Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World

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Fustat
(910 words)

Fustat (Ar. al-Fusṭāṭ), the first city to be founded in Egypt by the Muslims after their conquest of Egypt, was established in 643 adjacent to the Greco-Coptic settlement of Babylon, on the east bank of the Nile (east of its present banks). It was originally one of the so-called amṣār (sing. miṣr), or camp towns, where the Arab occupation troops were garrisoned safely inland from the Byzantine (Mediterranean) Sea. The Arab warriors were assigned to quadrangles reserved for their specific tribes or military units. As the city grew, these areas eventually became urban quarters.

After the …

Cite this page
Phillip Ackerman-Lieberman, “Fustat”, in: Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1878-9781_ejiw_SIM_000481>
First published online: 2010



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