É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.

ORMOS, István: The Correspondence of Ignaz Goldziher and Max Herz

ISTVÁN ORMOS Comité was also emphasized by Achille Patricolo, Herz's assistant: "A whole team of specialists, masons, joiners, turners, painters, chasers and marble specialists has been formed in the Bureau of the Comité. In the course of a long apprenticeship, which is expertly and enthusiastically superintended, these artisans have acquired the expertise necessary for the execution of the most delicate works inherent in the preservation of Arab monuments. (Dans le bureau du Comité s'est forme toute une équipe d'ouvriers libres spécialistes, maqons, menuisiers, tourneurs, peintres, ciseleurs, marbriers. Par un long apprentissage, savamment et passionément dirigé, ces artisans ils ont acquis la maitrise nécessaire á exécuter les travaux les plus délicats, inhérents á la conservation des monuments arabes

.)"

7

X Maybe there were two doors, an original and a replica, and the door in Kuwait today is not the one Herz saw? But then where is the other one? There are many questions: let us hope that the intriguing fate of this door - or these doors - will be solved one day.

7

9 In another interesting remark Herz voiced his doubts concerning the accuracy of CA1I Pasha Mubärak's magnum opus: "As far as the cjlki. are concerned I must admit that they have never inspired confidence in me because I was eyewitness to the working method of the old minister. I never omit to control his historical notes and - by the Prophet! - it is necessary too. (Was die »A^l dlLi anbelangt, muß ich gestehn, daß sie mir nie Vertrauen eingeflößt haben, denn ich war Augenzeuge von der Arbeitsweise des alten Ministers. Ich versäume es nie, seine historischen Notizen zu kontrollieren, und - beim Propheten, es thut noi.)"

8

0 Another interesting remark: "In your letter of 26 March you are asking me whether the weather-worn Mamluk coat of arms on the Sultan Hasan Mosque, opposite the Rifari Mosque, still exists. 1 don't know any coat of arms on the Sultan Hasan Mosque. Would you please explain this? You can perhaps find the item in question in the illustrations. (In Deinem Briefe vom 26. März frägst Du ob das verwitterte Mamlukenwappen an der Hassan Moschee, dem Rifa'i-Moschee gegenüber, noch existirt. Ich kenne auf der Hassan M. kein Wappen. Willst Du, bitte, Dich näher erklären? Vielleicht findest Du das Vermeinte in den Illustrationen.)"

M 7

8 Achille Patricolo, La conservation des monuments arabes en Egypte. I. Histoire du Comité, Cairo 1914, 28. 7

9 Cf. Géza Fehérvári, 'History and Mystery! The "Bronze" Door of Mamluk Sultan Barquq in Kuwait', Alumni Newsletter. SOAS, University of London, Edition 16, Summer 1998, 7; Géza Fehérvári-Peter Northover, The Door of Sultan Barquq in Kuwait. Tareq Rajab Museum. Kuwait (at the press). 8

0 Letter dated Cairo, 29 May 1896. In his next letter of 10 June 1896 Herz wrote that he remembered having made a mistake in writing klkiJl instead of SJJJ»JI kkiJI

. 8

1 Letter dated Cairo, 13 October 1900. The illustrations referred to are those in Max Herz Bey, La mosquée du Sultan Hassan, Cairo 1899. 182