Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction (Muqarnas, Supplements) - Softcover

Behrens-Abouseif, Doris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9004096264 ISBN 13: 9789004096264

Publisher: Brill, 1989

Synopsis

Cairo has one of the highest concentrations of Islamic architectural treasures in the world. This introduction to the subject begins with an analysis of the Cairo's urban growth from the Islamic conquest in 641 through to the Ottoman Period and the reign of Muhammad Ali at the beginning of the 19th century. From that point, the reader is given a guided tour of the evolution of Cairo's Islamic architecture and an overview of its main styles through the investigation of monuments spanning 1200 years. The book also includes a descriptive catalogue of the major monuments from the early Islamic period through the Fatimid, Ayyubid, Bahri Mamluk, Circassian Mamluk and Ottoman periods.

About this title

About the Author

Doris Behrens-Abouseif is Nasser D Khalili Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology. Before joining SOAS in 2000, Professor Abouseif taught Islamic Art at the American University in Cairo and at the Universities of Freiburg and Munich in Germany. On two occasions, she was Visiting Professor at Harvard University at the Fine Art Department and the Graduate School of Design; she also was awarded a Bin-Ladin-fellowship to spend a semester at the Graduate School of Design.

She has also been invited as a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Berlin and Bamberg in Germany and the University of Leuven in Belgium, and was "Distinguished Visiting Professor" at the American University in Cairo.

Review

'Doris Behrens-Abouseif's handbook is at its most fascinating and readable when it discusses the no longer extant Fatimid palaces and the Mamluke buildings within the Citadel.'
Robert Irwin, TLS, may 1990.
'Man wird lange suchen müssen, um die gesammelten Fakten so komprimiert und übersichtlich in einer Publikation vereinigt zu finden wie in diesem Band.'
KM, Trialog, 1990.
'The most valuable...are the chapters on domestic architecture and buildings of the fourteenth century and later...'
Jonathan M. Bloom, Journal Soc. Architectural Historians, 1991.
'...un ouvrage de synthèse pratique et fort utile...'
Marianne Barrucand, Der Islam, 1992.
'...extremely interesting...addresses both the scholar and the learned visitor of the city.'
L.M., Environmental Design, 1990.
'The value of this book is that there is virtually none other like it.'
Barbara Kencht, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 26.
'Like all the volumes of Muqarnas, and their supplements, this is a very comfortable book to handle and to read. All in all, a most welcome and highly recommended addition to the literature.'
J.W. Allan, Journal of Islamic Studies, 1996.

Edition details

• Publisher: Brill
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 9004096264
• ISBN 13: 9789004096264
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 174