6-Fustat Houses: (Click on images to enlarge)

Al-Qata’i (the Wards or the Fiefs):

The new settlement built north of Fustat and al-‘Askar by Ahmad ibn-Tulun (868-884), the Turkish governor of Egypt sent by the Abbasids, who claimed semi-independence.  The center of this new settlement was occupied by Ibn Tulun's palace complex, his hippodrome, and a stately mosque that still stands today.

 

Fustat Houses:

The name given to a group of houses excavated in the Fustat general area but dated to the Tulunid and early Fatimid periods.
The predominance of the majlis-type residences.
The Samarra model continued.

The plan of 6 Fustat houses around a street excavated in the early 20th century

A Fustat house with a central court, a fountain, a chadirwan and a majlis

 

Majlis:

An architectural unit which consists of a T-shaped space made of a large and deep central hall, flanked by two smaller, and shallower spaces. The three spaces are fronted with a portico (riwaq) which opens onto the courtyard.  The façade of the majlis reflects the spatial arrangement through the existence of three doors, a central large one and two lateral small ones.  The type is called in the texts al-Hiri (attributed to Hatra in Northern Mesopotamia) and is believed to have been imported from Samarra to Egypt by Ibn Tulun.

Possible reconstruction of a majlis facade

Possible reconstruction of a majlis facade

 

Fatimid Palatial Architecture in Cairo:

The Fatimids: an Isma‘ili dynasty whose founder claimed descent from Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet and wife of ‘Ali, hence the name.  They established a counter-caliphate in Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia), which was later expanded under al-Mu‘izz to include Egypt and southern Syria.

Al-Qahira (Cairo):

The new capital city of Egypt established north of Fustat by the Fatimids upon their conquest of the country in 969.

Cairo before 1200; Plan of the Fatimid City with the two palaces and Khitat (after Ravaisse)

Plan of the new enclosure of Cairo north of al-Fustat

Axonometric reconstruction by Nezar AlSayyad of the two Fatimid palaces in the center of Cairo

Plan of Fatimid Cairo showing its expansion in the 11th century

The Eastern Palace (969-72):

A huge enclosure with several monumental gates that contained a number of halls set within garden-courtyards.

The Western Palace (975-96):

Built by al-‘Aziz, al-Mu‘izz's son, as the more private caliphal palace across from the Eastern Palace.  The two palaces were separated by an open parade ground called Bayn al-Qasrayn (Between the Two Palaces).

Carved wood panel from the Western Palace showing scenes from the princely cycle

Remains of an iwan with a chadirwan in its center from the Western Palace incorporated into the Bimaristan of Al-Mansur Qalawun

A double-arched window from the Western Palace incorporated into the Bimaristan of Al-Mansur Qalawun