The historic city of Cairo, Egypt, had many gates in its history as its city walls were built, rebuilt, and expanded in different periods. Only three gates are fully-preserved today, all dating from the late 11th century in the Fatimid period: Bab al-Nasr, Bab al-Futuh, and Bab Zuwayla. Some other gates have been partially recovered through archeological excavations, such as Bab al-Barqiyya.
Cairo was founded as a palace-city in 969 by the Fatimid Caliphate. Jawhar al-Siqilli, the Fatimid general who led the conquest of Egypt, oversaw the construction of the city's original walls, which were built of mudbrick. [1] [2] According to later medieval sources, these first city walls, which had a roughly rectangular outline, had eight gates. On the north side were two gates named Bāb al-Futūḥ ("Gate of Conquests") and Bāb al-Naṣr ("Gate of Victory"); on the east side were Bāb al-Barqiyya ("Gate of the Barqa regiment") and Bāb al-Qarrātīn ("Gate of the clover merchants"); to the south were Bāb Zuwayla ("Gate of the Zuwayla") and Bāb al-Faraj ("Gate of Joy"); and on the west side were Bāb al-Qanṭara ("Gate of the bridge [over the Khalij canal]") and Bāb al-Sa'ada ("Gate of Felicity"). [3] : 37 [4] : 241
Later, during the late 11th century, the Fatimid vizier Badr al-Jamali ordered a reconstruction of the walls primarily out of stone and further outward than before to expand the space within Cairo's walls. [1] Construction began in 1087. [5] Although it was previously thought that the entirety of Badr al-Jamali's walls were built in stone, more recent archeological findings have confirmed that at least part of the eastern wall was built out of mudbrick, while the gates were built in stone. [6] The gates of the new walls retained generally the same names and were located in the same areas as the old walls. [4] : 245
Salah ad-Din, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, restored and/or reconstructed the Fatimid walls and gates in 1170 [5] or 1171. [2] He reconstructed parts of the Fatimid walls, including the eastern wall. [5] In 1176, he then began embarked on a project to radically expand the city's fortifications. This project included the construction of the Citadel of Cairo and of a 20 kilometer-long wall to connect and protect both Cairo (referring to the former royal city of the Fatimids) and Fustat (the main city and earlier capital of Egypt a short distance to the southwest). The entirety of the envisioned course of the wall was never quite completed, but long stretches of the wall were built, including the section to the north of the Citadel and a section near Fustat in south. Work continued under subsequent Ayyubid sultans. [3] : 90–91 [7]
The new Ayyubid extensions also added several new gates, of which eight have been identified. [3] : 96 The northern extension of the wall, running west from Bab al-Futuh, added two new gates in this area: Bāb al-Sharī'ah ("Gate of the Law [ Sharia]"), located close to the Fatimid walls, and Bāb al-Baḥr ("Gate of the Sea/Water"), located further west and close to the Nile River. The eastern walls near Cairo (north of the Citadel) included, from north to south: Bāb al-Jadīd ("New Gate"), Bāb al-Barqiyya, and Bāb al-Mahrūq ("Burned Gate"). The new section of walls near Fustat (south of the Citadel) included, from north to south: Bāb al-Qarāfa ("Gate of the Cemetery [ al-Qarafa]") and Bāb al-Safā. [3] : 87, 96
Many gates existed along the walls of Fatimid Cairo, but only three remain today: Bab al-Nasr, Bab al-Futuh, and Bab Zuwayla (with "Bab" translating to "gate"). [8] [9] These gates are among the most important masterpieces of historic military architecture in the Islamic world. [4] : 245 [10] : 68 A restoration project from 2001 to 2003 successfully restored the three gates and parts of the northern wall between Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh. [11] During the Fatimid period there were many gardens along the walls. A chain of gardens ran past Bab al-Nasr and the garden of al-Mukhtar al-Saqlabi existed outside Bab al-Futuh. [12]
Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh are both are on the northern section of the wall, about two hundred yards from each other. [9] Bab al-Nasr, which translates to "the Gate of Victory," was originally called Bab al-Izz, meaning "the Gate of Glory," when constructed by Gawhar al-Siqilli. It was reconstructed by Badr al-Gamali between 1087 and 1092 about two hundred meters from the original site and was given its new name. [8] [11] Similarly, Bab al-Futuh was originally called Bab al-Iqbal, or "the Gate of Prosperity," and was later renamed Bab al-Futuh by Badr al-Gamali. [11] Bab al-Nasr is flanked by two towers of square shape, with shield insignias carved into the stone, while Bab al-Futuh is flanked by round towers. [11] The vaulted stone ceilings inside Bab al-Nasr are innovative in design, with the helicoidal vaults being the first of their kind in this architectural context. [8] The façade of Bab al-Nasr has a frieze containing Kufic inscriptions in white marble, including a foundation inscription and the Shi'a version of the Shahada which was representative of the Fatimid caliphate's religious beliefs. [9] [11] [13] Bab al-Futuh features no inscriptions on the gate itself, [9] but an inscription can be seen nearby to the east, on the wall salient around the northern minaret of the al-Hakim Mosque. [14] : 245 Inside Bab al-Futuh, through its eastern flanking doorway, is the tomb of an unidentified figure, and through its western flanking doorway is a long vaulted chamber. [11]
The third surviving gate, Bab Zuwayla, sits in the southern section of the wall. [11] Badr al-Gamali rebuilt the original Bab Zuwayla further south than Gawhar al-Siqilli's original gate. [9] A neighboring mosque, the mosque of al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh, has two minarets that sit on top of the two towers that flank the Bab Zuwayla. [11] Similar to Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh, Bab Zuwayla was also adjacent to gardens, namely the gardens of Qanṭara al-Kharq. [12]
One of the eastern gates of the city, part of the Ayyubid reconstruction of the walls, was also uncovered in 1998 and subsequently studied and restored. It has a complex defensive layout including a bent entrance and a bridge over a moat or ditch. [15] Initially identified as Bab al-Barqiyya , [15] it is possible that it was actually known as Bab al-Jadid ("New Gate"), one of the three eastern gates mentioned by al-Maqrizi. If so, then the name Bab al-Barqiyya most likely corresponded to another gate a short distance to the northeast. [16] The latter gate, originally discovered in the 1950s, [17] dates from Badr al-Gamali's time and, according to an inscription, was also called Bab al-Tawfiq ("Gate of Success"). It would have replaced the earlier 10th-century Fatimid gate in this area. Archeologists discovered a number of ancient stones with Pharaonic inscriptions that were re-used in the gate's construction. [18] [19] [14] : 99 It was likely replaced by an Ayyubid-era gate built in front of it, but as of 2008 this had not yet been excavated. [19] Another gate further north, near the northeast corner of the walls, was known as Bab al-Jadid up to the present day and thus possibly contributed to confusion over the identification of the Ayyubid gate uncovered in 1998, with which it shares a similar layout. [16]
The Fatimid Caliphate or Fatimid Empire was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shia dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, it ranged from the western Mediterranean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids trace their ancestry to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatima and her husband Ali, the first Shia imam. The Fatimids were acknowledged as the rightful imams by different Isma‘ili communities as well as by denominations in many other Muslim lands and adjacent regions. Originating during the Abbasid Caliphate, the Fatimids initially conquered Ifriqiya. They extended their rule across the Mediterranean coast and ultimately made Egypt the center of the caliphate. At its height, the caliphate included—in addition to Egypt—varying areas of the Maghreb, Sicily, the Levant, and the Hejaz.
The al-Hakim Mosque, also known as al-Anwar, is a historic mosque in Cairo, Egypt. It is named after al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh (985–1021), the 6th Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismāʿīlī Imam. Construction of the mosque was originally started by Caliph al-ʿAziz, the son of al-Muʿizz and the father of al-Ḥākim, in 990 CE. It was completed in 1013 by al-Ḥākim, which is why it is named after him.
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Abū Tamīm Maʿad al-Mustanṣir biʾllāh was the eighth Fatimid Caliph from 1036 until 1094. He was one of the longest reigning Muslim rulers. His reign was the twilight of the Fatimid state. The start of his reign saw the continuation of competent administrators running the Fatimid state, overseeing the state's prosperity in the first two decades of al-Mustansir's reign. However, the break out of court infighting between the Turkish and Berber/Sudanese court factions following al-Yazuri's assassination, coinciding with natural disasters in Egypt and the gradual loss of administrative control over Fatimid possessions outside of Egypt, almost resulted in the total collapse of the Fatimid state in the 1060s, before the appointment of the Armenian general Badr al-Jamali, who assumed power as vizier in 1073, and became the de facto dictator of the country under the nominal rule of al-Mustansir.
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Al-Qaid Jawhar ibn Abdallah was a Shia Muslim Fatimid general who led the conquest of Maghreb, and subsequently the conquest of Egypt, for the 4th Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah. He served as viceroy of Egypt until al-Mu'izz's arrival in 973, consolidating Fatimid control over the country and laying the foundations for the city of Cairo. After that, he retired from public life until his death.
The Institut français d'archéologie orientale, also known as the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, is a French research institute based in Cairo, Egypt, dedicated to the study of the archaeology, history and languages of the various periods of Egypt's civilisation.
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Bab al-Futuh is one of three remaining gates in the city wall of the old city of Cairo, Egypt. It is located at the northern end of al-Mu'izz Street. The other two remaining gates are Bab al-Nasr in the north and Bab Zuwayla in the south. The gate was built during the Fatimid period, originally in the 10th century, then rebuilt in its current form in the late 11th century.
Bab al-Nasr, is one of three remaining gates in the historic city wall of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. The gate's construction is dated to 1087 and was ordered by Badr al-Jamali, a Fatimid vizier. It is located at the northern end of Shari'a al-Gamaliya in the old city of Cairo and slightly east of another contemporary gate, Bab al-Futuh.
Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi Street, or al-Muizz Street for short, is a major north-to-south street in the walled city of historic Cairo, Egypt. It is one of Cairo's oldest streets as it dates back to the foundation of the city by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century, under their fourth caliph, Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah . Historically, it was the most important artery of the city and was often referred to as the Qasaba. It constituted the main axis of the city's economic zones where its souqs (markets) were concentrated. The street's prestige also attracted the construction of many monumental religious and charitable buildings commissioned by Egypt's rulers and elites, making it a dense repository of historic Islamic architecture in Cairo. This is especially evident in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area, which is lined with some of the most important monuments of Islamic Cairo.
Bayn al-Qasrayn is an area located along al-Mu'izz Street in the center of medieval Islamic Cairo, within present day Cairo, Egypt. It corresponds to what was formerly a plaza between two palace complexes constructed in the 10th century by the Fatimids, as part of their palace-city named al-Qahirah. This later became the site of many monumental buildings constructed during the Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman periods, up to the 19th century. Many of these historical monuments are still standing today.
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Tala'i ibn Ruzzik was a military commander and official of the Fatimid Caliphate, serving as its vizier from 1154 until his assassination in 1161, when he was succeeded by his son, Ruzzik ibn Tala'i. He is generally acknowledged as the last of the powerful and capable viziers of the Fatimid state. During his tenure the Fatimid Caliphate regained a measure of stability, and was once again able to project its power abroad and pursue its political interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cairo:
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Bab al-Barqiyya was a gate in the city walls of Cairo, Egypt. It acted as one of the main eastern city gates until falling into disuse and disappearing. In 1998, it was excavated and rediscovered, along with parts of the Ayyubid-era city walls of Cairo,as part of the creation of Al-Azhar Park. It was restored in the 2000s in the process of the park's completion.
