David Roberts visited the Tombs of the Caliphs for the first time on 23 December 1838, recording in his journal: 'The singular beauty of this scene cannot fail to strike the observer: the form and enrichment of the dome, and the elegance of the minaret of the principal mosque, that of the Sultan Kaitbey, the square masses of such parts of the structure as are not yet in ruins, combine with the other mosques and the citadel in the background to complete a composition of objects almost without rival for the picturesque effect which, in this point of view, they produce'.

This painting is a more romanticized version of the sketches and watercolours that Roberts produced in situ during his visit to Cairo in 1838-39. The view was published as a lithograph in Roberts', Egypt and Nubia, London, 1846-9, vol. III, plate 97, with the title Tombs of the Caliphs, Cairo. The Citadel in the Distance. Roberts shows the Northern Cemetery with its principal monuments, the minaret and dome of the mosque-tomb of Sultan Qaytbay, completed in 1474. In the 19th century this area of Cairo was misnamed the Tombs of the Caliphs; it is in fact the northern part of the great cemetery that circles the medieval, Islamic part of Cairo on its southern and eastern side. Today it is more correctly referred to as the Tombs of the Mamluks since it was in the Mamluk period, in the 14th and 15th centuries, that it was initially developed.

Amid these architectural remains of former dynastic glory, Roberts has placed a simple funeral procession. Behind the three observers on the left of the route, is a canopy tomb of the Ottoman period, dating from 17th century. Behind the water-carrier on the right side, are two simple tombs, situated east-west so that the body therein faces Mecca. The funeral procession consists of assorted friends, imams, minor officials. The red draped coffin provides the composition with a sharp accent of colour to contrast with the muted pastel shades employed by Roberts to evoke the haze of the dawn sky.

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