The Mausoleum of Ikhwat Yusuf is a Fatimid monument with later Ottoman additions located in Cairo’s Southern Cemetery at the foot of the Mokattam outcrop. The mausoleum is one of very few surviving Fatimid period (AD 969-1171) monuments in Egypt and contains an elaborately carved stucco mihrab (prayer niche), a brick dome, stone arches, vaults, and secondary domes.

In 2022, ARCE began a conservation and restoration project at the monument that will include a digital restoration, in collaboration with Factum Foundation followed by the conservation of the mihrab. 

In March 2022, Osama Dawod and Otto Lowe arrived in Cairo and recorded the mausoleum’s stucco mihrab in high-resolution using photogrammetry. They also provided hands-on photogrammetry training at the site for inspectors from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, as part of a field training program ARCE coordinated to complement its work at the mausoleum.

Osama Dawod (right) with the ARCE trainees. From left to right: Suzan Fathy, Mohamed Khalifa, Mohamed Badawy, Mohab Abd Elmegid © courtesy of ARCE

ARCE trainee Mohamed Badawy recording the mihrab using photogrammetry © Osama Dawod for Factum Foundation