were used in the spice trade with the Far East.
Comfortable wooden or stone seats harmonize with the Mashrabiyya
screens, which Gayer Anderson Pasha rescued from demolished houses
and reinstalled in this location. From this roof, one has a fine view of the
walls of Ibn Tulun Mosque with its many windows. Even the Citadel is
visible from the roof of the Gayer Anderson museum. There are a number
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19. of displays on the walls, such as a sun clock made of tile. It
was used to tell the times for prayers.
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20. 10- The Persian Room
At the top of the same staircase is a bedroom called the Persian Room.
There is a big red bed with wooden posts all about it and a canopy,
designed by Gayer Anderson in a Persian style. Next to Anderson's bed is
the bed of his favorite servant who would wait on him during the night.
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21. Some pictures of Persian warriors or princes are
displayed around the room. One of the most attractive
objects in this room is a Turkish carpet decorated with
a railway train surrounded by floral designs.
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22. 11- The Byzantine Room:
The small square room called the Byzantine Room is really a bridge
connecting the Bayt al-Kritliyya with the house of Amna bint Salim.
Almost all of its contents are Byzantine or Coptic. It contains some old
crosses and icons. A picture of St. Demetrious is hung on here, together
with other Christian paintings of Egyptian origin.
12) The Picture Gallery:
Two steps from the
Byzantine Room bring the visitor
to the Picture Gallery where
there is a display of oil pictures,
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23. drawings and water colours, mostly by contemporary artists who
presented them to Anderson.
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24. There is a charming watercolor picture, depicting a white vase filled with
daffodils against a blue background. The collection also includes two
works by the well known 19th
century English artist, Edward Lear.
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25. 13) The Mohammed Ali Room:
A narrow corridor on the right of the Picture Gallery leads to this room,
which Gayer Anderson brought from the now, demolished Yeghan Palace
in Suq al-Silah, which runs from the madrasa of Sultan Hasan to the Darb
al-Ahmar. A portrait of Muhammad Ali Pasha is hung between two
cupboards with glass doors containing
some blue and green enameled and gilt
Bohemian glass objects.
Also, there is a salon which supposed to be a royal one, as it contains two
big armchairs with the royal crown over it. It is said to have been the
throne of one of the Egyptian Ruler, may be Said Pasha.
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26. 14) The Queen Anne Room:
Next to this room is the Queen Anne Room, so called from the style of its
furniture.
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27. This room, like all the others, is full of various items and has the
Mashrabeya windows. There are two significant objects in the room. The
first is a portrait of Gayer Anderson's favorite servant. He is a small boy
apparently of Nubian decent from Southern Egypt. The second item is
a small, black statue of an angel on a door, used as a door knocker.
Like the picture Gallery and the Mohammed Ali Room, this room
possesses a fine Venetian chandelier.
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28. 15 & 16 The Library and the Chinese Room:
This room ends the corridor. It contains most of the books bequeathed to
the house by Gayer Anderson. Here, there is a fascinating drawing of
Gayer Anderson as a Sphinx statue, and a fine portrait of him wearing a
blue suit. And as in most of the rooms of the house, there is the sofa at the
end of the room with the Mashrabeya window behind it.
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29. Opposite the Queen Anne is a small room
containing Chinese furniture
and pictures.
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30. 17) The Museum Room:
A door to the left of the picture Gallery leads to the museum Room.
While the whole house is a big museum, there is a museum within this
museum. It contains a wonderful statue of Nefertiti. It is placed in front of
a Mashrabeya screen and when the sun light comes through its wooden
holes, it truly looks magical, as if she might speak at any moment. In the
middle of the room there is a
statue of the cat goddess Bastet,
the original of which Anderson
bequeathed to the British
Museum and to the right of the
door; there is a black mummy
cover that seems a bit scary.
There is also a huge bird egg
inscribed with Qura'an verses.
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31. The most interesting items of this museum inside the Gayer Anderson
Museum are the plates of "Taset El Khada", which is a famous Egyptian
legend. Such plates are usually made of brass or silver and have magical
words and certain verses of the Qura'an written inside them. Someone
who is ill would fill the plate with milk and water and leave it on the
balcony overnight. It was believed that a part of the sky would come and
mix with the milk and water. In the morning the sick person would drink
this from the plate and be cured.
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32. 18) The Damascus Room:
After leaving the Picture Gallery, a small staircase on the left leads up to
the Damascus Room. The Walls and ceiling of this room are completely
covered with richly-decorated wooden panels brought by Gayer Anderson
from a 17th
century house in Damascus. The
verses of a poem in praise of the Prophet
decorate the frieze and give its date
1692A.D.
The bed is wooden with Islamic decorations
all around it. Although this room is the
smallest in the house, it is the most fabulous
room.
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33. Second Floor
19& 20 The Guest Room and the Listening Gallery:
The visitor must now descend a long staircase, which leads to the door of
the haremlek of the house of Amna Bent Salim, again with its many
boxes and Mashrabeya windows. This room has a wooden cupboard
where jewelry was kept. It seemed normal at first, but when you move the
whole cupboard, there is a secret doorway! The door leads to a very
narrow corridor with Mashrafeya windows to the right and some wooden
chairs to the left. It was used by women to watch what was going on in
the celebration hall without being seen by anyone.
This room is connected to another room with a long corridor. The other
room was used as a makeup and dressing room for women. It has a large
cupboard to the left where they kept their cosmetics and to the right there
is another narrow corridor where women used to overlook the celebration
hall through Mashrafeya screens. These windows look out directly
towards the fountain of the celebration room and the chair where Gayer
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34. Anderson sat. There is also another small window where women used to t
look at the Mosque of Ibn Toulon. The strangest item in this room is a
musical instrument (guitar) in the shape of a small crocodile.
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36. First Floor
21) The Celebration Hall:
Descending to the First Floor we visit the big celebration hall. It is
divided into two halves. The first half is where Gayer Anderson would
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37. hold audiences with visitors as he
sat on a chair in the middle of the
section. On his right hand, there is
the huge shelf where Anderson kept
the swords he collected from all
over Egypt. This hall was also used
for marriage parties. Therefore,
there is a chair for the bride to the right and a chair for the groom to the
left. In the middle of the room is a nice fountain that still looked
functional. The other half of the room consists of a small theater, where
the performances of dancers and singers once took place. The ceiling of
the celebration hall is very high because the hall is surrounded with
Mashrabeya screens for women to watch from the chambers above the
hall. The celebration hall is lit by various sources. The most attractive
among them is a huge Fanoos, a Ramadan lamp that is pinned to the high
ceiling. This hall is the best place to learn about the old Egyptian culture
because many events used to take place there.
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38. Ground Floor
22 & 23 The Bridal & Birthing Rooms:
Returning to the staircase and descending to the ground floor, the visitor
arrives in a courtyard which has a 19th
century marble fountain and basin
at its centre. Two small vaulted spaces, formerly storerooms, are located
on the east of this courtyard.
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39. These are respectively the Bridal Room, with a display of objects relating
to the life of the women of the house and the Birthing Room which has
many chairs, some with Qur'an verses written on them, with openings in
their seats. Women used to sit on these chairs to give birth to their babies.
To the left there are some displays of bracelets that children once wore to
protect them.
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40. The other side of the courtyard has a collection of marble jar-stands for
drinking- water, which are unique to Egypt. Their design includes a basin
which prevents dripping water from collecting in front of the jars.
On leaving the house, the visitor passes a wall- mounted group of marble
funerary inscriptions (Both Coptic and Islamic) which include good
examples of 9th
century work with Kufic lettering.
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