Making Cairo Medieval

by Nezar AlSayyad (Editor)

During the nineteenth century, Cairo witnessed once of its most dramatic periods of transformation. Well on its way to becoming a modern and cosmopolitan city, by the end of the century, a 'medieval' Cairo had somehow come into being. While many Europeans in the nineteenth century viewed Cairo as a fundamentally dual city--physically and psychically split between East/West and modern/medieval--the contributors to the provocative collection demonstrate that, in fact, this process of inscription was the result of restoration practices, museology, and tourism initiated by colonial occupiers. The first edited volume to address nineteenth-century Cairo both in terms of its history and the perception of its achievements, this book will be an essential text for courses in architectural and art history dealing with the Islamic world.

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Nezar AlSayyad is emeritus professor of architecture, planning, urban design, and urban history at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also served as chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He was founder and past president of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments. Among his numerous books are: Nile: Urban Histories on the Banks of a River (2020), Cairo: Histories of a City (2011), Cinematic Urbanism (2006), Making Cairo Medieval (2005), and The End of Tradition (2004).