Fustat

Fustat was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, founded in the seventh century where the army of the Arab conquest camped beside the Nile. It grew into a major commercial city before being eclipsed by the later foundation of Cairo to its north. Today its site is a sprawling archaeological zone of excavated foundations, kilns and cisterns beside the mosque of its founder. Long a center of pottery and glass production, the area preserves the earliest layers of the city's Islamic history.