Fustat: The First Cairo

June 18, 2006

The first Muslim city in the vicinity of Cairo was Fustat.. and it naturally formed near the mosque of 'Amr ibn al-'Aas. It became a major population center. People tend to move where the money is, and new rulers are always the biggest spenders. Eventually this first city was supplanted by the growing metropolis to the north, and the buildings of this older city went to ruin. Its ruins now lie exposed for anyone who cares to see what is left of this oldest city.

Al-Maqrizi records an interesting account of the founding of Fustat.. which purports to explain the name:

Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam heard from Yazid ibn Abi Habib that 'Amr ibn al-'Aas, when he conquered Alexandria and saw its finished houses and buildings, felt anxious about dwelling in them. 'Amr said: [smaller] residences once were enough for us. So he wrote to [the Caliph] 'Umar ibn al-Khutaab, God be pleased with him, and asked him permission for dwelling there. So [the Caliph] 'Umar asked the messenger whether any water intervened between him and the Muslims [with 'Amr]. The messenger said: "Yes, Prince of Believers, when the Nile flows." So the Caliph 'Umar wrote to 'Amr that he did not want him to settle with the Muslims in a place where water intervenes between them in either the winter or summer. So 'Amr withdrew from Alexandria to Fustat..

Fustat got its name because 'Amr ibn al-'Aas, when he wanted to head to Alexandria for battle with the Greeks who were there, ordered the taking down of his tent (fustat). But in the tent was a dove with young chicks. So 'Amr said: This is certainly forbidden to us, and he ordered that [the tent] be left just as it was and he put in charge of it the overseer of the castle [conquered there]. When the Muslims returned from Alexandria they said: "Where will we settle down?" They said: "At the tent (fustat)" because of the tent of 'Amr which they left behind... [1:296]

From those humble beginnings sprang a great city..

Reading ruins is a skill that I have never mastered. I find it difficult to look at the outlines on the ground.. the ruts that must mark where water flowed.. and to imagine a living world. I always wish I could do a little better.

Of course at times it is fairly obvious what was once here.. In this case there is a grinding stone.. or millstone? Definitely a sign that business was going on.

My favorite moment came when I climbed up onto a small terrace and came across a couple of rooms with the remains of a beautiful floor. It would have been expensive then.. even as now. It could well have been the home of a merchant.. or a judge.. undoutedly with a family. But whatever dramas took place on this floor are now gone forever. Archeology never quite gets you to words, and words are the only way to preserve these human events that give meaning to life.