The History and Religious Heritage of Old Cairo: Its Fortress, Churches, Synagogue, and Mosque

Submitted by siteadmin on Sun, 12/20/2020 - 10:06
Year
2017
Country
Egypt
Language
English
Abstract

Just to the south of modern Cairo stands the historic enclave known as Old Cairo, which grew up in and around the Roman fortress of Babylon, and which today hosts a unique collection of monuments that attest to the shared cultural heritage of ancient Egyptians, Christians, Jews, and Muslims. In this lavishly illustrated celebration of a very special place, renowned photographer Sherif Sonbol’s remarkable images of the fortress, churches, synagogue, and mosque illuminate the living fabric of the ancient and medieval stones, while the text describes the history of Old Cairo from the time of the ancient Egyptians and the Romans to the founding of the first Muslim city of al-Fustat, focusing on the Jewish history of the area (exploring the famous Genizah documents found in the Ben Ezra Synagogue that tell so much about everyday life in medieval Egypt), the early Coptic Christian churches, some of the oldest in the world, and the arrival of the Muslims in the seventh century, their establishment of al-Fustat on the edge of Old Cairo, and the building of the oldest mosque in Africa.

English
ISSN/ISBN
978-9774167690
No. of Pages
336 p.
City
Cairo
Edition
1
Select type of work
Name of the Publisher
Photo of the cover Page
CIS publications
No
CIS Thesis
No
Other Author
& others