Fortifications Of Cairo
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Fortifications Of Cairo
The fortifications of the Islamic Cairo, historic city of Cairo, Egypt, include defensive walls and City gate, gates that were built, rebuilt, and expanded in different periods. The first set of walls were built during the foundation of Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Cairo in the 10th century. These were rebuilt in the late 11th century on the orders of the Fatimid vizier Badr al-Jamali. In the 12th century, the Ayyubid dynasty, Ayyubid sultan Saladin, Salah ad-Din (Saladin) restored the walls and began a major extension to the south. He also began construction on the Citadel of Cairo, a military complex that would serve as the center of power in Egypt for centuries afterwards. Some sections of the historic walls are still preserved today, mainly on the north and east sides of the city, as well as much of the Citadel. Only three gates are fully preserved, all dating from the late 11th-century Fatimid reconstruction: Bab al-Nasr (Cairo), Bab al-Nasr, Bab al-Futuh, and Bab Zuwayla. So ...
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Mudbrick
Mudbrick or mud-brick, also known as unfired brick, is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud (containing loam, clay, sand and water) mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE. From around 5000–4000 BCE, mudbricks evolved into Brick#Fired brick, fired bricks to increase strength and durability. Nevertheless, in some warm regions with very little timber available to fuel a kiln, mudbricks continued to be in use. Even today, mudbricks are the standard of vernacular architecture in some warmer regions- mainly in parts of Africa and western Asia. In the 20th century, the compressed earth block was developed using high pressure as a cheap and eco-friendly alternative to obtain non-fired bricks with more strength than the simpler air-dried mudbricks. Ancient world The history of mudbrick production and construction in the southern Levant may be dated as far back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (e.g., PPNA Jericho). ...
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Shahada
The ''Shahada'' ( ; , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is no Ilah, god but God in Islam, God, and I bear witness that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad is the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Messenger of God." The Shahada declares belief in the oneness () of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as God's messenger. Some Shia Islam, Shia Muslims also include a statement of belief in the of Ali,''The Later Mughals'' by William Irvine (historian), William Irvine p. 130 but they do not consider it as an obligatory part for Conversion to Islam, converting to Islam. A single honest recitation of the Shahada is all that is required for Conversion to Islam, a person to become a Muslim according to most traditional Schools of Islamic theology, schools. The testimonies The Declaration of faith, declaration reads: The above two stat ...
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Bab Al-Nasr DSCF9983 (retouched)
Bab or BAB can refer to: *Bab (toponymy), a component of Arabic toponyms literally meaning "gate" * Set (mythology) (also known as Bab, Baba, or Seth) ancient Egyptian god * Bab (Shia Islam), a term designating deputies of the Imams in Shia Islam * Báb (Sayyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází, 1819–1850), founder of Bábism and a central figure in the Bahá'í Faith * Bab-ı Âli, the gate to the palace of the Grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire * Báb, Nitra District, a village and municipality in the Nitra District in western central Slovakia * Bab Ballads, cartoons published by W. S. Gilbert under the childhood nickname, ''Bab'' * Back-arc basin, a geologic feature: a submarine basin associated with island arcs and subduction zones * "Base Attack Bonus", a term used in d20 System RPG games * Beale Air Force Base (IATA airport code: BAB), in California * ''Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry'', an academic journal * Boris Berezovsky (businessman) (1946–2013), Boris Abramovich ...
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Al-Azhar Park
Al-Azhar Park () is a public park located in qism al-Darb al-Ahmar, in Historic Cairo, Egypt. Among several honors, this park is listed as one of the world's sixty great public spaces by the Project for Public Spaces. The park was created by the Historic Cities Support Programme of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, an entity of the Aga Khan Development Network. The park was developed at a cost in excess of USD $30 million, its funding a grant to Cairo from Aga Khan IV, a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad through his daughter, Fatima, and cousin/son-in-law, Ali. He is therefore a descendant of the early Fatimid Caliphs of Cairo. The park project, an urbanism initiative, included: * the development of the park * archeology involving a 12th-century Ayyubid wall * historic building rehabilitation (the 14th Century Umm Sultan Shaban Mosque, the 13th century Khayrbek complex, and the Darb Shoughlan School) * several quality of life improvement initiatives requiring skills training ...
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Aga Khan Trust For Culture
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a family of institutions created by Aga Khan IV with distinct but complementary mandates to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa. It focuses on the revitalization of communities in the Muslim world—physical, social, cultural, and economic. The AKTC was founded in 1988 and is registered in Geneva, Switzerland, as a private non-denominational philanthropic foundation. Programs * Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize that recognizes architectural excellence in the Muslim world. * Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme (HCP) supports the revitalization of historic sites in the Muslim world. * Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI) provides financial resources and technical assistance to support the preservation and promotion of professional oral tradition music in Central Asia and other regions. * A ...
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Al-Qarafa
The City of the Dead, or Cairo Necropolis, also referred to as the Qarafa (; locally pronounced as ''al-'arafa''), is a series of vast Islamic-era necropolises and cemeteries in Cairo, Egypt. They extend to the north and to the south of the Cairo Citadel, below the Mokattam Hills and outside the historic city walls, covering an area roughly long. They are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of "Historic Cairo". The necropolis is separated roughly into two regions: the Northern Cemetery to the north of the Citadel (also called the Eastern Cemetery or ''Qarafat ash-sharq'' in Arabic because it is east of the old city walls), and the older Southern Cemetery to the south of the Citadel. There is also another smaller cemetery north of Bab al-Nasr. The necropolis that makes up "the City of the Dead" has been developed over many centuries and contains both the graves of Cairo's common population as well as the elaborate mausoleums of many of its historical rulers and elites. ...
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Sharia
Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intangible divine law; contrary to ''fiqh'', which refers to its interpretations by Ulama, Islamic scholars. Sharia, or fiqh as traditionally known, has always been used alongside urf, customary law from the very beginning in Islamic history; has been elaborated and developed over the centuries by fatwa, legal opinions issued by mufti, qualified jurists – reflecting the tendencies of Schools of Fiqh, different schools – and integrated and with various economic, penal and administrative laws issued by Muslims, Muslim rulers; and implemented for centuries by Qadi, judges in the courts until recent times, when secularism was widely adopted in Islamic societies. Traditional Principles of Islamic jurisprudence, theory o ...
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Al-Kamil
Al-Malik al-Kamil Nasir ad-Din Muhammad (; – 6 March 1238), titled Abu al-Maali (), was an Egyptian ruler and the fourth Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. During his tenure as sultan, the Ayyubids defeated the Fifth Crusade. He was known to the Frankish crusaders as Meledin, a name by which he is referred to in some older western sources. As a result of the Sixth Crusade, he ceded West Jerusalem to the Christians and is known to have met with Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis. Biography Jazira campaign Al-Kamil was the son of the Kurds, Kurdish sultan al-Adil ("Saphadin"), a brother of Saladin. Al-Kamil's father was laying siege to the city of Mardin (in modern-day Turkey) in 1199 when he was called away urgently to deal with a security threat in Damascus. Al-Adil left al-Kamil to command the forces around Mardin continuing the siege. Taking advantage of the Sultan's absence, the combined forces of Mosul, Sinjar and Cizre, Jazirat ibn Umar appeared at Mardin when it was on ...
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Al-Adil I
Al-Adil I (, in full al-Malik al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Abu-Bakr Ahmed ibn Najm ad-Din Ayyub, ,‎ "Ahmed, son of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Bakr, the Just King, Sword of the Faith"; 1145 – 31 August 1218) was the fourth Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and brother of Saladin, who founded both the Sultanate of Egypt, and the Ayyubid dynasty. He was known to the Crusaders as Saphadin (derived from his ''laqab'' or honorific title Sayf ad-Din, meaning "Sword of Faith"), a name by which he is still known in the Western world. A gifted and effective administrator and organizer, Al-Adil provided crucial military and civilian support for the great campaigns of Saladin (an early example of a great minister of war). He was also a capable general and strategist in his own right, and was instrumental in the transformation of the decayed Fatimid Caliphate of Cairo into the Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt. Early life Al-Adil was a son of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, he was member of Kurdish Ayyubid fami ...
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Al-Maqrizi
Al-Maqrīzī (, full name Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī, ; 1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian historian and biographer during the Mamluk era, known for his interest in the Fatimid era, and the earlier periods of Egyptian history.Paul E. Walker, ''Exploring an Islamic Empire: Fatimid History and its Sources'' (London, I.B. Tauris, 2002), p. 164. The material for updating this article is taken from Walker's account of al-Maqrizi. He is recognized as the most influential historian of premodern Egypt. Life A direct student of Ibn Khaldun, al-Maqrīzī was born in Cairo to a family of Syrian origin that had recently relocated from Damascus. When he presents himself in his books he usually stops at the 10th forefather although he confessed to some of his close friends that he can trace his ancestry to al-Mu‘izz li-Dīn Allāh – first Fatimid caliph in Egypt and the founder of al-Qahirah – and even to Ali ibn ...
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Fustat
Fustat (), also Fostat, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, though it has been integrated into Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by the Rashidun Muslim general 'Amr ibn al-'As immediately after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, and featured the Mosque of Amr, the first mosque built in Egypt. The city reached its peak in the 12th century, with a population of approximately 200,000.Williams, p. 37 It was the centre of administrative power in Egypt, until it was ordered burnt in 1168 by its own vizier, Shawar, to keep its wealth out of the hands of the invading Crusaders. The remains of the city were eventually absorbed by nearby Cairo, which had been built to the north of Fustat in 969 when the Fatimids conquered the region and created a new city as a royal enclosure for the Caliph. The area fell into disrepair for hundreds of years and was used as a rubbish dump. Today, Fustat is a suburb that lies within the modern district of O ...
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