The Minaret of Nasr ad-Din (21m) is the only extant part of an 1 lth-century Ayyubid mosque; Sheikh Nasr ad-Din built the present mosque in the 19th century around the old tower. North of the minaret through the gnarled alleys is Qasr Madrasa, an intact two-story mud-brick building that is thought to have been either an Ayyubid schoolhouse or an entertainment hall for an Ottoman palace; to bungle matters a little further, villagers later used the building as a courtroom. Many of die doorways of the old village are adorned with ornate wooden lintels that reveal the name of the owner, builder, and carpenter and the date of construction. A phara-onic arch, once used to support the entrance to a house, and a Roman doorway a few doors away hint at Al-Qasr’s distant pre-lslamic past. On the southern fringes of the old town you can see a waterwheel and functioning pottery works, where the villagers churn out everything from ashtrays to chamberpots, If he gets wind of your arrival in town, Ahmed, the caretaker of these sights, will show you around town (baksheesh in the range of LE2-3 appropriate). A small restaurant on the main road at the eastern edge of town serves simple meals of cheese and hard-boiled eggs in summer and a more complete menu in winter.

Three other sights of interest are found near Al-Qasr but are beyond walking distance. 2.5km west on the main highway is the turn-off for Al-Mousawaka Tombs-The local bus to west Mawhub or a pickup truck-taxi can drop you here. Head lkm south on the well-marked track to reach the guarded tombs, hewn into a rock outcropping. The two-chambered Tomb of Petosiris features brightly painted funerary scenes with a cast of characters that’s half ancient Egyptian, half Greco-Roman. The ceiling is ablaze with Hellenistic angels, portraits of folks passed on, and an overwrought zodiac. The adjacent Tomb of Sadosiris features unusual images of a two-faced man, simultaneously looking back at life and toward the afterlife, and of a mummy carrier with wooden wheels, another zodiac, and a plethora of grapes. These are the two most interesting of hundreds of Greco-Roman tombs laid to rest in the immediate vicinity. Unfortunately, they were closed for repairs during the summer of 1993. Check with local tourist officials for an update. (Open 8am-3pm. Admission LE8, students LE4.)