Rashidun
The Founding of Fustat
The first Muslim city in Egypt, laid out by 'Amr ibn al-'As in 21 AH
21 AH / 641 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
Fustat, east bank of the Nile opposite the Babylon fortress, Egypt
30.0049, 31.2329 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
In the twenty-first year after the Hijrah, corresponding to 641 CE, the city of Fustat was founded on the east bank of the Nile, adjacent to the captured Byzantine fortress of Babylon-in-Egypt, by 'Amr ibn al-'As (radiyallahu 'anhu), commander of the Muslim conquest of Egypt and the first governor of the new Muslim province. The conquest had begun in 18 AH (639 CE) when 'Amr (RA) led approximately 4,000 men into the Byzantine Egyptian province from the east; the principal engagements at Pelusium, Bilbeis, and Heliopolis (Battle of Heliopolis / 'Ayn Shams, 19 AH) were followed by the long siege of the Roman fortress of Babylon, which fell in early 641 CE. The Patriarch of Alexandria, Cyrus, signed the terms of the surrender of the rest of Egypt; the city of Alexandria itself surrendered shortly afterward and was incorporated under negotiated terms. 'Amr (RA) initially proposed Alexandria as the capital of the new Muslim Egypt, but the Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA), following the same logic that produced Kufa over al-Mada'in three years earlier, ordered the establishment of a new garrison city on the eastern bank, in tactical and administrative position adjacent to Babylon and within communication of the Hijaz overland. The city was named al-Fustat (the tent) from the Sirah report that the commander's tent at the site, which 'Amr (RA) had ordered preserved when a dove was found to have nested on it, became the starting point of the new settlement. The plan was the early hypostyle garrison-city pattern: a great congregational mosque at the centre, the original Masjid 'Amr, the first mosque in Africa, still standing today (in successive rebuildings), and around it tribal quarters of the conquering army. Fustat became the administrative capital of Muslim Egypt for over three centuries, until the Fatimid foundation of al-Qahira immediately north of it in 359 AH / 970 CE. This scene depicts the early stages of the founding, with the mosque foundations being marked out, the captured Byzantine fortress of Babylon visible adjacent, and the Nile and the pyramids beyond.
What you see
A flat plain on the east bank of a great green river, broader and slower than the Euphrates, with palm groves running along its banks. The river is the Nile in its lower flood plain, Egypt at the apex of the Delta, not the Tigris or the Euphrates.
On the nearer bank of the river, a square fortress of large dressed limestone blocks with four heavy round towers, the Roman-Byzantine fortress of Babylon-in-Egypt, built originally by Trajan and rebuilt under Diocletian and the later Eastern Roman emperors. The fortress was the principal Byzantine military position in Egypt; the conquering Muslim army has just captured it.
Adjacent to the fortress, on a new plot of open ground, the foundations of a great congregational mosque are being marked out, the original Masjid 'Amr ibn al-'As, the first mosque built in Egypt and on the African continent. Surveyors with ropes and stakes are laying out the qibla wall to the south-east toward Makkah.
Around the laid-out site, the disciplined tents of the army are pitched in tribal quarters. The Sirah of the conquest records that the city took its name from one such tent, fustat in Arabic, that 'Amr ibn al-'As (radiyallahu 'anhu) found a dove had nested on after the army's departure, leaving instructions for the tent to be preserved as the starting point of the new city.
Along the river, Egyptian boats, broad flat-bottomed feluccas typical of the Nile, not the rounder-keeled Mediterranean galleys of Constantinople, are unloading grain, palm dates, and the green produce of the Delta. The Egyptian population continued to farm, fish, and trade after the conquest under the negotiated terms of the surrender.
Across the river, the silhouette of the Old Egyptian pyramids at Giza is visible on the far western horizon, the most ancient and famous monument of the country, with the new Muslim city being founded within their sight. The visual juxtaposition of the early mosque with the pyramids is a striking dating clue.
The light is clear Egyptian early-spring sun. The year in the Arabic calendar is the twenty-first after the Hijrah, corresponding to 641 CE, the year in which the Byzantine fortress of Babylon fell after a long siege and the Patriarch of Alexandria, Cyrus, signed the terms of the surrender of the rest of Egypt.
The new city's plan, like the Iraqi garrison cities of Kufa and Basra of three years earlier, places the mosque at the centre rather than a palace or a royal hall. The administrative-religious centre of the new Muslim Egypt is being established directly adjacent to, not inside, the captured Byzantine fortress.
Primary sources
al-Baladhuri, Futuh al-Buldan (9th c.): Standard early Sunni geographical-conquest history. Provides the parallel narrative of the conquest and the founding, with terms of the surrenders of Babylon and Alexandria.
al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk: Cross-reference for the conventional dating in 21 AH / 641 CE and for the broader political context of the conquest.
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya: Synthesises the earlier reports. Confirms the chronology, the named participants, and the role of 'Amr ibn al-'As (RA).
Further reading & cross-references
Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam, Futuh Misr wa al-Maghrib (9th c.): The principal early Sunni source on the conquest of Egypt and the founding of Fustat. Composed by an Egyptian Sunni scholar with access to the conquest-era oral tradition. Preserves the dove-on-the-tent narrative, the named participants, and the early administrative organisation of the city.
al-Maqrizi, al-Mawa'iz wa-al-I'tibar fi Dhikr al-Khitat wa-al-Athar (early 15th c.): Topographical encyclopedia of Cairo. Used for the position of Fustat relative to the later Fatimid foundation of al-Qahira, the original layout of Fustat, and the position of the Masjid 'Amr within it.
Hugh Kennedy, The Great Arab Conquests: Modern non-confessional academic synthesis. Used for the strategic framing of the conquest and the founding.
K.A.C. Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture: Standard reference for the reconstruction of the first Masjid 'Amr plan: hypostyle court with reed-mat shading, no minaret, no mihrab niche.
Surviving fabric of the Babylon fortress (extant in modern Cairo): The Roman-Byzantine fortress of Babylon survives partially in modern Old Cairo; the two great round towers at the river-gate and substantial sections of the southern wall are extant. The architectural form depicted in the scene is reconstructive against the standing fabric.
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