FUSTAT, AL-

also spelled Al-fostat, capital of the Muslim province of Egypt during the Umayyad and 'Abbasid caliphates and under succeeding dynasties, until captured by the Fatimid general Jawhar in 969. Founded in 641 by the Muslim conqueror of Egypt, 'Amr ibn al-'As, on the east bank of the Nile River, south of modern Cairo, Al-Fustat was the earliest Arab settlement in Egypt and site of the province's first mosque, Jami' 'Amr. It grew into a permanent city out of an Arab camp set up for the siege of the Byzantine fortress of Babylon, but it developed rather chaotically. Around a core of permanent structuresmosques, palaces, and administrative officesgrew up a vast confusion of houses and huts, sited to no plan and periodically ravaged by fire and pestilence. The 'Abbasid governors thus chose to reside in a northern suburb, Al-'Askar, while the Tulunid dynasty built a new quarter, Al-Qata'i', to serve as its capital. The city's prosperity, derived from a lively commerce and a fine glassware and ceramics industry, facilitated Al-Fustat's survival after 969, when nearby Cairo became the capital of Fatimid Egypt. In 1168 the town, which had never been fortified, was destroyed by fire to prevent its capture by Frankish armies. It was rebuilt a few years later by Saladin, who joined it with Cairo. The city's very name was gradually replaced by that of Al-Qahirah (Cairo). In modern Egypt it constitutes a quarter of Cairo known as Masr al-'Atiqah (Old Cairo).