What is Fustat?
'''Fustat''' was the first [[Arab]] capital in [[Egypt]]. It was founded in 641 AD, after the Arabs conquered [[Alexandria]]. The Arabs did not want their capital to be so far away as Alexandria, which is why they made Fustat, which was far from the sea and closer to Arabia, and was on their side of the [[Nile]] river. Fustat became a beautiful and powerful city for over 500 years, but then it was destroyed in 1168, when its [[vizier]] [[Shawar]] told his army to burn the city. Shawar did not want the [[Crusades|crusaders]] to capture the city, so he burned it instead. Today there is not much left of Fustat, but some buildings can be seen in Old [[Cairo]]. {{authority control}} [[Category:Cities in Egypt]] [[Category:640s establishments]] [[Category:Establishments in Egypt]] [[Category:7th-century establishments in Africa]] [[Category:Cairo]] [[Category:12th-century disestablishments in Africa]]