The Minarets of Cairo

by Doris Behrens-Abouseif

Minarets have defined Cairo’s skyline since its early history: they are one of the most characteristic features of Islamic architecture. In Egypt, where civilizations have manifested themselves through awe-inspiring structures since antiquity, "a thousand minarets" reveal the impact of Islamic civilization and urban aesthetics. The Minarets of Cairo offers an accessible and vivid insight into the religious, historical and architectural significance of the minaret in Cairo from the Arab Conquest, through the Abbasid, Fatimid, Mamluk and Ottoman periods. Students and scholars will welcome historian and art historian Doris Behrens-Abouseif’s excellent new research and analysis as well as over one hundred illustrated entries for individual minarets, brought to life by Nicholas Warner’s masterly architectural drawings and reconstructions. With nearly three hundred illustrations, this beautiful book provides depth and colour, displaying to full effect historic Cairo’s most impressive monuments.

Hardcover

First published November 1, 1985

Reviews

[Michal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book, well researched. A reference I will be coming back to. There's even a section on Orientalist art.

[Karim Badr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for whoever interested in Islamic medieval art