Fatimid Cemetery
The Fatimid Cemetery is one of the most significant Islamic gravestones In Aswan, located on the same road that leads to the Aswan Airport, behind the Nubian Museum in Aswan.
Aswan Nubian Museum
Nubia, which stretches from Aswan south to Khartoum in the south, is the region that was once the ancient kingdom of Kush. Nubians are frequently portrayed as traders or mercenaries in the numerous tomb paintings and reliefs in which they appear.
Some of these tombs date back to the Islamic conquest of Egypt in 21 A.H., and the rest of the tombs date back to the Fatimid conquest of Egypt. These Fatimid tombs were built in Aswan to avoid any danger from the South because Aswan is considered the southern gateway to Egypt.
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Fatimid Cemetery Aswan
The Fatimid Caliphate, also known as the Egyptian Caliphate or the Fatimid Empire (Arabic: al-Fāṭimiyyūn), was the fourth caliphate in Islamic history and the only one to be Shiite (Ismaili, in particular). It ruled over North Africa between 909 and 1171.
Because of the Nubian revolutions against the Arab rulers, many wars took place between Arab rulers and the Nubian tribes that caused a large number of people to be killed and buried in this place. The Fatimid Cemetery was divided into two main places, the tombs which are located in the “Anani” area in Aswan, and the tombs which are located on El Sadat Road.
The cemetery consists of 80 tombs, 30 of which still exist nowadays, while the others were lost due to the mud brick material that was used in constructing the tombs was very easy to crack. These tombs are unusual in their Architectural design, and the domes were built on a drum with corners, a feature unique to Nubians. Some tombs are decorated with flags referring to local saints who were buried there.
The ninth and tenth-century Fatimid cemetery, featuring clay domes of saints, is visible to tourists near the airport, Philae Island, and Nubia Museum. Shiite Shiite adherents fled to southern Egypt after Saladin's overthrow.
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