At the height of their power, the Fatimid
Caliphate ruled from their capital in Cairo much
of the Islamic world, including North Africa, the
Hejaz (region on the Arabian peninsula), and
the
Eastern Mediterranean,. However, their roots
can
be traced to the shores of Ifriqiya (in modern
day
Tunisia and eastern Algeria) where in 909 A.D.
an
imam from the Ismaili sect of the Shia branch
of
Islam declared himself caliph and adopted the
name of al-Mahdi (the Divinely Guided One).
Directly opposing the power of the Sunni
Abbasids, the Fatimids legitimized their claim
to
authority by tracing their descent to
Muhammad
by way of his daughter Fatima (hence the
name
Fatimid) and her husband Ali, the first Shia
imam.
Soon after their founding, the Fatimids began
to
expand outwards, swiftly bringing all of the
Maghreb under their dominion. Thereafter, the
Fatimids set their sights to the East where the
Abbasids centers of power lay.
After numerous campaigns launched under
multiple caliphs, the Nile Valley was finally
conquered in 969 and the city of Cairo was
founded as a new capital. Opulent mosques
and
centers of learning including al-Azhar
University
were constructed, as Cairo quickly became the
spiritual center for Ismaili Shia. The opulence
of
the Fatimid court fueled a renaissance in the
decorative arts and the arts flourished during
the
Fatimid era, which made Cairo the most
important cultural center in the Islamic world.
became a major center for the production of
pottery, glass, and metalwork, ivory, and wood
carving; specifically rock-crystal carvings that
became treasured by the Caliphs themselves
and
throughout the Mediterranean world. In their
ultimate pursuit of usurping Abbasid power,
the
Fatimids eventually extended their control
throughout the Red Sea and the Hejaz
(including
the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina),
thereby
opening up direct sea routes with India and
effectively diluting Abbasid trade with these
foreign markets.
The middle of the 11th century marked the
height of Fatimid power in the East, when a
dissident general in Iraq switched sides and
declared his allegiance to the Fatimids. Yet this
turn of events was brief as Seljuk Turks soon
regained control of Baghdad, marking the
beginning of the decline of the Fatimid
Dynasty.
A combination of local opposition by the
largely
Sunni populations they ruled and outside
attacks
by Byzantines, Turks, and Crusader armies of
Europe would ultimately prove lethal as the
once
extensive reach of the Fatimid Caliphate was
eventually reduced to Egypt itself. By the time
the
last of a series of ineffective caliphs passed
away
in 1171, the vizier Salah al-Din had become the
real master of Egypt and the Fatimid Caliphate
was formally abolished.
Rock-crystal, a variety of clear quartz
Rock crystal amulets were carved from a
single
block of rock crystal. Great skill and an equally
long amount of time was required to carve out
the object with its delicate, almost schematic
features without breaking it; such items are in
consequence considered to be amongst the
rarest objects in Islamic art. Such objects may
have well been originally used as talismans
holding protective functions or magical
properties but were possibly used as
adornments as well.
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