Roberts toured Egypt from September 1838 to January 1839. He made sketches of his tour and produced watercolours on his return home. This lithograph appeared in volume three of Egypt and Nubia with historical descriptions by William Brockedon. In the text it is titled Principle Mosque of Boulak. Brockedon wrote, ‘It would be difficult to imagine a structure more beautiful and striking than the mosque before us.’