File:The story of Cairo (1906) (14595588358).jpg

Identifier: storyofcairo00stan (find matches)
Title: The story of Cairo
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Stanley Lane-Poole
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Publisher: J. M. Dent
Contributing Library: Gumberg Library, Duquesne University
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

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e-tofore, and by the substitution of a central tax office inthe old emirate house next to the mosque of Ibn-Tulun in place of the wasteful and corrupt system oflocal collectors and tax-farmers. In a single day thecity of Misr (still in its prime) contributed from;;^26,ooo to ;£62,ooo in taxes, according- to theseason. All taxes had to be paid in the new Fatimidcoinage, and the *Abbasid money was put out of cur-rency. The next caliph el-Aziz was noted for his judg-ment in gems, and set a number of new fashions ingold-thread turbans, jewelled harness scented withambergris, and gold-inlaid armour for his horses, andluxuries for the table, such as truffles from Mukattamand fish fresh from the sea. Like Khumaraweyh hewas fond of strange beasts, and imported birds andanimals from the Sudan. But he shared with his fatherthe statesmanlike qualities that no luxury could en-feeble. He built a fleet to fight the emperor Basil;personally waged a successful campaign in orthodox1 Makrizy, ii. 318.
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135 Cairo Syria, which never became reconciled to the Fatimidsupremacy ; and he gave Egypt an interval of unbrokenpeace. His name was commemorated in the Fridayprayer in the mosques from Arabia to the Atlantic,and he never failed to stand before the people in theAzhar and conduct the service as their spiritual as*well as temporal head. The mosque known as el-Hakims owed its founda-tion at the close of 990 to el-Aziz and his vezir Ibn-Killis, who completed it sufficiently to hold the Fridayprayers there a year later. The decoration, minarets,and other accessories were not finished till the reignof his son el-Hakim, who set the work in hand in1003, and placed the final inscription on the pulpitin March 1013. Hence this second congregationalmosque of Kahira, originally known as the NewMosque or * The Brilliant (el-Anwar, in obviousimitation of the name of el-Azhar), took its mostusual title from el-Hakim. In the course of itshistory it has suffered even worse indignities than theOld Mosq

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