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PERIOD GUIDE · Egypt

Fatimid Egypt: a new capital and its gates

According to the Met's timeline, the Fatimid caliphate ruled Egypt from 969 to 1171 and founded Cairo as its capital. Three articles on this site: the founding of Cairo and al-Azhar, the mosque of al-Hakim, and the city gates of 1087 and 1092.

969-1171 CE
3 articles and guides

Move through the periods

Its place in the Egypt scheme

The whole scheme with this period marked; the periods before and after are its neighbours in the row. Boundaries follow the sources and are not to scale.

All periods and subdivisions
  1. The Neolithic in Egypt7,000-4,500 BCE
  2. The Predynastic period in Egypt4,500-3,100 BCE
  3. The Early Dynastic period in Egypt3,100-2,649 BCE
  4. The Old Kingdom of Egypt2,649-2,150 BCE
  5. The First Intermediate Period in Egypt2,150-2,030 BCE
  6. The Middle Kingdom of Egypt2,030-1,640 BCE
  7. The Second Intermediate Period in Egypt1,640-1,550 BCE
  8. The New Kingdom of Egypt1,550-1,070 BCE
  9. The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt1,070-712 BCE
  10. The Late Period in Egypt712-332 BCE
  11. Macedonian and Ptolemaic Egypt332-30 BCE
  12. Roman rule in Egypt30 BCE - 330 CE
  13. Byzantine rule in Egypt330-641 CE
  14. Early Islamic Egypt641-969 CE
  15. Fatimid Egypt969-1,171 CE
  16. Ayyubid Egypt1,171-1,252 CE
  17. Mamluk Egypt1,250-1,517 CE

The frame

The Met's timeline bar marks "Fatimid caliphate, 969-1171" both on the page for Egypt, 500-1000 CE, and on the page for 1000-1400. According to the events of 969-973, the Fatimid army conquered Egypt and founded the city of Cairo (al-Qahira, "the triumphant"), which was established as the new capital. At the end of the period, according to the events of 1160-1171, Saladin declared the Fatimid caliphate at an end in 1171 and established the Ayyubid dynasty. Sources 1, 2.

Boundaries and overlaps

The sources read do not disagree on the boundaries of the period: UNESCO's "Historic Cairo" page also dates Fatimid architecture to 969-1171. The boundaries are nonetheless boundaries of rule, not of events: the conquest event runs to 973, and the event of Saladin's rise is dated 1160-1171, so it begins within the period. A building built in the period may go on being used after it; the end of the period is not the end of its use. Sources 2, 3.

On this site

Three articles are placed in this period. "Cairo and al-Azhar: a city, a mosque and a place of learning" separates the founding of the city, the founding of the mosque and the stages of the institution of learning, to which the sources give different dates. "The mosque of al-Hakim: a mosque in Fatimid ceremony" deals with the mosque begun by al-'Aziz and rededicated by al-Hakim, and with its role in Fatimid ceremonial and procession. "The Fatimid gates of Cairo: architects from Edessa and the city walls" deals with the gates commissioned by the amir and vizier Badr al-Jamali in 1087 and 1092. Sources 1, 2.

Source

Sources and further reading

The research and references behind this page. Rights to external content remain with their owners.

  1. 1 Egypt, 500-1000 A.D. (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, chronology)

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Checked

  2. 2 Egypt, 1000-1400 A.D. (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, chronology)

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Checked

  3. 3 Historic Cairo

    UNESCO World Heritage Centre · Checked

Related periods, objects and places

Period

Early Islamic Egypt: six rules in three centuries

641-969 CEPeriod

Ayyubid Egypt: a citadel, a madrasa and a double end

1171-1250/1252 CE

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