Egyptian capital Cairo (Al-Qahira)

Known as Al-Qahira or El-Fustat or Memphis.

Memphis

Ramses II statue in Memphis

Memphis located close the Sakara Pyramids in now Gizeh became the capital of Ancient Egypt for over eight consecutive dynasties during the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC). The city reached a peak of prestige under the 6th dynasty as a centre for the worship of Ptah, the god of creation and artworks. The alabaster sphinx that guards the Temple of Ptah serves as a memorial of the city's former power and prestige. The Memphis triad, consisting of the creator god Ptah, his consort Sekhmet, and their son Nefertem, formed the main focus of worship in the city.

Alabaster Sphinx of Memphis

Memphis declined briefly after the 18th dynasty with the rise of (1549/1550 BC to 1292 BC.) Thebes and the New Kingdom, and was revived under the Persians before falling firmly into second place following the foundation of Alexandria. Under the Roman Empire, Alexandria remained the most important Egyptian City. Memphis remained the second city of Egypt until the establishment of Fustat (or Fostat) in 641 CE. It was then largely abandoned and became a source of stone for the surrounding settlements. It was still an imposing set of ruins in the 12th century but soon became a little more than an expanse of low ruins and scattered stone.

Babylon Fortress's remains in old Cairo

The area around present-day Cairo, especially Memphis, had long been a focal point of Ancient Egypt due to its strategic location just upstream from the Nile Delta. However, the origins of the modern city are generally traced back to a series of settlements in the first millennium. Around the turn of the 4th century, as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance, the Romans established a fortress town along the East bank of the Nile. This fortress, known as Babylon, was the nucleus of the Roman and then the Byzantine City and is the oldest structure in the city today. It is also situated at the nucleus of the Coptic Orthodox community, which separated from the Roman and Byzantine churches in the late 4th century. Many of Cairo's oldest Coptic churches, including the Hanging Church, are located along the fortress walls in a section of the city known as Coptic Cairo.

Fustat

Rendering of Fustat landscape

El-Fustat (Arabic: الفسطاط), was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule. It was built by the 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 and in all of Africa.

The city reached its peak in the 12th century, with a population of approximately 200,000. 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 Fatimid’s (descents from Fatimah, the daughter of Islamic prophet Mohammed) 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.

Ben Ezra Synagogue in old Cairo (1892)

Today, Fustat is part of Old Cairo, with few buildings remaining from its days as a capital. Many archaeological digs have revealed the wealth of buried material in the area. Many ancient items recovered from the site are on display in Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art.

Fustat was the capital of Egypt for approximately 500 years. After the city was founded in 641, its authority was uninterrupted until 750, when the Abbasid dynasty (descendents of El-Abas Ebn Abbi El-Moutalib uncle of prophet Mohammed) staged a revolt against the Umayyad (Umayya Ibn Shams from Syria). This conflict was focused not in Egypt, but elsewhere in the Arab world. When the Abbasids gained power, they moved various capitals to more controllable areas.

Rendering of Ibn Toulum mosque

They had established the centre of their caliphate in Baghdad, moving the capital from its previous Umayyad location at Damascus. Similar moves were made throughout the new dynasty. In Egypt, they moved the capital from Fustat slightly north to the Abbasid city of al-Askar (city of the solders مدينة العسكري ), which remained the capital until 868. When the Tulunid dynasty (from Turkish origins) took control in 868, the Egyptian capital moved briefly to another nearby northern city, Al-Qatta'I build by “Ahmed Ebn Tulun”. This lasted only until 905, when Al-Qatta'i was destroyed and the capital was returned to Fustat. The city again lost its status as capital city when its own vizier, Shawar, ordered it's burning in 1168. The capital of Egypt was ultimately moved to Cairo.

According to legend, the location of Fustat was chosen by a bird: A dove laid an egg in the tent of 'Amr ibn al-'As (585–664), the Muslim conqueror of Egypt, just before he was to march against Alexandria in 646. His camp at that time was just north of the Roman fortress of Babylon. Amr declared the dove's nest as a sign from God, and the tent was left untouched as he and his troops went off to battle. When they returned victorious, Amr told his soldiers to pitch their tents around his, giving his new capital city its name, Miṣr al-Fusṭāṭ, or Fusṭāṭ Miṣr, popularly translated as "City of the tents", though this is not an exact translation.

Late 1800 picture Old Cairo

The word Miṣr was an ancient Semitic root designating Egypt, but in Arabic also has the meaning of a large city or metropolis (or, as a verb, "to civilize"), so the name Miṣr al-Fusṭāṭ could mean "Metropolis of the Tent". Fusṭāṭ Miṣr would mean "The Pavilion of Egypt". Egyptians to this day call Cairo "Miṣr", or, colloquially, Maṣr, even though this is properly the name of the whole country of Egypt. The country's first mosque, the Mosque of Amr, was later built in 642 on the same site of the commander's tent.

Moez Street in Al-Qahira

The Mosque of Amr ibn-al-As. Though none of the original structure remains was the first one built in Egypt, and it was around this location, at the site of the tent of the commander Amr ibn-al-As, that the city of Fustat was built.

For thousands of years, the capital of Egypt was moved with different cultures through multiple locations up and down the Nile, such as Thebes and Memphis, depending on which dynasty was in power. After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt around 331 BC, the capital became the city named after him, Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast. This situation remained stable for nearly a thousand years. After the army of the Arabian Caliph Umar captured the region in the 7th century, shortly after the death of Muhammad, he wanted to establish a new capital. When Alexandria fell in September 641, Amr ibn-al-As, the commander of the conquering army, founded a new capital on the eastern bank of the river.

To the right the hanging church (2 bell towers)
To the left remains from Babylon fortress (round structure)

The early population of the city was composed almost entirely of soldiers and their families, and the layout of the city was similar to that of a garrison. Amr intended for Fustat to serve as a base from which to conquer North Africa, as well as to launch further campaigns against Byzantium. It remained the primary base for Arab expansion in Africa until Qayrawan was founded in Tunisia in 670.

Fustat developed as a series of tribal areas, khittas, around the central mosque and administrative buildings. The majority of the settlers came from Yemen, with the next largest grouping from western Arabia, along with some Jews and Roman mercenaries. Arabic was generally the primary spoken dialect in Egypt, and was the language of written communication. However Coptic was still spoken in Fustat in the 8th century.

Inside a very old building

Archaeological digs have found many kilns (high temperature ovens) and ceramic fragments in Fustat, and it was likely an important production location for Islamic ceramics during the Fatimid period.

Fustat was the centre of power in Egypt under the Umayyad dynasty, which had started with the rule of Muawiyah I, and headed the Islamic caliphate from 660 to 750. However, Egypt was considered only a province of larger powers, and was ruled by governors who were appointed from other Muslim centres such as Damascus, Medina, and Baghdad.

Fustat was a major city, and in the 9th century, it had a population of approximately 120,000.

Al Qahira

Entrance to the Hanging Church

When General Gawhar (Fatimit General) captured the region, he founded a new city just north of Fustat on August 8, 969, naming it Al Qahira (Cairo) "the Vanquisher" or "the Conqueror", supposedly due to the fact that the planet Mars, an-Najm al-Qāhir "the Conquering Star", was rising at the time when the city was founded, and in 971, the Fatimid Caliph al-Mo'ezz moved his court from al-Mansuriya in Tunisia to Al Qahira in Egypt. Al Qahira was not intended as a center of government at the time, it was used primarily as the royal enclosure for the Caliph and his court and army, while Fustat remained the capital in terms of economic and administrative power. The City thrived and grew, and in 987, the geographer Ibn Hawkal wrote that al-Fustat was approximately one-third the size of Baghdad. By 1168, it had a population of 200,000.

During that time, Jawhar also commissioned the construction of the al-Azhar Mosque by order of the Caliph, which developed into the third-oldest university in the world. Cairo would eventually become a centre of learning.

The city was known for its prosperity, with shaded streets, gardens, and markets. It contained high-rise residential buildings, some seven storey’s tall, which could reportedly accommodate hundreds of people. Al-Muqaddasi in the 10th century described them as Minarets, while Nasir Khusraw in the early 11th century described some of them rising up to 14 stories, with roof gardens on the top storey complete with ox-drawn water wheels for irrigation.

The Persian traveller, Nasir-i-Khusron, wrote of the exotic and beautiful wares in the Fustat markets: iridescent pottery, crystal, and many fruits and flowers, even during the winter months. From 975 to 1075, Fustat was a major production centre for Islamic art and ceramics, and one of the wealthiest cities in the world.  Modern archaeological digs have turned up trade artifacts from as far away as Spain, China, and Vietnam. Excavations have also revealed intricate house and street plans; a basic unit consisted of rooms built around a central courtyard, with an arcade of arches on one side of the courtyard being the principal means of access.

Destruction and decline

Sabil (water fountain) in old Cairo

In the mid-12th century, the caliph of Egypt was the teenager Athid, but his position was primarily ceremonial. The true power in Egypt was that of the vizier, Shawar. He had been involved in extensive political intrigue for years, working to repel the advances of both the Christian Crusaders, and the forces of the Nur al-Din from Syria. Shawar managed this by constantly shifting alliances between the two, playing them against each other, and in effect keeping them in a stalemate where neither army could successfully attack Egypt without being blocked by the other.

However, in 1168, the Christian King Amalric I of Jerusalem, who had been trying for years to launch a successful attack on Egypt in order to expand the Crusader territories, had finally achieved a certain amount of success. He and his army entered Egypt, sacked the city of Bilbeis, slaughtered nearly all of its inhabitants, and then continued on towards Fustat. Amalric and his troops camped just south of the city, and then sent a message to the young Egyptian caliph Athid, only 18 years old, to surrender the city or suffer the same fate as Bilbeis.

According to the Egyptian historian Al-Maqrizi (1346–1442):

Seeing that Amalric's attack was imminent, Shawar ordered Fustat City burned, to keep it out of Amalric's hands.

Mosaic found in Fustat ruins

Shawar ordered that Fustat be evacuated. He forced [the citizens] to leave their money and property behind and flee for their lives with their children. In the panic and chaos of the exodus, the fleeing crowd looked like a massive army of ghosts.... Some took refuge in the mosques and bathhouses...awaiting a Christian onslaught similar to the one in Bilbeis. Shawar sent 20,000 naphtha pots and 10,000 lighting bombs [mish'al] and distributed them throughout the city. Flames and smoke engulfed the city and rose to the sky in a terrifying scene. The blaze raged for 54 days.....

After the destruction of Fustat, the Syrian forces arrived and successfully repelled Amalric's forces. Then with the Christians gone, the Syrians were able to conquer Egypt themselves. The untrustworthy Shawar was put to death, and the reign of the Fatimids was effectively over. The Syrian general Shirkuh was placed in power, but died due to ill health just a few months later, after which his nephew Saladin became vizier of Egypt on March 2, 1169, launching the Ayyubid dynasty.

With Fustat no more than a dying suburb, the center of government moved permanently to nearby El-Qahira (Cairo). Saladin later attempted to unite Cairo and Fustat into one city by enclosing them in massive walls, although this proved to be largely unsuccessful.

While the Mamluks were in power from the 13th century to the 16th century, the area of Fustat was used as a rubbish dump, though it still maintained a population of thousands, with the primary crafts being those of pottery and trash collecting. The layers of garbage accumulated over hundreds of years, and gradually the population decreased, leaving what had once been a thriving city as an effective wasteland.

Today, little remains of the grandeur of the old city. The three capitals, Fustat, Al-Askar and Al-Qatta'i were absorbed into the growing city of Cairo. Some of the old buildings remain visible in the region known as "Old Cairo", but much of the rest has fallen into disrepair, overgrows with weeds or used as garbage dumps.

Courtyard of old house

The oldest-remaining building from the area is probably the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, from the 9th century, which was built while the capital was in Al-Qatta'i. The first mosque ever built in Egypt (and by extension, the first mosque built in Africa), the Mosque of Amr, is still in use, but has been extensively rebuilt over the centuries, and nothing remains of the original structure. In February 2017 the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization was inaugurated on a site adjacent to the mosque.

It is believed that further archaeological digs could yield substantial rewards, considering that the remains of the original city are still preserved under hundreds of years of rubbish. Some archaeological excavations have taken place, the paths of streets are still visible, and some buildings have been partially reconstructed to waist-height. But the site is difficult and dangerous to access because of the nearby slums. However, some artifacts that have been recovered so far can be seen in Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art.

Under the Ottomans, Cairo expanded south and west from its nucleus around the Citadel. The city became the second largest in the empire, behind Constantinople,

When Napoleon arrived in Cairo in 1798, the city's population was less than 300,000 forty percent lower than it was at the height of Mamluk influence in the mid-14th century.

Saladin / Mohamed Ali  Citadel

The French occupation was short-lived as British and Ottoman forces, including a sizeable Albanian contingent, recaptured the country in 1801. Cairo itself was besieged by a British and Ottoman force culminating with the French surrender on 22 June 1801. The British vacated Egypt two years later, leaving the Ottomans, the Albanians, and the long-weakened Mamluks jostling for control of the country. Continued civil war allowed an Albanian officer named Muhammad Ali Pasha to ascend to the role of commander and eventually, with the approval of the religious establishment, viceroy of Egypt in 1805.

The opera house of Egypt (before burning)

Until his death in 1848, Muhammad Ali Pasha instituted a number of social and economic reforms that earned him the title of founder of modern Egypt. However, while Muhammad Ali initiated the construction of public buildings in the city, those reforms had minimal effect on Cairo's landscape. Bigger changes came to Cairo later under Ismail Pasha (r. 1863–1879), who continued the modernization processes started by his grandfather. 

Midan Talaat Harb / Soliman Pacha

Drawing inspiration from Paris, Ismail envisioned a city of maidans (roundabout) and wide avenues; due to financial constraints, only some of them, in the area now composing Downtown Cairo, came to fruition. Ismail also sought to modernize the city, which was merging with neighbouring settlements, by establishing a public works ministry, bringing gas and lighting to the city, and opening a theater and opera house.

Parts of the article and the pictures from Internet sources.

Bonus 

سيد درويش - طلعت يا محلا نورها

Sham El-Nessim

COLOURED EGGS

Monday 9 April 2018 marks Sham El-Nessim, a festival that takes place in the same breath as Orthodox Easter, falling on the day after Easter Sunday each year.

The rituals and beliefs associated with today’s Sham El-Nessim celebrations link it directly to Ancient Egyptian feasts linking. Much like Easter, the festival deals with notions of creation and renewal.

ENJOYING THE DAY IN THE PARK

All Egyptians regardless of their religion, beliefs, and social status have celebrated sham El-Nessim since 2700 BC. The name Sham El-Nessim (Inhaling the breeze) is derived from the Coptic language, which is, in turn, derived from the Ancient Egyptian language. It was originally pronounced Tshom Ni Sime, with tshom meaning “gardens” and ni sime meaning “meadows”.

Like most Ancient Egyptian feasts, Sham El-Nessim was linked to astronomy and nature. It marked the beginning of the spring festival, with day and night equal in length and the sun in the Aries zodiac, marking the beginning of creation. The Ancient Egyptians, who called it The Feast of Shmo (The revival of life), determined the exact date each year by measuring the sun's alignment with the Great Pyramid in Giza.

FOOD OFFERING

These days, many Egyptians rise at the crack of dawn and head out to parks and gardens for a family picnic. There they enjoy the spring breeze with a traditional meal of fish, onions and eggs.

Fish figured large in Ancient Egyptian beliefs, and this translated into a range of dishes. Salted mullet fish (known as fesikh), was offered to the gods in Esna in Upper Egypt. Indeed, Esna’s ancient name was Lathpolis, reflecting the original name of the fish before salting.

Another traditional Sham El-Nessim practice, the colouring of eggs, reflects the Ancient Egyptian view of eggs as symbolic of new life. The symbolism featured in the pharaonic Book of the Dead and in Akhenaten's chant, “God is one, he created life from the inanimate and he created chicks from eggs.”

Ancient Egyptians would boil eggs on the eve of Sham El-Nasim, decorating and colouring them in various patterns. They would then write their wishes on these eggs, tuck them in baskets made of palm fronds and hang them on trees or the roofs of their houses, hoping that the gods would answer their wishes by dawn.

FESTIVE MOOD

The habit of eating onions on the feast day is equally ancient. According to Egyptian legend, one of the pharaoh’s daughters had an incurable disease. Doctors were clueless until a high priest gave her onion juice by way of medicine. Her condition improved and her father, thrilled at her recovery, declared the day an official celebration in honour of onions.

From that day forward, people would roam the city of Menf each year, offering onions to their dead.

Ancient Egyptians also considered certain flowers and plants to be holy, with the lotus flower used to symbolize of the Egyptian nation.

Families in Ancient Egypt would combine these various elements at Sham El-Nessim. They would gather the day before to colour boiled eggs, preparing meals of fesikh (Pickled Mullet fish) and onions. Some would hang onions in their doorways to ward off evil spirits or place them under their grandchildren’s pillows that night to summon the god Sukar. Before dawn, people would head to meadows and gardens or the banks of the Nile to watch the sunrise, bringing with them food and flowers.

They would then spend the day in the open air, welcoming the spring with joyful singing.

Feseekh فسيخ

Feseekh in English can be transliterated into various forms, such as fisikh, fesikh, ...etc.

It is a semi-putrid form of salted and dried Grey Mullet species (Mugil spp.), a saltwater fish that lives in both the Mediterranean and the Red Seas.

FESHIKH & ONIONS

The traditional process of preparing it is to dry the fish in the sun before being preserved in salt. It has a distinctive stench to it, that only its true lovers would appreciate.

The process of preparing feseekh is quite elaborate, passing from father to son in certain family. The occupation has a special name in Egypt, fasakhani فسخاني

Feseekh is traditionally eaten during Sham El Neseem شم النسيم ("Smelling the Breeze"), which is a spring celebration from ancient times in Egypt.

Every year, just before Sham El Neseem, there is a scare about feseekh consumption, and its dangers. This is not unfounded, because when prepared or stored incorrectly, Feseekh can be indeed deadly, due to toxins by food poisoning bacteria. Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem learned that the hard way, meeting his death after a feseekh meal in Egypt's north.

Little has changed since the time of the Pharaohs, apparently.

Happy Sham El-Nessim!

* This story was first published in April 2014 Al-Ahram

Saladin Citadel of Cairo

1900 PICTURE OF THE CITADEL

The Citadel is a medieval Islamic fortification in Cairo, Egypt located on Mokattam hill near the center of Cairo, it was once famous for its fresh breeze and grand views of the city. 

It is now a preserved historic site, with many mosques and museums. In 1976, it was proclaimed by UNESCO as a part of the World Heritage Site Historic Cairo (Islamic Cairo), which was "the new centre of the Islamic world”, reaching its golden age in the 14th century.

History

To protect the citadel from the Crusaders, the Ayyubid ruler Salah al-Din (Saladin) fortified it between 1176 and 1183 CE. After defeating the Fatimid Caliphate, Saladin set out to build a wall that would surround both Cairo and Fustat. Saladin is recorded as saying, "With a wall I will make the two [cities of Cairo and Fustat] into a unique whole, so that one army may defend them both; and I believe it is good to encircle them with a single wall from the bank of the Nile to the bank of the Nile." The Citadel would be the centerpiece of the wall. Built on a promontory beneath the Muqattam Hills, a setting that made it difficult to attack, the efficacy of the Citadel's location is further demonstrated by the fact that it remained the heart of Egyptian government until the 19th century.

The citadel stopped being the seat of government when Egypt's ruler, Khedive Ismail, moved to his newly built Abdin Palace in the Ismailiya neighborhood in the 1860s.

While the Citadel was completed in 1183–1184, the wall Saladin had envisioned was still under construction in 1238, long after his death.

THE  COURTYARD

To supply water to the Citadel, Saladin built the 85-metre (280 ft) deep Well of Joseph (so-called because Saladin's birth name, Yousef, “Joseph”), which can still be seen today. This well is also known as the Well of the Spiral because its entrance consisted of 300 stairs that wound around the inside of the well. Once water was raised from the well to the surface, it traveled to the Citadel on a series of aqueducts.

During the reign of al-Nasir Muhammad, the Well of Joseph failed to produce enough water for the numerous animals and humans then living in the Citadel. To increase the volume of water, Nasir built a water supply system that consisted of a number of water wheels on the Nile; the water was then transported to the wall and subsequently to the Citadel, via the aqueducts Saladin had constructed.

THE PULPIT

The improvements to the Citadel's water supply were not Nasir's only additions to the Citadel, which was subject to a number of different additions during the Mamluk period. Nasir's most notable contribution was the Mosque of Nasir. In 1318 rebuilding the Ayyubid structure and turned it into a mosque that bear his name. The structure underwent further additions in 1335. Other contributions to the Citadel during Nasir's reign include the structure's southern enclosure (the northern enclosure was completed by Saladin) and the residential area, which included space for the harem and the courtyard. Prior to Nasir's work on the Citadel, the Baybars constructed the Hall of Justice and the "House of Gold."

The Citadel is sometimes referred to as Mohamed Ali Citadel (Qalaʿat Muḥammad ʿAlī), because it contains the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, which was built by Muhammad Ali Pasha between 1828 and 1848, it is perched on the summit of the citadel.

This Ottoman mosque was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali's second son who died in 1816. However, it also represents Muhammad Ali's efforts to erase symbols of the Mamluk dynasty that he replaced. When Ottoman ruler Muhammad Ali Pasha took control from the Mamluks in 1805 he altered many of the additions to the Citadel that reflected Cairo's previous leaders. One obvious change that Muhammad Ali enacted pertained to the uses of the Citadel's northern and southern enclosures. During the Mamluk period the southern enclosure was the residential area, but Muhammad Ali claimed the northern enclosure as the royal residence when he took power. He then opened the southern enclosure to the public and effectively established his position as the new leader.

MINARETS

The mosque is the other feature of the Citadel that reflects the reign of Muhammad Ali. It features a large dome and overtly Ottoman influenced architecture that looms over the Citadel to this day. Recently destroyed Mamluk palaces within the Citadel provided space for the formidable mosque, which was the largest structure to be established in the early 19th century. Placing the mosque where the Mamluks had once reigned was an obvious effort to erase the memory of the older rulers and establish the importance of the new leader. The mosque also replaced the mosque of al-Nasir as the official state mosque.

Muhammad Ali chose to build his state mosque entirely in the architectural style of his former overlords, the Ottomans, unlike the Mamluks who, despite their political submission to the Ottomans, stuck to the architectural styles of the previous Mamluk dynasties.

The mosque was built with a central dome surrounded by four small and four semicircular domes. It was constructed in a square plan and measured 41x41 meters. The central dome is 21 meters in diameter and the height of the building is 52 meters. Two elegant cylindrical minarets of Turkish type with two balconies and conical caps are situated on the western side of the mosque, and rise to 82 meters.

MOHAMED ALI MOSQUE INTERIOR

The use of this style, combined with the presence of two minarets and multiple half-domes surrounding the central dome — features reserved for mosques built on the authority of the Sultan — were a defiant declaration of de facto Egyptian independence.

The main material is limestone but the lower storey and forecourt is tiled with alabaster up to 11,3 meters. The external facades are severe and angular and rise about four storey’s until the level of the lead-covered domes.

The mihrab (pulpit) on the southeastern wall is three storey’s high and covered with a semicircular dome. There are two arcades on the second storey, rising on columns and covered with domes. Although there are three entrances on each side of the forecourt, the usual entry is through the northeastern gate. The forecourt measures 50x50 meters. It is enclosed by arched riwaks (Courtyard) rising on pillars and covered by domes.

There is a brass clock tower in the middle of the northwestern riwak, that was a gift to Muhammad Ali by King Louis Philippe of France in 1845. The clock was reciprocated with the obelisk of Luxor now standing in Place de la Concorde in Paris.

NAPOLEONIC AQUARELLE OF THE CITADEL

The interior has a measure of 41x41 meters and gives a great feeling of space. The use of two levels of domes gives a much greater sense of space than there actually is. The central dome rises on four arches standing on colossal piers. There are four semicircular domes around the central dome. There are four smaller domes on the corners as well. The domes are painted and embellished with motifs in relief. The walls and pillars are covered with alabaster up to 11 meters high.

Mosques

There are three main mosques at the Citadel:

  

Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque

Built in 1318, during the early Bahri Mamluk period, as the royal mosque of the Citadel where the sultans of Cairo performed their Friday prayers, today this hypostyle mosque is still similar to how it looked in the 1300 though many repairs have been made. It is open to the public though infrequently visited by tourists. The parts of the building relying on plastered walls have been reinforced. There have also been attempts to restore the light-blue color of the ceiling.

Mosque of Sulayman Pasha

Built in 1528, it was first of the Citadel's Ottoman-style mosques. It was built on the ruins of an old mosque of Abu Mansur Qusta.

FORTIFICATION TOWER

Mosque of Muhammad Ali

The mosque was built between 1830 and 1848, although not completed until the reign of Said Pasha in 1857. The architect was Yusuf Bushnak from Istanbul and its model was the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in that city. Muhammad Ali Pasha was buried in a tomb carved from Carrara marble, in the courtyard of the mosque. His body was transferred here from Hawsh al-Basha in 1857.

Museums

The Citadel also contains three museums:

Al-Gawhara Palace Museum

Also known as Bijou Palace, is a palace and museum commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1814. The palace was designed and constructed by artisans contracted from a variety of countries, including Greeks, Turks, Bulgarians and Albanians. Muhammad Ali's official divan or audience hall, where the pasha received guests, contains a 1000kg chandelier sent to him by Louis-Philippe I of France. The palace also contains the throne of Muhammad Ali Pasha that was a gift from the King of Italy.

Carriage Museum

Inaugurated in 1983, it houses a collection of unique Royal Carriages attributed to different historical periods, from the reign of Khedive Ismail until the reign of King Farouk, in addition to other collection of unique antiques related to the carriages.

INTERIOR OF MILITARY MUSEUM

Egyptian Military museum

The Egyptian Army museum was established in 1937 at the old building of the Egyptian Ministry of War in downtown Cairo. It was later moved to a temporary location in the Garden City district of Cairo. In November 1949 the museum was moved to the Haram Palace at the Cairo citadel. It has been renovated several times since, in 1982 and 1993.

Some Cairo Citadel Facts

When the Cairo Citadel construction was completed, it accommodated the ruler of Egypt Al Malek El Kamel . He was the first king to live in it. It was the seat of the government and palace until 1860 when Egypt's ruler Khedive Ismail moved out of the Citadel of Cairo into his own new castle.  The Citadel was home to the rulers of Egypt for 700 years.

OLD CATAPULT IN MUSEUM

- The wall that Saladin had begun to build to protect Cairo and Fustat was still under construction after he died. It was near completion only in 1238.

- The Citadel was enlarged in the 13th to 14th century.

- The Cairo Citadel is considered to be one the most elegant of the fortresses that were built during the Middle Ages.

- When the French invaded Cairo in 1798. The Citadel was important in helping to protect the city but eventually after a long battle Napoleon Bonaparte's army took control.

View of Citadel from new Aga Khan Gardens

- The Citadel of Cairo is considered to be one of the ‘greatest monuments of medieval warfare'.

- To avoid losing his governance over Egypt threatened by the Mamlukes, Mohamed Ali prepared for an official banquet and invited all the Mamlukes dignitaries and officers. They all came dressed in formal dress with almost no combat weapons; as they were leaving the citadel after the banquet they were taken by surprise at the gate called Bab El-Wazer. Mohamed Ali had ordered his troops to close the doors of the gate and kill all the high-ranking Mamlukes.
Due to the surprise factor all the mamlukes perished, except for one that survived the Massacre and fled to Syria.

This Massacre was called "The Citadel Massacre" or in Arabic "mazbahat el qala’a"

- The Eagle of Saladin depicted on the citadel became the coat of arms of Egypt (seen on the Egyptian flag) and it later was used by other Arab nations.

This eagle is on the west wall of the citadel and the head is missing. Studies suggested that it used to be a double headed eagle. It only appeared on the walls of the citadel around  1670 from an unknown location.

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VIDEO OF THE CITADEL OF CAIRO IN ALL IT'S SPLENDOR

Coptic Christmas

Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is a liturgical calendar used by the Coptic Orthodox Church based on the ancient Egyptian calendar and still in use today in Egypt.  A reform of the ancient Egyptian calendar was introduced at the time of Ptolemy III (Decree of Canopus, in 238 BC) that consisted of the intercalation of a sixth (intercalary) day every fourth year. However, the Egyptian priests opposed this reform, and the idea was only adopted later in 25 BC, when the Roman Emperor Augustus formally reformed the calendar of Egypt, keeping it forever synchronized with the newly introduced Julian calendar. To distinguish it from the Ancient Egyptian calendar, which remained in use by some astronomers until medieval times, this reformed calendar is known as the Coptic calendar. Its years and months coincide with those of the Ethiopian calendar but have different numbers and names.

The Coptic year is the extension of the ancient Egyptian civil year, retaining its subdivision into the three seasons, four months each. Special prayers in the Coptic Liturgy commemorate the three seasons. This calendar is still in use all over Egypt by farmers to keep track of the various agricultural seasons (note: with accuracy to days).

The Coptic calendar has 13 months, 12 of 30 days each and one intercalary month at the end of the year of 5 days in length, except in leap years when the month is 6 days. Today, and until 2099, the year starts on 11 September in the Julian calendar or on the 12th in the year before Leap Years.

Coptic Christmas is observed on what the Julian calendar labels 25 December; a date that currently corresponds with January 7 on the more widely used Gregorian calendar (which is also when Christmas is observed in Eastern Orthodox countries such as Russia).

The 25 December Nativity of Christ was attested very early by Hippolytus of Rome (170–236) in his Commentary on Daniel 4:23: "The first coming of our Lord, that in the flesh, in which he was born in Bethlehem, took place eight days before the calends of January, a Wednesday, in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus, 5500 years from Adam."

Another early source is Theophilus Bishop of Caesarea (115–181): "We ought to celebrate the birth-day of our Lord on what day so ever the 25th of December shall happen." (From origin Festorum Christianorum). However, it was not until 367 that December 25 has begun to be universally accepted. Before that, the Eastern Church had kept January 6 as the Nativity under the name "Epiphany."

FEBRUARY / MARCH

John Chrysostom, in a sermon preached in Antioch in 387, relates how the correct date of the Nativity was brought to the East ten years earlier. Dionysius of Alexandria emphatically quoted mystical justifications for this very choice. 25 March was considered to be the anniversary of Creation itself. It was the first day of the year in the medieval Julian calendar and the nominal vernal equinox (it had been the actual equinox at the time when the Julian calendar was originally designed). Considering that Christ was conceived on that date, 25 March was recognized as the Feast of the Annunciation which had to be followed, nine months later, by the celebration of the birth of Christ, Christmas, on 25 December.

Solstice 

There may have been more practical considerations for choosing 25 December. The choice would help substitute a major Christian holiday for the popular Pagan celebrations surrounding the Winter Solstice (Roman Sol Sticia, the three-day stasis when the sun would rise consecutively in its southernmost point before heading north, December 21, 22 and 23. The celebrations began a full week prior to the religious observance and the drunken revellers were expectantly sobered and orgies exhausted by the festivals close, prompting the eve or vigil of the 24th/25th as an optimally moral and safe time for the Feast of Christ's Nativity).

The religious competition was fierce. In AD 274, Emperor Aurelian had declared a civil holiday on 25 December (the "Festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun") to celebrate the deity Sol Invictus. Finally, joyous festivals are needed at that time of year, to fight the natural gloom of the season (in the Northern Hemisphere).

DECEMBER / JANUARY

Until the 16th century, 25 December coincided with 29 of “Koiak” month in the Coptic calendar. However, upon the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, 25 December shifted 10 days earlier in comparison with the Julian and Coptic calendars. Furthermore, the Gregorian calendar drops 3 leap days every 400 years to closely approximate the length of a solar year. As a result, the Coptic Christmas advances a day each time the Gregorian calendar drops a leap day (years AD 1700, 1800, and 1900).

This is the reason why Old-Calendrists (using the Julian and Coptic calendars) presently celebrate Christmas on 7 January, 13 days after the New-Calendrists (using the Gregorian calendar), who celebrate Christmas on 25 December.

Starting AD 2100, the Coptic Christmas should be celebrated on January 8th according to the Gregorian calendar, if no harmonized Christians celebrations are put in place.

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COPTIC CALENDAR