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Welcome to ARCHNET, an Open Access, interdisciplinary, intellectual resource focused on the built environment of Muslim societies.Our mission:&nbsp;<ul><li>Facilitate excellence in scholarship, and professional work by providing ready access to quality, unique texts, and media focused on architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape design, conservation issues, visual and material cultures, and related topics, both historically and in terms of contemporary best practices.</li><li>Enable teaching and learning in these domains by providing educators with reliable, effective pedagogical material and teaching aids.&nbsp;</li><li>Serve as a platform through which scholars, practitioners, and institutions can bring their work to new global audiences.&nbsp;</li><li>Promote intercultural understanding and dialogue through reliable, high-quality, peer-reviewed material on the diversity of, and pluralism within Muslim societies and the interaction between Islamic and other religious, cultural, and philosophical traditions.</li><li>Enable easy access to a wide variety of resources via a custom-built, web-based, mobile-friendly platform optimized to minimize financial, infrastructural, linguistic, and other barriers to access.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li></ul>Launched in 2002 after several years of development, ARCHNET is a pioneering digital resource that has proven a reliable authority on the built environment of Muslim societies, past, and present.&nbsp;ARCHNET is a partnership between the <a href="https://www.archnet.org/collections/1342" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries </a>(AKDC@MIT) and the <a href="https://www.archnet.org/authorities/1903" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aga Khan Trust for Culture</a> (AKTC), with support from the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT. ARCHNET NEXT was developed by <a href="https://www.performantsoftware.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Performant Software Solutions</a>.

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Archnet is a community-powered resource that provides ready access to visual and textual material to facilitate teaching, scholarship, and professional work of high quality.&nbsp;This unparalleled resource continues to grow with both the addition of historic archives and documentation on contemporary trends shaping the built environment today.&nbsp;To better serve you, our user, in the study of art and architecture of Muslim societies, we continue to build our vast collection of sites, publications, images, and videos. To ensure a high level of scholarly content and accuracy in the information provided, we appreciate your expert feedback and, more importantly, your contributions..&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul><li>Please send comments, corrections, commendations, and other feedback to <a href="mailto:archnet@mit.edu" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">archnet@mit.edu</a>.&nbsp;</li><li>If you find sites on Archnet to which you can contribute in compelling and meaningful ways, your generosity is most welcome. If you would be interested in contributing research, publications or other media to Archnet, please contact us using <a href="about:blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">archnet-submission@mit.edu</a>.&nbsp;</li><li>We invite contributions of relevant, previously published, Open Access or copyrighted material for which you are able to grant Archnet a non-exclusive license. Please contact us using <a href="about:blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">archnet-submission@mit.edu</a>.&nbsp;</li><li>We invite the contribution of syllabi, lesson plans, recorded lectures, or other material for our pedagogy project. Please contact us using <a href="about:blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">archnet-submission@mit.edu</a>.&nbsp;</li><li>We welcome the donation of select archives based on our current editorial policies and priorities.&nbsp;If you have a collection you would like to bring to the attention of Archnet's editors, please send an email to: <a href="http://mailto: archnet-submission@mit.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">archnet-submission@mit.edu</a>.</li><li>Occasionally, Archnet editors issue calls for contributions on specific themes or of particular types of material. Follow those on the <a href="https://libraries.mit.edu/akdc/category/contributors/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">website of AKDC@MIT </a>or <a href="https://mailchi.mp/17fc345bbd94/archnetakdc-updates" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subscribe to our mailing list</a>.</li></ul> The breadth, depth, and quality of Archnet is oachieved through the generosity of numerous institutions and individuals listed on the respective pages throughout the site.&nbsp;We thank you for your generosity!

Contribute

 Cairo

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digital graphic

IAA705851

place

military

tower

Egypt

Import

Sir Keppel Archibald Cameron Creswell

Creswell: Egypt

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B & W print

ICR0621

Burj al-Zafar

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ICR0622

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ICR0623

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ICR0624

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https://archnet-3-prod-iiif-cloud-c0fe51f0b9ac.herokuapp.com/public/resources/d530fb00-d538-4669-9508-1c4b883d556e/content

ICR0625

https://archnet-3-prod-iiif-cloud-c0fe51f0b9ac.herokuapp.com/public/resources/9870087c-7fd4-4e3d-8137-9ee0af90a09c/download

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https://archnet-3-prod-iiif-cloud-c0fe51f0b9ac.herokuapp.com/public/resources/9870087c-7fd4-4e3d-8137-9ee0af90a09c/content

ICR0626

https://archnet-3-prod-iiif-cloud-c0fe51f0b9ac.herokuapp.com/public/resources/825b0ed4-df9a-471e-bfc4-fc168de0b39d/download

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ICR0627

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ICR0628

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ICR0629

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ICR0630

Aswar al-Qahirah

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ICR0671

Burg al-Zafar

Variant

See<a href="https://www.archnet.org/collections/2355" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Timeline: Ayyubid</a> ﻿Medieval dynasty which ruled Syria, Palestine, Iraq. Egypt and Yemen during the 12th-13th c./5th-6th c. AH &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The founder of the dynasty was Shirukh, a Kurdish retainer of the Zengid prince Nur al-Din. First Shirukh secured the governorship of Aleppo and later was appointed vizier to the Fatimid ruler of Egypt. Shirukh was succeeded by his nephew Salah al-Din who rapidly extended his position and became ruler of Egypt, Syria and northern Iraq whilst he appointed his brother ruler of Yemen. Salah al-Din's greatest accomplishment was the defeat of the Crusaders and the reconquest of Jerusalem. Salah al-Din died in 1189/584 AH and his empire fragmented under his successors who ruled various parts of the empire until the mid-13thc./6th c. AH.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ayyubid architecture was dominated by the need to combat two enemies: the Crusaders in Palestine and the rising threat of Shi'ism and religious dissension. To combat the Crusaders a network of fortresses was built which rivalled those of the Crusaders both in size and technical sophistication. Amongst the best examples of Ayyubid military architecture are Qal'at Rabad at Ajlun in Jordan and Qal'at Nimrud at Banyas in Syria. In addition the fortification of citadels was improved and the famous gateway of the Aleppo Citadel dates from this period. Some of the techniques of fortification were learned from the Crusaders (curtain walls following the natural topography), although many were inherited from the Fatimids (machicolations and round towers) and some were developed simultaneously (concentric planning). Shi'ism was an equally dangerous threat to the Ayyubids who built a large number of madrassas in both Syria and Egypt. In Egypt the Ayyubids had to reintroduce religious orthodoxy after two centuries of government-imposed Shi'ism. In Syria there was a so a growing threat of Shi'ism in the form of the Assassins who had benefited from the confusion of the Crusader conflict. The Ayyubids tried to promote Sufism as an orthodox alternative and began to build khanqas and Sufi shrines to provide a focus for these activities. Petersen, Andrew.&nbsp;Dictionary of Islamic Architecture.&nbsp;London and New York: Routledge, 1999.

Burj al-Zafar
Cairo, Egypt

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Burj al-Zafar
Cairo, Egypt

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Burj al-ZafarCairo, Egypt

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Burj al-ZafarCairo, Egypt

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Burj al-Zafar
Cairo, Egypt

Burj al-Zafar
Cairo, Egypt