View of Būlāq 7 - 1830

This pencil drawing, "View of Būlāq," was rendered by Friedrich Maximilian Hessemer in 1830. The minaret, a dominant vertical symbol, pierces the skyline, calling to mind not only religious devotion but also the assertion of cultural identity and presence in the landscape. The minaret, resonating across centuries, echoes the Tower of Babel, a symbol of humanity’s ambition and its subsequent fragmentation. We see similar reaching forms in Gothic cathedrals or even modern skyscrapers, all striving towards the heavens. The gesture toward the sky is powerful, evoking a yearning for something beyond our earthly existence. This psychological element, ingrained in our collective memory, resurfaces time and again, transforming but never truly disappearing.