Skip to content
Conflict Middle East

Fatimid Conquest of Egypt

969 CE – 973 CE · 4 years

The Fatimid general Jawhar conquered Egypt and founded Cairo (al-Qahira, 'the Victorious') as the new Fatimid capital. This established the Shia Fatimid Caliphate as a major Mediterranean power rivaling the Abbasids and Byzantines.

See it on the timeline

Wikipedia

The opening of the article, and a way into the rest of it without leaving the site.

Fatimid conquest of Egypt on Wikipedia.

Read the article Open on Wikipedia ↗

Belligerents

The main peoples, kingdoms and states involved.

  • Fatimid Caliphate
  • Abbasid-aligned Ikhshidid Egypt

Key moments

Defining events in the Fatimid Conquest of Egypt.

  1. 969 Fatimid invasion of Egypt
  2. 969 Founding of Cairo
  3. 970–973 Pacification of Upper Egypt

Elsewhere in Middle East at the time

Records whose own span overlaps this one, found by the same test the canvas draws with. The bar under each card is where it sits inside this one.

See the whole view

Landmark · Middle East

Al-Azhar Mosque

970 CE – still standing

Polity · Middle East

Egypt

Attested 3000 BCE – 2026 CE

Trade route · Middle East

Mediterranean Southern Route

331 BCE – 1500 CE

Landmark · Middle East

Great Pyramid of Giza

2560 BCE – still standing

Polity · Middle East

Persia

Attested 400 CE – 1914 CE

Trade route · Middle East

Maritime Silk Road – Red Sea Branch

200 BCE – 1500 CE

Landmark · Middle East

Petra

300 BCE – still standing

Polity · Middle East

Hadramaut

Attested 323 BCE – 1700 CE

Dated moments inside this span

Events the timeline places between 969 CE and 973 CE.

970 CE Al-Azhar Mosque

And in the rest of the world

Records running through the same years, on the other side of the map.

Grand Canyon Landmark · Americas 3000 BCE – still standing Western Chalukyas Polity · South Asia 973 CE – 1189 CE Mesoamerican Trade Network Trade route · Americas 1200 BCE – 1521 CE Byzantine–Arab Wars Conflict · Europe 629 CE – 1180 CE Hai Gaon Figure · Babylonia (modern Iraq) 939 CE – 1038 CE Great Barrier Reef Landmark · Oceania 3000 BCE – still standing
Image credits6 pictures from Wikimedia Commons