The Fatimids (969 - 1171)
THE CITADEL OF CAIRO (1)

The Fatimids were the imams (spiritual leaders) of a radical Shi'ite sect. They claimed to be divinely inspired due to their direct descent from the Prophet Muhammad, through his daughter Fatima, and thus the only rightful rulers of the Muslim world. They were the rivals of the 'Abbasid caliphs, leaders of the majority Sunni sect of Islam, whom the Fatimids regarded as usurpers of their God-given authority.

After their victorious entry into al-Fustat, the Fatimids moved north of the city and constructed a new fortified royal enclosure, AL-QAHIRA (the Subduer), later corrupted by Italian merchants into Cairo. The walled city of al-Qahira was separated from the predominately Sunni Muslim population of al-Fustat by three kilometers of wasteland.

Between the cities were cemeteries, where the Fatimids built shrines in honor of their holy ancestors. One, dedicated to the Shi'ite saint Sayyid Sariyya, was located on the Muqattam spur. It became an important cult center, even for the Sunni inhabitants of al-Fustat, some of whom were buried around the tomb of the saint in the hopes of receiving his blessing. Although nothing of the original shrine survives, Sayyid Sariyya continued to be the object of popular veneration after Egypt's return to the Sunni fold under Salah ad-Din. In 1528, the Ottoman governor, Sulayman Pasha, built a mosque in the Citadel that still honors the saint on the same site.

Egypt under the Fatimids became a major international trade emporium with goods pouring into the country from as far away as China and western Europe. In al-Fustat, a prosperous middle class lived in five-story buildings, complete with running water and complex sewer systems. To the north, the imams, secluded in the luxury of al-Qahira, occupied themselves with court ritual and esoteric religious speculation.

Although fabulously wealthy, the Fatimids were militarily weak. In 1076, they were expelled from their holdings in Palestine by the newly emerged power of the Seljuk Turks. The Seljuks ruled Islam's first great Turkish empire, stretching from Iran to Syria. They were strict Sunnis, dedicated to the elimination of all Shi'ism from the Muslim world, and the Fatimids were the main target of their pious aggression.

Coming of the Crusades

While the Fatimids controlled Palestine they had allowed European Christians to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem, realizing it was a lucrative way of amassing foreign revenue. The Seljuks were less tolerant and ended the practice. In response, Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade. By the time the French and German crusading knights reached their destination however, the Seljuk Empire had disintegrated into numerous petty Turkish states, whose disunity allowed the Crusaders to conquer Jerusalem in 1099 and establish a Latin Christian kingdom along the eastern Mediterranean coast.

The Crusaders were soon confronted by another Turkish foe, the Zangids, who, while preaching jihad (holy war) against the Christians, began to absorb their Sunni neighbors in the name of Islamic unity. By 1154, the Zangid sultan, Nur ad-Din (Light of the Faith), a pious Sunni and sincere adherent to the cause of jihad, had united all of Syria against the Crusaders. Although the Zangids now had superior resources and manpower, the Christians remained formidable opponents, thanks to their heavy armor and skill in castle buildig. As neither side could establish clear military superiority, it became increasingly obvious that Egypt was the key to victory. Whoever controlled the Nile Valley's vast resources could dominate the whole region. The Shi'ite Fatimids had little sympathy for either the Sunni Turks or the Christian Crusaders and tried desperately to play off their powerful neighbors one against the other.

When an army under Amalric, the Latin king of Jerusalem, invaded Egypt in 1168, the Fatimids panicked. They burned al-Fustat to prevent its falling into Christian hands, and begged mililitary assistance from Nur ad-Din in Damascus. A Zangid army, led by the Kurdish general Shirkuh, was sent to the rescue. After driving the Crusaders out of Egypt, Shirkuh occupied Cairo and forced the powerless Fatimids to appoint him wazir (chief minister). For three months Shirkuh enjoyed the fruits of his victory only to die in March 1169. He was succeeded as both wazir of the Fatimids and head of the Zangid army in Egypt by his 30-year-old nephew, Salah ad-Din (Saladin).