Fatimid Caliphate · 909-1171

The Fatimids found Cairo

A Shia dynasty from North Africa conquered Egypt and built a new capital: al-Qahira, Cairo. Students explore Fatimid Cairo, al-Azhar and the trade that made Egypt rich, in a world with three rival caliphs.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1000
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

A Shia dynasty from North Africa conquered Egypt and built a new capital: al-Qahira, Cairo. Students explore Fatimid Cairo, al-Azhar and the trade that made Egypt rich, in a world with three rival caliphs.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Fatimid Caliphate and its rivals on the map in 1000.
  • Describe how and why the Fatimids founded Cairo and al-Azhar.
  • Explain why Egypt's position made it rich from trade.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1000

From Ifriqiya to Egypt

Open the map in 1000. Find the Fatimid Caliphate. Where in North Africa did it begin, and how far east does it reach?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1000

The Victorious City

Zoom in on Cairo with the Cities layer on. The Fatimids built al-Qahira, "the Victorious", in 969 next to the older town of Fustat. Why build a new city beside an old one?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1000

Three caliphs

Open Stories, start The Islamic Caliphates and go to the step "Three caliphates", 1000. Name the three cities whose rulers each claimed to be caliph.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Fatimids were Shia and claimed descent from Fatima, the Prophet's daughter. Why did that make them rivals of the Abbasids in Baghdad?
  2. Al-Azhar, founded in 970-972, still teaches students today. Why do some institutions last more than 1,000 years?
  3. Cairo grew rich from trade between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Look at the map: why is Egypt in the perfect spot?
  4. Hundreds of thousands of old letters and papers were found stored in a synagogue in Old Cairo. What could such letters tell us about daily life?
  5. Around 1000 there were three rival caliphs. Did that weaken or strengthen the Islamic world?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Saladin, who ended the Fatimid caliphate in 1171 and ruled Egypt from Cairo. Discuss: why did Saladin switch Egypt's loyalty back to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.