Pharaoh
Pharaoh is the common title of the monarchs of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty until the annexation of Egypt by the Roman Empire in 30 BCE, although the actual term "Pharaoh" was not used contemporaneously for a ruler until Merneptah, c. 1200 BCE. In the early dynasty, ancient Egyptian kings used to have up to three titles, the Horus, the Sedge and Bee name, the Two Ladies name; the Golden Horus and nomen and prenomen titles were added. In Egyptian society, religion was central to everyday life. One of the roles of the pharaoh was as an intermediary between the people; the pharaoh thus deputised for the gods. He owned all of the land in Egypt, enacted laws, collected taxes, defended Egypt from invaders as the commander-in-chief of the army. Religiously, the pharaoh chose the sites of new temples, he was responsible for maintaining Maat, or cosmic order and justice, part of this included going to war when necessary to defend the country or attacking others when it was believed that this would contribute to Maat, such as to obtain resources.
During the early days prior to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Deshret or the "Red Crown", was a representation of the Kingdom of Lower Egypt, while the Hedjet, the "White Crown", was worn by the kings of the kingdom of upper Egypt. After the unification of both kingdoms into one united Egypt, the Pschent, the combination of both the red and white crowns was the official crown of kings. With time new headdresses were introduced during different dynasties like the Khat, Atef, Hemhem crown, Khepresh. At times, it was depicted that a combination of these crowns would be worn together; the word pharaoh derives from the Egyptian compound pr ꜥꜣ, /ˌpaɾuwˈʕaʀ/ "great house", written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr "house" and ꜥꜣ "column", here meaning "great" or "high". It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ꜥꜣ "Courtier of the High House", with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the Twelfth Dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula "Great House, May it Live, be in Health", but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person.
Sometime during the era of the New Kingdom, Second Intermediate Period, pharaoh became the form of address for a person, king. The earliest confirmed instance where pr ꜥꜣ is used to address the ruler is in a letter to Akhenaten, addressed to "Great House, L, W, H, the Lord". However, there is a possibility that the title pr ꜥꜣ was applied to Thutmose III, depending on whether an inscription on the Temple of Armant can be confirmed to refer to that king. During the Eighteenth Dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a reverential designation of the ruler. About the late Twenty-first Dynasty, instead of being used alone as before, it began to be added to the other titles before the ruler's name, from the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty it was, at least in ordinary usage, the only epithet prefixed to the royal appellative. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ꜥꜣ on its own was used as as ḥm, "Majesty"; the term, evolved from a word referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler by the Twenty-Second Dynasty and Twenty-third Dynasty.
For instance, the first dated appearance of the title pharaoh being attached to a ruler's name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun; this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the Twenty-second Dynasty kings. For instance, the Large Dakhla stela is dated to Year 5 of king "Pharaoh Shoshenq, beloved of Amun", whom all Egyptologists concur was Shoshenq I—the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty—including Alan Gardiner in his original 1933 publication of this stela. Shoshenq I was the second successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives. By this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced * whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Koine Greek: Φερων. In the Hebrew Bible, the title occurs as Hebrew: פרעה.
Pharaō, in Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Qur'an spells it Arabic: فرعون firʿawn with n; the Arabic combines the original ayin from Egyptian along with the -n ending from Greek. In English, it was at first spelled "Pharao", but the translators of the King James Bible revived "Pharaoh" with "h" from the Hebrew. Meanwhile, in Egypt itself, * evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ pərro and ərro by mistaking p- as the definite article "the". Other notable epithets are nswt, translated to "king". Sceptres and staves were a general sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos. Kings were known to carry a staff, Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff; the scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-sceptre, sometimes described as the shepherd's crook. The earli
Egypt
Egypt the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, across the Red Sea lies Saudi Arabia, across the Mediterranean lie Greece and Cyprus, although none share a land border with Egypt. Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. Iconic monuments such as the Giza Necropolis and its Great Sphinx, as well the ruins of Memphis, Thebes and the Valley of the Kings, reflect this legacy and remain a significant focus of scientific and popular interest. Egypt's long and rich cultural heritage is an integral part of its national identity, which has endured, assimilated, various foreign influences, including Greek, Roman, Ottoman Turkish, Nubian.
Egypt was an early and important centre of Christianity, but was Islamised in the seventh century and remains a predominantly Muslim country, albeit with a significant Christian minority. From the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century, Egypt was ruled by foreign imperial powers: The Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. Modern Egypt dates back to 1922, when it gained nominal independence from the British Empire as a monarchy. However, British military occupation of Egypt continued, many Egyptians believed that the monarchy was an instrument of British colonialism. Following the 1952 revolution, Egypt expelled British soldiers and bureaucrats and ended British occupation, nationalized the British-held Suez Canal, exiled King Farouk and his family, declared itself a republic. In 1958 it merged with Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which dissolved in 1961. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Egypt endured social and religious strife and political instability, fighting several armed conflicts with Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, occupying the Gaza Strip intermittently until 1967.
In 1978, Egypt signed the Camp David Accords withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and recognising Israel. The country continues to face challenges, from political unrest, including the recent 2011 revolution and its aftermath, to terrorism and economic underdevelopment. Egypt's current government is a presidential republic headed by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, described by a number of watchdogs as authoritarian. Islam is the official religion of Egypt and Arabic is its official language. With over 95 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa, the Middle East, the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, the fifteenth-most populous in the world; the great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, where the only arable land is found. The large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypt's territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo and other major cities in the Nile Delta.
The sovereign state of Egypt is a transcontinental country considered to be a regional power in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world, a middle power worldwide. Egypt's economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, is projected to become one of the largest in the world in the 21st century. In 2016, Egypt became Africa's second largest economy. Egypt is a founding member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. "Miṣr" is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern official name of Egypt, while "Maṣr" is the local pronunciation in Egyptian Arabic. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew "מִצְרַיִם"; the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian "mi-iṣ-ru" related to miṣru/miṣirru/miṣaru, meaning "border" or "frontier". There is evidence of rock carvings in desert oases. In the 10th millennium BCE, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers was replaced by a grain-grinding culture.
Climate changes or overgrazing around 8000 BCE began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralised society. By about 6000 BCE, a Neolithic culture rooted in the Nile Valley. During the Neolithic era, several predynastic cultures developed independently in Upper and Lower Egypt; the Badarian culture and the successor Naqada series are regarded as precursors to dynastic Egypt. The earliest known Lower Egyptian site, predates the Badarian by about seven hundred years. Contemporaneous Lower Egyptian communities coexisted with their southern counterparts for more than two thousand years, remaining culturally distinct, but maintaining frequent contact through trade; the earliest known evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions appeared during the predynastic period on Naqada III pottery vessels, dated to about 3200 BCE. A unified kingdom was founded c. 3150 BCE
Amir Qijmas al-Ishaqi Mosque
Amir Qijmas al-Ishaqi Mosque or Abu Heriba Mosque is a historic mosque in Cairo. It is located near Bab Zuweila of the Muizz Street, it was completed in 1480-1481, commissioned by the Burji Mamluk Emir Qijmas al-Ishaqi who served during the rule of Sultan Qaitbay. The nickname "Abu Heriba" is derived from Sheikh Abu Heriba, known as a wali and was buried under the dome of the mosque in 1852; the mosque is known for being featured on the 50 Egyptian pound bill. It is distinguishable from other mosques in the way it allows the shops to rent and operate on the first floor, thus be able to fund the maintenance cost from them; the side which faces the El-Darb El-Ahmar Street contains the mausoleum, sabil and a dome. It was designed by the architect in order to match the urban planning of the roads and to not impede the pedestrian ways. In order to do so, certain parts of the mosque such as the faucet, water tank and the library were separated on the other side of the narrow alley, thus overlooking the main facility and connected by the high pass with the main building.
The interior contains a sahn in four iwans surrounding it. Mihrab adorned; the mihrab is enclosed with columns reaching five meters, it is decorated with the Qur'anic verses inscribed in Kufi script. The wooden minbar in front of the mihrab is decorated with stellar plates and ivory. Floor of the mosque is furnished with marble as well; the minaret exists on the left side of the main entrance. Al Wafd newspaper criticized the condition of the mosque as resulting from the negligence on the part of the Ministry of the Antiquity. According to the paper, the main facade is deteriorated and the surrounding is filled with garbage piles. Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. Islamic Architecture in Cairo. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989. Jarrar, András Riedlmayer, Jeffrey B. Spurr. Resources for the Study of Islamic Architecture. Cambridge, MA: Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1994
Al-Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar Mosque simply in Egypt Al-Azhar, is an Egyptian mosque in Islamic Cairo. Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah of the Fatimid dynasty commissioned its construction for the newly established capital city in 970, its name is thought to allude to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, a revered figure in Islam, given the title az-Zahrā′. It was the first mosque established in Cairo, a city that has since gained the nickname "the City of a Thousand Minarets."After its dedication in 972, with the hiring by mosque authorities of 35 scholars in 989, the mosque developed into what is today the second oldest continuously run university in the world after Al Karaouine in Idrisid Fes. Al-Azhar University has long been regarded as the foremost institution in the Islamic world for the study of Sunni theology and sharia, or Islamic law; the university, integrated within the mosque as part of a mosque school since its inception, was nationalized and designated an independent university in 1961, following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.
Over the course of its over a millennium-long history, the mosque has been alternately neglected and regarded. Because it was founded as a Shiite Ismaili institution and the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty that he founded shunned al-Azhar, removing its status as a congregational mosque and denying stipends to students and teachers at its school; these moves were reversed under the Mamluk Sultanate, under whose rule numerous expansions and renovations took place. Rulers of Egypt showed differing degrees of deference to the mosque and provided varying levels of financial assistance, both to the school and to the upkeep of the mosque. Today, al-Azhar remains a influential institution in Egyptian society, revered in the Sunni Muslim world and a symbol of Islamic Egypt; the city of Cairo was established by the Fatimid general Gawhar al-Ṣiqillī, a former Greek slave from Sicily, on behalf of his then-master Caliph al-Mu'izz. It was named al-Mansuriyya after the prior seat of the Fatimid caliphate, al-Mansuriya in modern Tunisia.
The mosque, first used in 972, may have been named Jāmi' al-Mansuriyya, as was common practice at the time. It was al-Mu' izz; the name of the mosque thus became the first transcribed in Arabic sources. The mosque acquired its current name, al-Azhar, sometime between the caliphate of al-Mu’izz and the end of the reign of the second Fatimid caliph in Egypt, al-Aziz Billah. Azhar is the masculine form for zahrā′, meaning "splendid" or "most resplendent." Zahrā′ is an epithet applied to Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, wife of caliph Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib. She was claimed as the imams of the Fatimid dynasty; the theory, however, is not confirmed in any Arabic source and its plausibility has been both supported and denied by Western sources. An alternative theory is that the mosque's name is derived from the names given by the Fatimid caliphs to their palaces; those near the mosque were collectively named al-Qusur al-Zahira by al-Aziz Billah, the royal gardens were named after another derivative of the word zahra.
The palaces had been completed and named prior to the mosque changing its name from Jāmi' al-Qāhira to al-Azhar. The word Jāmi' is derived from the Arabic root word jamaʻa, meaning "to gather"; the word is used for large congregational mosques. While in classical Arabic the name for al-Azhar remains Jāmi' al-Azhar, the pronunciation of the word Jāmi' changes to Gāma' in Egyptian Arabic. Caliph al-Mu’izz li-Din Allāh, the fourteenth Ismāʿīli Imam, conquered Egypt through his general Gawhar, wresting it from the Sunni Ikhshidid dynasty. By order of the Caliph, Gawhar oversaw the construction of the royal enclosure of the Fatimid Caliphate and its army, had al-Azhar built as a base to spread Ismāʿīli Shi'a Islam. Located near the densely populated Sunni city of Fustat, Cairo became the center of the Ismāʿīli sect of Shi'a Islam, seat of the Fatimid empire. Gawhar ordered the construction of a congregational mosque for the new city and work commenced on April 4, 970; the mosque was completed in 972 and the first Friday prayers were held there on June 22, 972 during Ramadan.
Al-Azhar soon became a center of learning in the Islamic world, official pronouncements and court sessions were issued from and convened there. Under Fatimid rule, the secretive teachings of the Ismāʿīli madh'hab were made available to the general public. Al-Nu‘man ibn Muhammad was appointed qadi under al-Mu’izz and placed in charge of the teaching of the Ismāʿīli madh'hab. Classes were taught at the palace of the Caliph, as well as at al-Azhar, with separate sessions available to women. During Eid ul-Fitr in 973, the mosque was rededicated by the caliph as the official congregational mosque in Cairo. Al-Mu’izz, his son—when he in turn became caliph—would preach at least one Friday khutbah during Ramadan at al-Azhar. Yaqub ibn Killis, a polymath and the first official vizier of the Fatimids, made al-Azhar a key center for instruction in Islamic law in 988; the following year, 45 scholars were hired to give lessons, laying the foundation for what would become the leading university in the Muslim world.
The mosque was expanded during the rule of the caliph al-Aziz. According to al-Mufaddal, he ordered the restoration
Qalawun complex
The Qalawun complex is a massive complex in Cairo, Egypt that includes a madrasa, a hospital and a mausoleum. It was built by the Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun in the 1280s; the Qalawun Complex was built over the ruins of the Fatimid Palace of Cairo, with several halls in the Palace. It was sold to several people until it was bought by the Sultan Qalawun in 1283 AD; the structure resides in the heart of Cairo, in the Bayn al-Qasrayn, has been a center for important religious ceremonies and rituals of the Islamic faith for years, stretching from the Mamluk dynasty through the Ottoman Empire. The funerary complex of Sultan al-Mansur Sayf al-Din Qalawun, including both madrasa and mausoleum took 13 months to build, from 1284-1285; this fact is remarkable considering the sheer scope of the total complex. The short amount of time it took to construct the complex is in large part due to the slave like labor the Sultan commanded; the hospital took less than six months to complete, the mausoleum and madrasa each taking about four months.
The building project was supervised by emir ‘Alam al-Din Sinjar al-Shaja‘i, who forcefully employed hundreds of Mongol prisoners of war, calling upon workers throughout Fustat and Cairo to aid in the project. Al-Shaja’i used whatever means necessary to procure the large labor force needed to complete the project calling on people walking through the streets; the Complex was considered one of the most beautiful buildings at that time, where it included a school, a hospital and a mausoleum, with a Beautiful Dome. Historians claim that the columns holding the mausoleum structure were made of granite and other materials that were taken from another palace in Roda Island; the complex was built in three stages, where the Hospital was finished first, the Mausoleum and finally the school. The structure was restored several times in the reign of al-Nasir Muhammad, the son and successor of Sultan Qalawun, he restored the minarets after a strong earthquake occurred in 1327 AD. Another restoration came when Abdul-Rahman Katkhuda, created a beautifully built Ottoman Sabil on the other side of the street in 1776.
The Mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun in Cairo is considered by many to be the second most beautiful mausoleum, succeeded only by the Taj Mahal in India. Al-Nuwayri, has said in his book Nihayet al Irab, that the Mausoleum was not intended to become a burial site, but a Mosque and a school, that it was first used as a tomb when he died, hosted his body, his body was kept in the Cairo Citadel for two months until the tomb was ready to replace the Citadel's Burial location when Qalawun's son died, he too was buried in the Mausoleum. The mihrab of the mausoleum is considered as the most lavish of its kind; this is in contrast to the mihrab of the madrasa, less grand in size and general esthetics. With a horse-shoe profile the mihrab is flanked by three columns made of marble; the Mausoleum on, under the mamluks included a Museum for Royal Clothes of those buried in it. The Mausoleum of Qalawun is significant in that its dome served as a ceremonial center for the investing of new emirs. Indeed, the dome was a symbol of new power, a changing of the guard, signifying a new center of Mamluk power, which enjoyed great prosperity at the time.
The Mausoleum's Dome was demolished by the Ottoman Governor over Egypt Abdul-Rahman Katkhuda and was rebuilt in Ottoman architecture, However the Comite for reservation of Arab monuments built another dome to replace that in 1908. Within the madrasa the four legal schools, or the four madhhabs of Islamic law were taught. Other teachings housed in the madrasa included the teaching of medicine; the madrasa had two recesses as evidenced by the accompanying waqf document. The large courtyard of the madrasa was paved with polychrome marble; the sanctuary of the madrasa "faces the courtyard with a tripartite two-storeyed façade consisting of a central arch flanked by two smaller ones, surmounted by similar arched openings. These were surmounted by three oculi, one above two, not only one, as is the case today." The mihrab of the madrasa has a horse-shoe arch similar to the mausoleum but is smaller and less elaborate than that of the mausoleum and its conch is marked with glass mosaics and mother-of-pearl, rather than marble mosaics.
The deep red color used in the mosaics stands out. Though not visible from the street the hospital once stood as the most lavish and impressive hospital of its time; the hospital functioned through the late Ottoman period before being demolished in 1910. The hospital offered many amenities to the sick and poor in addition to medical treatment, including drugs, shelter and clothing. Production of drugs for medical treatment, as well as research and teaching occurred within the hospital. Most of this information has been gleaned from a waqf document from the time; the Medieval Islamic historian al-Maqrizi has his own observations regarding the history of the hospital. According to Maqrizi, the hospital was built from the Fatimid palace of Sayyidat al-Mulk, could be reached from a corridor leading from the madrasa and mausoleum. Large fountains residing within its walls marked the beauty of the interior of the hospital. Within the hospital stood a large central courtyard measuring 21x33m. A horseshoe arched portal leads into a passage separating the mausoleum from the madrasah.
The tomb is on the right, the Madrasah, on a cruciform plan, is to the left of the entrance. Inside the four Iwans once contained the four different law schools, on
Madrasa of Sarghatmish
The cruciform Madrasah of the Amir Sarghatmish, built in 1356, lies to the northeast of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, in Islamic Cairo. The building's school and mausoleum can be seen from Ibn Tulun's spiral minaret, while its entrance is on Saliba Street; this structure includes a madrasa and mausoleum. The madrasa is referred to as the Mosque of Amir al-Sayf Sarghatmish. In 1356, Amir Sayf al-Din Sarghatmish al-Nasiri, chief of the corps of Mamluks, ordered the construction of this madrasa. Sarghatmish began his career under the service of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, ended it under the reign of Sultan Husan. According to the renowned Egyptian historian, al-Maqrizi, Sarghatmish was handsome and zealous man who would recite the Qur'an daily and go to legal discussions among Hanafi scholars, he opened sponsored the construction of a madrasa that taught in accordance with the Hanafi school, one of the four Sunni schools of Islam. It became a place of refuge for Hanafi students from Iran. Maqrizi notes.
He would teach them grammar and promote the students within the community. Sarghatmish's influence in Egypt heightened during the reign of Sultan Husan; when he came back from a Damascus, where he had been with the Mamluk troops, Sarghatmish was made vizier to ‘Alam al-Din ‘Abdallah ibn Zunbur, he took all his wealth without the sultan's knowledge. His power continued to increase during the early 14th century to the point where he ruled Egypt on the behalf of Hasan. However, Sarghatmish fell into Hasan's disgrace and was thrown into jail and murdered in 1358. Adjacent to the famous Mosque of Ibn Tulun, the Madrasa of Sarghatmish is a prime example of Mamluk architectural innovation; the building's four iwan layout is in line with the cruciform, or madrasa plan. The building's facade faces the street to the northwest, the domed mausoleum jets out from the south end of the facade and into the street through a rectangular, cross-vaulted space; this madrasa shows the tendency of Mamluk architecture to prefer that the front of the building faces the existing street, while at the same time orienting the interior of the mosque toward the qibla.
In this case, the facade is composed of the madrasa and mausoleum, the mosque is located behind the facade, furthest from the street. This choice to make the secular aspects of the building visible to the public, reflects the Mamluks' tendency to value prestige over piety; the mausoleum was presented in this fashion in order to attract the attention of pedestrians in hopes of receiving their blessings. From the outside of the Madrasa of Sarghatmish one can see its octagonal minaret on the eastern corner of the facade, it has patterns of two-colored inlaid masonry. The facade itself contains the main portal to the building's interior; the portal is emphasized by an elevated section of the facade called a pishtaq. Additionally, pendative triangles are seen under the portal's semi-dome; the upper walls of the facade are aligned with small rectangular windows which belong to the living quarters. The windows appear on the rear facade as part of the students' cells. Outside the building the dome over the mausoleum is visible.
The double-shelled, exotic dome is made out of bricks. This type of drum creates a rounded profile, uncommon in Egyptian architecture. Instead it seems to be reflective of Persian architecture, which may have been inspired by Sarghatmish's celebration of his foreign students, many of whom were from Iran. In addition, muqarnas, or three-dimensional decorative device used in Islamic and Persian architecture, are inset in this area above the inscription band. Inside the Madrasa of Sarghatmish is the mosque. An architecturally intriguing spot within the mosque is the mihrab wall; the mihrab is a semi-circular niche in the wall that signifies the location of the qibla, or direction of the Kaaba. This wall is decorated with white marble panes with medallions carved into them; some carvings on the marble include arabesques, a mosque lamp, a pair of hands holding a stem. These carvings of actual figures the bird and hands, are unique to Mamluk art and architecture. Mamluk art consisted of ornate designs that were militant in their intricacy.
The panels, have since been removed, are located in the Islamic Museum. At the center of the Madrasa of Sarghatmish is a courtyard with an octagonal fountain in the center, it is in the shape of a pavilion with marble columns. This type of dome is a trademark of Mamluk domes. From the courtyard, the student housing is visible; the cells go up three stories in the corners between the four iwans. Some of them overlook the courtyard, other overlook the street. Al-Maqrizi was a influential Caireen historian, his main work is the Khitat, a topographical description of Cairo's history. Al-Maqrizi discusses the architecture of every building in the city in the Khitat, his expansive work is still referred to today by other scholars. Al-Maqrizi focuses on the Madrasa of Sarghatmish's origins by describing the history of Sarghatmish himself, explained above. Al-Maqrizi goes on to explain the architectural details as well as the impact of the building in the community. Al-Maqrizi comments on the building itself by saying, "The madrasa became one of the most marvelous and beautiful structures, one of the most delightful on the interior."
It seems that the Madrasa of Sarghatmish's elegant construction affected people in Cairo so much th
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III known as Amenhotep the Magnificent, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC, or from June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC, after his father Thutmose IV died. Amenhotep III was Thutmose's son by Mutemwiya, his reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and artistic splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power. When he died in the 38th or 39th year of his reign, his son ruled as Amenhotep IV, but changed his own royal name to Akhenaten; the son of the future Thutmose IV and a minor wife Mutemwiya, Amenhotep III was born around 1401 BC. He was a member of the Thutmosid family that had ruled Egypt for 150 years since the reign of Thutmose I. Amenhotep III was the father of two sons with his Great Royal Wife Tiye, their first son, Crown Prince Thutmose, predeceased his father and their second son, Amenhotep IV known as Akhenaten succeeded Amenhotep III to the throne.
Amenhotep III may have been the father of a third child—called Smenkhkare, who would succeed Akhenaten and ruled Egypt as pharaoh. Amenhotep III and Tiye may have had four daughters: Sitamun, Isis or Iset, Nebetah, they appear on statues and reliefs during the reign of their father and are represented by smaller objects—with the exception of Nebetah. Nebetah is attested only once in the known historical records on a colossal limestone group of statues from Medinet Habu; this huge sculpture, seven meters high, shows Amenhotep III and Tiye seated side by side, "with three of their daughters standing in front of the throne—Henuttaneb, the largest and best preserved, in the centre. Evidence that Sitamun was promoted to this office by Year 30 of his reign, is known from jar-label inscriptions uncovered from the royal palace at Malkata. Egypt's theological paradigm encouraged a male pharaoh to accept royal women from several different generations as wives to strengthen the chances of his offspring succeeding him.
The goddess Hathor herself was related to Ra as first the mother and wife and daughter of the god when he rose to prominence in the pantheon of the Ancient Egyptian religion. Amenhotep III is known to have married several foreign women: Gilukhepa, the daughter of Shuttarna II of Mitanni, in the tenth year of his reign. Tadukhepa, the daughter of his ally Tushratta of Mitanni, Around Year 36 of his reign. A daughter of Kurigalzu, king of Babylon. A daughter of Kadashman-Enlil, king of Babylon. A daughter of Tarhundaradu, ruler of Arzawa. A daughter of the ruler of Ammia. Amenhotep III has the distinction of having the most surviving statues of any Egyptian pharaoh, with over 250 of his statues having been discovered and identified. Since these statues span his entire life, they provide a series of portraits covering the entire length of his reign. Another striking characteristic of Amenhotep III's reign is the series of over 200 large commemorative stone scarabs that have been discovered over a large geographic area ranging from Syria through to Soleb in Nubia.
Their lengthy inscribed texts extol the accomplishments of the pharaoh. For instance, 123 of these commemorative scarabs record the large number of lions that Amenhotep III killed "with his own arrows" from his first regnal year up to his tenth year. Five other scarabs state that the foreign princess who would become a wife to him, arrived in Egypt with a retinue of 317 women, she was the first of many such princesses. Another eleven scarabs record the excavation of an artificial lake he had built for his Great Royal Wife, Queen Tiye, in his eleventh regnal year, Regnal Year 11 under the Majesty of... Amenhotep, ruler of Thebes, given life, the Great Royal Wife Tiye, his Majesty commanded the making of a lake for the great royal wife Tiye—may she live—in her town of Djakaru.. Its length is 3,700 and its width is 700. Celebrated the Festival of Opening the Lake in the third month of Inundation, day sixteen, his Majesty was rowed in the royal barge Aten-tjehen in it. Amenhotep appears to have been crowned while still a child between the ages of 6 and 12.
It is that a regent acted for him if he was made pharaoh at that early age. He married Tiye two years and she lived twelve years after his death, his lengthy reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and artistic splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of her artistic and international power. Proof of this is shown by the diplomatic correspondence from the rulers of Assyria, Mitanni and Hatti, preserved in the archive of Amarna Letters; the letters cover the period from Year 30 of Amenhotep III until at least the end of Akhenaten's reign. In one famous correspondence—Amarna letter EA 4—Amenhotep III is quoted by the Babylonian king Kadashman-Enlil I in rejecting the latter's entreaty to marry one of this pharaoh's daughters: From time immemorial, no daughter of the king of Egy is given to anyone. Amenhotep III's refusal to allow one of his daughters to be married to the Babylonian monarch may indeed be connect
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