From Fustat to Cairo: The Many Meanings of “Old Cairo”
Donald Whitcomb (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)
Wednesday, May 27, 5pm
Oriental Institute, Breasted Hall, 1155 E. 58th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637
Followed by optional 30 minute gallery tour and light reception.
For more details visit our Event Calendar
Lecture summary: An early 20th century visitor to Egypt would cross from Cairo to see vestiges of pharaonic periods, particularly the sphinx and pyramids at Giza. For the Classical and Byzantine periods, one might see the Coptic churches and Qasr el-Sham, the focal point for the founding of Fustat during the 7th century Arab conquest. The 10th century Fatimids founded a new city immediately to the north called al-Qahira,"Cairo." Much of the early city of Fustat gradually became the ruins known as "Old Cairo." Archaeological excavations by Ali Bahgat and later by George Scanlon reveal aspects of the city’s evolution. Their careful excavations, complemented with texts from the Cairo Geniza and other sources, provide a detailed history of this great city of the Middle East.
About the speaker: Dr. Whitcomb is Research Associate (Associate Professor) of Islamic Archaeology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. He took his doctorate in Islamic archaeology of Iran. He has conducted excavations at Quseir al-Qadim, a port on the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea, and the city of Luxor, at Aqaba in Jordan, and at Hadir Qinnasrin, near Aleppo in Syria. Most recently, he is digging at Khirbet al-Mafjar, near Jericho. He is the author of Before the Roses and Nightingales, excavations in old Shiraz, Iran, and monographs on his work on the Red Sea. He has edited a seminar in Chicago on Changing Social Identity with the Coming of Islam: Archaeological Perspectives. His most recent book is on the Mosaics of Khirbet al-Mafjar with Hamdan Taha.
Lecture Series on Medieval Cairo
About this Lecture Series: The Oriental Institute and the Chicago Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago are pleased to announce a series of lectures held in conjunction with the special exhibit A Cosmopolitan City: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Old Cairo at the Oriental Institute Museum. This lecture series brings together specialists in the history, art, and archaeology of Old Cairo (Fustat) for a unique exploration this cosmopolitan city and its place within the wider Mediterranean and Islamic world.
The program is generously supported by the Oriental Institute, the Center for Jewish Studies, the Franke Institute for the Humanities, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.
The link to the information about this lecture can be found at: https://oi.uchicago.edu/exhibits-events
