The story begins when
the Ottomans found a huge basin or sarcophagus in this ancient area known as
the Elephant Pool, It is a basin of black granite stone with a length of 2.7
meters and a width of 1.38 meters and a height of 1.92 meters , and on all its
internal and external surfaces funerary writings , it is said that the Mamluk
historian "Ibn Iyas" referred to this sarcophagus and mentioned that
it was used as a ship carrying only 4 people.
To cross the Nile from
one bank to another, he added that the ancient priests had stalked the ship
along this path, it is that only 4 people can board it. If the number exceeds
that, it will be drowned , This is what
the ruler of Egypt did not like at the time, "Cavour Al-Akhchidi", he
set out to gather Egypt’s scholars with him and entrusted them with reading the
hieroglyphic inscriptions written on this sarcophagus , they were unable to do
so, and the ruler "Cavour Al-Akhchidi", had to return the ship
to the Nile shore to use it as it used to, until the boat sank in the Nile, since
then, the coffin was thrown next to one of the fortress "Al-Kabash"
mosques in " Sayyida Zainab" area.
And turned to a watering and water basin to water the
citizens , Many tales and legends were woven around the sarcophagus, which
contained a mummy for one of the priests of the Pharaonic times, most of them
recounted that this huge heavy sarcophagus, what is impossible to move below is
hidden by many treasures, guarded by the elves , while other courts revolve
around the ability of the basin to recover from many diseases, the most
important of them is "Love", as the Mamluk historian "Ibn Iyas",
one of the Mamluk niches was placed by the basin in front of the "Jawili"
Mosque in the Sayyida Zainab" neighborhood.
It was mentioned that primarily the Turkish traveler "Chalabi"
who visited Egypt in the seventeenth century AD narrated more details about
this legend, He saw that this sarcophagus was filled with brilliant albumin
water from which passers-by all night , without anything short of water, the
water has always been full and he does not understand where this water comes
from, the legend talks about that coffin, as it was located in the heart of
Cairo, where lovers resort to get rid of the pain of love and adoration , The
scholars of the French campaign called it "the fountain of lovers ,
As the scholars of the
French campaign viewed this coffin as a "fountain of lovers."
They explained that
this myth was in fact real, and they drew the sarcophagus with a hole in one of
its sides to drain the water in it, this was the reason for naming the area
located on one of the streets of the "Al-Kabbish" area as the
Enchanted Coffin Street , the basin was really magical, and all the account
mentioned by the Orientalists confirms that those who drink from it will
recover from the pain of separation and get rid of the pain of love , Similarly,
the paintings of the Italian oriental "Luigi Meyer" were monitoring a
legend called the observed basin
.
It is now found in the
same name in the region of "Sayyida Zeinab", and Mayer's paintings
confirmed that this basin was a coffin of water that cured the pain of love , "Ali
Pasha Mubarak" mentioned in his "conciliation plans" the story
of this sarcophagus before it was transferred to the British Museum to settle
there , there is an Egyptian pharaonic writer amid a group of other Egyptian
antiquities , this sarcophagus was destined to move to France after the members
of the Science and Arts Committee accompanying the campaign moved him to
Alexandria on his way to Paris , however, under the Alexandria Agreement of
1802, It moved with many other Egyptian antiquities as a Rosetta Stone to
Britain , the site of the monitored basin was a palace of King "Nasser
Muhammad bin Qalawun"
The palace was called the "Baqer al-Saqi", which was described by the Sheikh of Arab historians "Ahmed bin Ali al-Maqrizi" as the greatest of Egypt's dwellings, and the best of their structures, and the best of our structures, then the building turned into a textile factory and then to the enchanted sarcophagus prison , then to the enchanted sarcophagus hospital for the treatment of umbilical diseases in 1923 , Then the charmed coffin hospital for treating skin and venereal diseases in 1943 until the name of the hospital became "Cairo for dermatology and venereal diseases in 1979
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