Excavating Medieval Cairo: Its History and Finds

Excavating Medieval Cairo: Its History and Finds

 

Fustat, part of modern Cairo, was the site of the first Muslim settlement in Egypt beginning in the 640s.  The area to which the name Fustat was applied expanded to include the next two Muslim administrative centers and was the location of the majority of Cairo’s urban population while rulers were found in al-Qahira [The origins of the name Cairo (969-1171) and the citadel (to the mid-19th century).  Only in the 20th century did excavations in historic Fustat begin but then only on an irregular basis.  One of the most important excavators was the American and former ARCE director George Scanlon who established his international reputation based upon his work in Fustat.  In addition to tracing the story of the excavators and their work, the talk will illustrate some of the findings including beads, coins, printed paper, inscribed textiles called tiraz and other material.

Jere Bacharach, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, UW, first visited Fustat (Cairo) in 1964 and saw it most recently in 2018 with visits to the site and meetings with archaeologists during the intervening decades. He also edited Fustat Finds, a volume of essays on finds from the site which were owned by a local Egyptian physician.