Description
This book argues that the historic city we know as Medieval Cairo was created in the nineteenth century by both Egyptians and Europeans against a background of four overlapping political and cultural contexts: the local Egyptian, Anglo-Egyptian, Anglo-Indian, and Ottoman imperial milieux. Addressing the interrelated topics of empire, local history, religion, and transnational heritage, historian Paula Sanders shows how Cairo's architectural heritage became canonized in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The book also explains why and how the city assumed its characteristically Mamluk appearance and situates the activities of the European-dominated architectural preservation committee (known as the Comite) within the history of religious life in nineteenth-century Cairo. Offering fresh perspectives and keen historical analysis, this volume examines the unacknowledged colonial legacy that continues to inform the practice of and debates over preservation in Cairo.
How politics and culture shaped the preservation of historic Cairo
About the Author
Paula Sanders is vice provost for academic affairs, dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies, and professor of history at Rice University. She is the author of Ritual, Politics, and the City in Fatimid Cairo. She has published articles in the fields of medieval Islamic history and historiography, gender, and the history of conservation in Cairo.
Reviews
"In many areas it breaks new ground, asks new questions, and gives a far more sophisticated, nuanced presentation of preservation and conservation issues for Egypt than I have seen elsewhere.... [C]overs familiar territory in a totally new manner." - Jere Bacharach, University of Washington"
Book Information
ISBN 9789774160950
Author Paula Sanders
Format Hardback
Page Count 232
Imprint The American University in Cairo Press
Publisher The American University in Cairo Press
Weight(grams) 626g