{"id":52861,"date":"2017-12-04T13:33:16","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T11:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/site\/?p=52861"},"modified":"2018-02-07T10:17:18","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T08:17:18","slug":"%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a9-228-%d9%85%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%b7%d8%a7%d8%a6%d8%b9-2122017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a9-228-%d9%85%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%b7%d8%a7%d8%a6%d8%b9-2122017\/","title":{"rendered":"Beautiful Egypt 228 \u2013 Al Qata\u2019I City \u2013 December 2, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0How difficult do words become when we use their letters to form an image of our grief and suffering! How tough is it when we try to use them in order to relief people\u2019s grief and suffering!! Yet, we have nothing but raising our hands and hearts to God so He would send His comfort and patience to every injured pained soul for losing a dear one on the hands of terrorism which murdered innocent souls in Al Rawda Mosque, Al Arish. We ask the Creator to bestow peace upon Egypt and the entire world, how greatly do we need the breaths of the Almighty which fill souls with hope and life!<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In the previous articles, we spoke about the founder of the Tulunid dynasty in Egypt \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d (254 \u2013 270 AH) (868 \u2013 884 AD), his upbringing and military life, after the death of his father \u201cTulun\u201d, Caliph \u201cAl Mutawakkil\u201d committed to his hand all what his father had, we then broached the revolutions of \u201cBugha Al Asghar\u201d and \u201cIbn Al Sufi\u201d the Alawite with the onset of the Tulunid rule of Egypt.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Historian \u201cAl Kindi\u201d said that in 256 AH: \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d led his armies and headed to confront \u201cIsa ibn al-Shaykh\u201d, the governonr of Palestine and Jordan who took over Damascus and overpowered it, refusing to pay money to the Caliph.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Moreover, he robbed \u201cIbn Al Mudabber\u201d the tax collection official of Egypt,\u00a0\u00a0 while he was on his way to Iraq, he resumed:\u00a0\u201cCaliph \u2018Al Muhtadi\u2019 wrote to \u2018Ahmad Ibn Tulun\u2019 asking him to hand over all his responsibilities.\u00a0\u2018Ahmad Ibn Tulun\u2019 made assumptions and took over Sudan, and was about to meet him, this was in Safar, 256 AH, then he decided to write to him before getting met, so he wrote to him via \u201cQais Ibn Hafs\u201d, the clerk of \u201cBakkar Al Qady\u201d and\u00a0\u201cAhmad Ibn Yahia Al Serag\u201d but they came back with what wasn\u2019t accepted by \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0And thus, \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d decided to wage war against him, but he returned to Fustat reportedly because of a message he received from Iraq, then he sent an army to confront \u201cIsa\u201d headed by \u201cMagor\u201d who achieved victory and killed the former\u2019s son in Egypt, \u201cMagor\u201d then ruled over the Levant.<\/span><\/h2>\n

AL Qata\u2019I City<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In 256 AH (884 AD), \u201cAl Muhtadi\u201d died, and Caliphate was accrued to\u00a0Al Mutawakkil\u2019s son, \u201cAl Mu\u2019tamied\u201d, who appointed \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d as the ruler of Egypt. In that year, \u201cIbn Tulun\u201d embarked on building a huge forty \u2013 gate palace, whose all signs are obliterated now, one of the gates was Bab Al Midan\u00a0Al Kabir, which was allotted to the army\u2019s entrance and exit, others were\u00a0Bab Al Khassa, Bab Al Jabal, Bab Al Haram, Bab Al Darmoun and Bab Al Salah,\u00a0\u00a0 from which Ibn Tulun used to go out for praying.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0This palace was a core of Al Qata\u2019I city which was built to be Egypt\u2019s capital (After Fustat and Al Askar), he designed it in the likeness of Samarra city.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Al Qata\u2019I was located in the area between \u201cYashkor\u201d mountain and\u00a0\u201cAl Mokattam\u201d mountain foot, \u201cIbn Tulun\u201d founded it after he found\u00a0Capital Fustat was no longer wide enough for him and his soldiers.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Al Qata\u2019I was called so because every sect of his men assumed a piece of land for itself and named it after its residents and their profession, for example;\u00a0\u201cSudan piece\u201d, \u201cRomans piece\u201d, \u201cSorters\u2019 piece\u201d and so on.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In Al Qata\u2019I, palaces, hospitals, mosques, windmills and bathrooms were built, which all shared in making it a big city. Now, the old Al Qata\u2019I occupies the districts of Al Sayyeda Zeinab, Al Qal\u2019a, Al Darb Al Ahmar and Al Helmya.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He as well ordered a square to be constructed, \u201cAl Kindi\u201d states that \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d ordered\u00a0the cultivation of the Jews and Christians\u2019 graves to construct it.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAl-Maqrizi\u201d mentioned that square, known as \u201cIbn Tulun\u2019s Square\u201d and said:\u00a0\u201cIt was built and was excessively decorated, he maintained climate, made a mercury pond and a golden dome in it. This square was a big one in which musical instruments were played, thus the whole palace was called \u201cThe Square\u201d.\u00a0He founded gates for the square; each was called with a name.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

It cost him fifty thousand dinars.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d and \u201cSaeed Ibn Katib Al Ferghani\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The historians of the Church history state that “Ahmed Ibn Tulun” asked the Coptic engineer, \u201cSaeed ibn Katib Al Ferghani\u201d to construct a canal delivering water to \u201cAl Qata\u2019I\u201d; so, the Coptic engineer constructed a canal which stunned whoever saw it for it was skillfully made. While \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d was riding his horse and wandering around to watch the canal, his horse stumbled in a pile of dust left behind. This made him furious against the Coptic engineer and ordered him to be imprisoned.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Yet, afterwards, he thought to construct a mosque that would be of the greatest constructions in Egypt, he reportedly wanted it:\u00a0\u201cto be affected neither by fire, nor by flood water, if Egypt gets burnt, the mosque shall remain safe, and if Egypt gets overflowed by water, the mosque shall remain safe.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0He also desired to construct it over 300 marble columns, and in order to achieve this, he was told that churches must be destroyed in order to secure such number of columns. When \u201cSaeed Ibn Katib Al Ferghani\u201d about this during his imprisonment, he wrote to \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d telling him he was able to construct the desired mosque using two columns only.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAhmed Ibn Tulun\u201d read the petition of engineer \u201cSaeed\u201d and remembered what he had done before releasing him. He entrusted him with building the mosque according to what he had designed, and he completed the construction in the most magnificent form in 265 AH (878-879 AD). It took two years to be constructed and about one hundred and twenty thousand dinars were expended.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d the ruler of Egypt and the Levant<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In 257 AH (871 AD), \u201cAhmed Ibn Tulun\u201d received a message from the ruler of Egypt, Yarguch, that he had taken over the duties which were outside \u201cFustat\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0He took Alexandria from its ruler then \u201cIshaq Ibn Dinar\u201d and returned to Egypt. Some said that “Isaac” had well received \u201cIbn Tulun\u201d, so \u201cIbn Tulun\u201d assigned him to be the ruler of Alexandria. And thus, \u201cAhmed Ibn Tulun\u201d, the ruler of Egypt, had the upper hand of all aspects except for collecting taxes, which continued to be done by \u201cAhmad Ibn Al Mudabber\u201d. In 259 AH (872-873 AD), Yarguch, on whom behalf \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d ruled Egypt, died. So, the Caliph \u201cAl Mu\u2019tamied\u201d assigned \u201cIbn Tulun\u201d as a governor, and hence he became the ruler of Egypt directly assigned by the Caliphate. For that, historians deem that year the founding year of the Tulunid State in Egypt, in the same year, \u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d received a letter from Caliph \u201cAl Mu\u2019tamied\u201d, ordering him to send tax money. \u201cIbn Tulun\u201d replied that he could not do so, as he was not the one in charge but rather\u00a0\u201cIbn Al Mudabber\u201d. The Caliph then sent him a servant to charge him with collecting taxes in Egypt, as well as ruling the Levant ports, and thus,\u00a0\u201cAhmad Ibn Tulun\u201d was handed over the ruling of Egypt and the Levant.<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Mosque of Yashkor Mountain<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In the same year, \u201cIbn Tulun\u201d ordered a mosque to be constructed on Yashkor Mountain and named \u201cIllumination Mosque\u201d, as fire were set in the mosque minaret at night in order to lead people to their way.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Reportedly, the location of the mosque was specialized for setting fire during the age of Pharaoh of Egypt upon his departure, so he could prepare what he needed.<\/span><\/h2>\n

And\u2026 Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt\u2026!<\/span><\/h2>\n

General Bishop<\/span><\/h2>\n

Head of Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0How difficult do words become when we use their letters to form an image of our grief and suffering! How tough is it when we try to use them in order to relief people\u2019s grief and suffering!! Yet, we have nothing but raising our hands and hearts to God so He would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":19638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[10775,6391,6389,14114,10096,682],"class_list":["post-52861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-al-qatai-city","tag-almasry-alyoum","tag-beautiful-egypt","tag-14114","tag-10096","tag-682"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52861"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54870,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52861\/revisions\/54870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}