The Fatimid Viziers' Contributions to the Construction of Historic City Walls and Gates of Cairo

Abstract

The research examines the Fatimid viziers' contributions to the construction of the Cairo walls and gates. The Cairo Walls and Gates are among the most important remaining war buildings to date in Cairo. The importance of these gates is due to the fact that they are the first places of defense of Cairo from the invaders as the Fatimids involved into many campaigns and wars, both internally and externally. The most important of these were the crusades by the late Fatimid era.The research also deals with the architects of the walls and gates of Cairo, the building materials that were used in the construction process, and the architectural description of the walls. It deals with Bab Al-Fath, Bab Al-Nasr and Bab Zuweila, as they are the most famous remaining gates of the Fatimid era. In addition, the research will shed light on the most important inscriptions on these walls and gates.