Cairo -- medieval

Cairo -DA20-Bellum Horarium: Arcanam Medieval

Quote (استشهد)

Mistress of broad provinces and fruitful lands, boundless in profusion
of buildings, peerless in beauty and splendor, she shelters all you will of the
learned and ignorant, the grave and the gay, the prudent and the foolish,
the noble and the base...like the waves of the sea she surges with her throngs
of folk...her youth is ever new despite the length of days. Her reigning star
never shifts from the mansion of fortune. (sic)

-- Ibn Batuta, Rihla (The Journey)

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Admonition (تحذير)

Older than time itself, Cairo sits as a gleaming gem amid
the Egyptian sands. But is its glitter a beacon of hope or the
harbinger of something more terrible?

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History of the City Triumphant

The history of Egypt has been long and rich, due to the flow of the Nile river, with its fertile banks and delta. Its rich history also comes from its native inhabitants and outside influence. Much of Egypt's ancient history was a mystery until the secrets of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered with the discovery and help of the Rosetta Stone. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the other Seven Wonders, is gone. The Library of Alexandria was the only one of its kind for centuries.

Human settlement in Egypt dates back to at least 40,000 BC with Aterian tool manufacturing. Ancient Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh of the First Dynasty, Narmer. Predominately native Egyptian rule lasted until the conquering of Egypt by the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the 6th century BC.

In 332 BC, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered Egypt as he toppled the Achaemenids and established the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Kingdom, whose first ruler was one of Alexander's former generals, Ptolemy I Soter. The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its final annexation by Rome. The death of Cleopatra ended the nominal independence of Egypt resulting in Egypt becoming one of the provinces of the Roman Empire.

Roman rule in Egypt (including Byzantine) lasted from 30 BC to 641 AD, with a brief Sassanid Persian interlude between 619-629, known as Sasanian Egypt. After the Islamic conquest of Egypt, parts of Egypt became provinces of successive Caliphates and other Muslim dynasties: Rashidun Caliphate (632-661), Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), Abbasid Caliphate (750-909), Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171), Ayyubid Sultanate (1171–1260), and the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt (1250-1517).

Timeline

• 1st century BCE - Babylon Fortress built (approximate date).

• 4th-5th centuries CE - Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga) built.

• 6th century - Church of Saint Menas established.

• 642 - Mosque of Amr ibn al-As built.

• 879 - Mosque of Ibn Tulun built.

• Church of St. George built (approximate date).

• Church of the Virgin Mary (Haret Zuweila) built (approximate date).

• 970

• Misr al-Qahira settlement founded by Fatimid Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah.

• Al-Azhar University established.

• 972 - Al-Azhar Mosque established.

• 978 -The Hanging Church rebuilt (approximate date).

• 979 - Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo rebuilt (approximate date).

• 992 - Al-Hakim Mosque built.

• 11th century - Church of the Holy Virgin (Babylon El-Darag) built.

• 1016 - Lulua Mosque built.

• 1073 - Saint Barbara Church in Coptic Cairo restored.

• 1085 - Juyushi Mosque built.

• 1092 - City wall and Gates of Cairo built (including Bab Zuweila and Bab al-Nasr).

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Districts of Al-Qāhirah

Babylon Fortress

There is evidence of settlement in the area as early as the 6th century BC, when Persians built a fort on the Nile, north of Memphis. The Persians also built a canal from the Nile (at Fustat) to the Red Sea. The Persian settlement was called Babylon, reminiscent of the ancient city along the Euphrates, and it gained importance while the nearby city of Memphis declined, as did Heliopolis. During the Ptolemaic period, Babylon and its people were mostly forgotten.

It is traditionally held that the Holy Family visited the area during the Flight into Egypt, seeking refuge from Herod. Further it is held that Christianity began to spread in Egypt when St. Mark arrived in Alexandria, becoming the first Patriarch, though the religion remained underground during the rule of the Romans. As the local population began to organize towards a revolt, the Romans, recognizing the strategic importance of the region, took over the fort and relocated it nearby as the Babylon Fortress. Trajan reopened the canal to the Red Sea, bringing increased trade, though Egypt remained a backwater as far as the Romans were concerned.

Under the Romans, St. Mark and his successors were able to convert a substantial portion of the population, from pagan beliefs to Christianity. As the Christian communities in Egypt grew, they were subjected to persecution by the Romans, under Emperor Diocletian around 300 AD, and the persecution continued following the Edict of Milan that declared religious toleration. The Coptic Church later separated from the church of the Romans and the Byzantines. Under the rule of Arcadius (395-408), a number of churches were built in Old Cairo.[8] In the early years of Arab rule, the Copts were allowed to build several churches within the old fortress area of Old Cairo.

In the 11th Century AD, Coptic Cairo hosted the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria, which is historically based in Alexandria. As the ruling powers moved from Alexandria to Cairo after the Arab invasion of Egypt during Pope Christodolos's tenure, Cairo became the fixed and official residence of the Coptic Pope at the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo in 1047.

The Ben Ezra Synagogue was established in Coptic Cairo in 1115, in what was previously a Coptic church that was built in the 8th century. The Copts needed to sell it, in order to raise funds to pay taxes to Ibn Tulun.

Important Sites of the Fortress of Babylon

• -- The Hanging Church -- Home to the Coptic Patriarch.
• -- Church of St. George in Cairo
• -- Coptic Orthodox Church of St. Barbara (or Sitt Barbara)
• -- Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (AKA: Abu Serga)
• -- Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo
• -- Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Menas (kenīset Mar-Mīna)
• -- Church of the Holy Virgin (AKA: Babylon El-Darag)
• -- Ben Ezra Synagogue

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Population

• Annual Census, 1100 A.D.:

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Citizens of the City

Cairo is a city of communities. The city's residents both mortal and Kindred, often band together to accomplish individual and common goals, and the vampire who walks the streets of Cairo alone may well find herself at a distinct disadvantage. Within these assemblies lie various subsects, heresies and and fringe groups, and, when inspected in depth, their relations with one another can seem somewhat convoluted. To outsiders and those encountering them for the first time, their ancient and often traditional dealings with one another can appear peculiar, insular or unfamiliar.

Criminals

• -- Qadir Ali -- Experienced Smuggler

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Fortifications

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Dead Among the Dead -- The Damned of Cairo (القتلى من بين الأموات - وملعون من القاهرة)

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Banu Yashkur (سبط هيل) -- Assamites of Egypt

• -- Antara -- The Shepherd of Wolves

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Banu Ahl ar-Raya (قبيلة من رمال الزمن) -- The Cold Brujah

• -- Al-Muntaqim - The Avenger
• -- Al-Muntathir - God's Witness

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Qabilat Al-Mawt (قبيلة الموت) -- The Cappadocians of Cairo

• -- Lazarus -- The Prodigal Son of Cappadocius
• -- Angelique -- Guardian of the Necropoli.

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Banu al as-Sa'idi (قبيلة من المصلين الثعبان) -- Followers of Set

• -- Bilaal the Guide -- Setite Entrepreneur
• -- Kahina -- Kahina is a powerful Setite Sorceress and one of the two heads of the Dream Court.

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Banu al - Lam'a (قبيلة من الليل) -- Lasombra

• -- Sharif Al-Lam'a -- Monarch of the Light
• -- Fatimah Al-Lam'a -- Pious Princess
• -- Suleiman ibn Abdullah -- Mullah of the Ashirra

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Banu al - Hajji (سبط حجي) -- Muslim Nosferatu

• -- Wahid Al-Mufti -- The Sacred Legalist
• -- Fahim Hussain -- Scholar of Prophesy
• -- Tayyib -- The Good Samaritan
• -- Zaahir Najm -- The Hallowed One

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Ventrue: Antonii cum Sanguine

• -- Antonius of Cairo -- Sultan of the City Victorious

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Laibon (أبو الهول) -- The Sphinx of Cairo

• -- Jubal -- Advisor to the Sultan

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