Cairo
It was established by Ms. Badoya Bint Shahin in 1174 AH/1761 as an ongoing charity upon the memory of her daughter and prince Radwan Bek, who is known as Ruqayya Dudu (a Turkish word for a certain type of bird). Ruqayya passed away at a young age after being infected with the plague, and she was buried in a cemetery set up for her by her mother in the tombs of the Imam al-Shafi’ area.
This sabil is the third to be constructed by a woman in the Ottoman era; it consists of a sabil and above it a Kuttab. The sabil’s facade followed the prevailing style of the sabils in the Ottoman era, with archedor semi-circular facade. The facade overlooks Suq al-Silah Street through three sabil windows, each of which is covered with hollow metal windows for supplying water to passersby. Above each window is a marble slab inscribed with Arabic scripts, surrounded by ceramic tiles.
The entrance of the sabil lies at the right of the façade, while on its left are two recesses that may have been used as sabil Musasa*. The entrance leads to a vestibule with a staircase that leads up to the rectangular sabil room, which contains the three sabil windows. The southeast corner of that room is an arched niche that was used as a mihrab to indicate the direction of the prayer for the workers. Adjacent to the sabil’s door is a room with the cistern cap, in addition to the staircase that leads to the kuttab.
