At a glance
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Walk this pathway
5steps · 30min · newcomer · student
Jawhar
Al-Mu'izz sent Jawhar to Egypt. He reached the site of Cairo in Sha'ban 358 AH and built its first wall of mud brick. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1030} {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1067} The treasure was spent on his armies from 358 to 362 AH. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1011}
Al-Mu'izz
Al-Mu'izz entered Egypt and lodged in his palace in Cairo. In Ramadan 362 AH he ordered that "the best of people after the Messenger of God" be written on the places of the city. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.2174} The city, once called al-Mansuriyya, was named al-Qahira. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1067} The caliph lived there with his household and his closest people. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1001}
al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah Ma'add ibn al-Mansur · Fatimid Caliphate
Al-Azhar
The mosque was called "Jami' al-Qahira" and "al-Azhar", and the two palaces together "the Splendid Palaces". {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1032} The chief da'i set aside a session for women in it. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1098} On the day of the Prophet's birth its preacher preached before the caliph. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1194}
Al-Hakim
Al-Hakim disappeared in Shawwal 411 AH, at the age of thirty-six years and seven months. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.2041} He took the Dar al-Ilm in Cairo, and the Dar al-Hikma was opened in 395 AH. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1250} Al-Maqrizi prefers the account of a man who confessed to killing him in 415 AH. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.2042}
The Ayyubids
Saladin took Egypt and the Fatimid state ended with the Ghuzz and the seizure of the kingdom by Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.290} Al-Kamil moved from Cairo to the Citadel, and the city became a city of residence. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1001} The Ayyubid rule in Egypt ended in 648 AH, after eighty-one years and seventeen days. {cite:khitat-maqrizi-1998 p.1912}
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Overview
A path through the Fatimid state: Jawhar al-Siqilli builds Cairo, al-Mu'izz enters it, al-Azhar is opened, and al-Hakim is at the far end of the period.
Sources
- Al-Maqrizi, al-Mawaiz wa-l-i'tibar bi-dhikr al-khitat wa-l-athar (al-Khitat al-Maqriziyya), ed. Muhammad Zaynhum and Madiha al-Sharqawi (Cairo: Maktabat Madbuli, 1998)
- Wikidata
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Fatimid Cairo”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/exhibits/path-fatimid-cairo/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-24.