.jpg?w=1)
149. Kaire. 1843. G[rand] Amr. Côté O[uest] (publiée)
Details
JOSEPH-PHILIBERT GIRAULT DE PRANGEY (1804-1892)
149. Kaire. 1843. G[rand] Amr. Côté O[uest] (publiée)
daguerreotype
titled, dated and numbered in ink on a label (affixed to verso)
manufacturer's rosette stamp in bottom right corner (recto)
3¾ x 9½in. (9.5 x 24cm.)
149. Kaire. 1843. G[rand] Amr. Côté O[uest] (publiée)
daguerreotype
titled, dated and numbered in ink on a label (affixed to verso)
manufacturer's rosette stamp in bottom right corner (recto)
3¾ x 9½in. (9.5 x 24cm.)
Further details
The Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As was originally built as the centre of the newly-founded capital of Egpyt, Fustat, in 642. The original structure was the first mosque ever built in Egypt, and therefore the first ever built on the continent of Africa. The location of this mosque, according to tradition, was chosen by a bird. Amr Ibn al-As was the first Arab conqueror of Egypt, and in 641, before he and his army attacked the capital city of Alexandria, Amr set up his tent on the eastern side of the Nile. Shortly before he set off to battle, a dove laid an egg in his tent. Amr returned from battle victorious, declared this site of the dove's egg sacred, and made it the centre of his new city, Fustat (Misr al-Fustat, 'City of the Tents'). The mosque was built on this precise location and has been the subject of extensive reconstruction, both before and since Girault de Prangey made this image.