The Citadel of Cairo: two dates for its beginning

The explanations distinguish finds, interpretations and open questions. Sources appear at the end of the page.

What the Met says

On the Met's timeline page for Egypt, 1000-1400 CE, under the events of 1171-1252, the text says that the Coptic architects Abu Mansur and Abu Mashkur were commissioned by Saladin to design the citadel and circuit walls of Cairo, with the year 1187 in parentheses. On the same page Saladin is the general who in 1171 declared the Fatimid caliphate at an end and established the Ayyubid dynasty. Source 1.

What UNESCO says

UNESCO's "Historic Cairo" page states: "During the Ayyubid state (1176 AD), the citadel was established as the headquarters of government." The page does not mention Saladin and names no architects. Source 2.

Two dates, two actions

The gap between 1176 and 1187 is eleven years, and the two sources do not describe the same action. In the Met the year is attached to the commissioning of the design of the citadel and the city walls; in UNESCO it is attached to the establishment of the citadel as the headquarters of government, and in a wording where the year stands in parentheses it can also be read as describing "the Ayyubid state" itself. The sources may be describing different stages, or they may disagree; the pages read do not allow a decision. The article therefore chooses neither date and does not average them. Sources 1, 2.

Placement on the timeline

Both dates fall within the site's Ayyubid period (1171-1250/1252), so the conflict does not change the placement. It does change what can be said about the order of events: anyone dating the citadel needs to say which source they follow, and which action is meant. UNESCO's page also mentions the Muhammad Ali Pasha Mosque in the citadel, of 1815-1865; that is a much later stage, outside the range of the site's Egypt pages, and this article does not deal with it. Sources 1, 2.

Scope of reading: the Met timeline page for Egypt, 1000-1400 CE, and UNESCO's "Historic Cairo" page were read on 24 October 2026. No building inscriptions, architectural studies or historical sources on the citadel were read, and these might explain the gap between the dates.