The Fatimids: Portrait of a Dynasty

A concise history of the enormously powerful and influential Shi’i caliphate.

The Fatimids (909-1171) built an empire that included North Africa, Egypt, and parts of Sicily, Syria, Palestine, and Arabia. Theirs is the only Muslim dynasty known by a woman’s name, Fatima, the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter. The Fatimids promoted women to unprecedented positions of authority and visibility in Islamic history. From Cairo, which they founded in 969, this Shi’i dynasty fostered cultural and artistic excellence as well as cultural tolerance and prosperity across the empire. Drawing on a wealth of historical sources, the book tells both the historical and ongoing influence of the Fatimids on global culture.

Delia Cortese is a senior research fellow of Middlesex University, London. Her books include Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam.