The Mosque of al-Guyushi, the Armenian Fatamid general and vizier Badr al-Jamali (Mashhad of al-Guyu
The Mosque of al-Guyushi, the Armenian Fatamid general and vizier Badr al-Jamali (Mashhad of al-Guyushi) Cairo, Egypt. Badr al-Jamali another earlier Armenian Fatimid general and vizier (1074–1094), influenced Egyptian political life as well as religious life. Badr also held the honored title, “The Great Master, Prince of Armies”. He is notable for having rebuilt al-Qahira’s (Cairo) defenses. Badr cooperated with Coptic patriarch Cyril II (1078–1092) in order to solve church internal problems. In addition, the Armenian vizier was involved with Nubian politics. King Salomon of Nubia abdicated his throne to his nephew and moved to live an ascetic life in Egypt. Later Salomon was transferred to a state residence and treated in a friendly way by Badr. The vizier’s interests reached also towards Ethiopia. He sought the rebuilding of mosques for its Muslim inhabitants and wanted an assurance of safe conduct for caravans. Mosques destroyed by Ethiopian Christians were restored with the help of money passed by Badr, and also thanks to the cooperation of Archbishop Sawiros, who was consecrated by Cyril II as the metropolitan bishop of Ethiopia. Unfortunately, despite dispatching two additional bishops to that country, merchants from Egypt apparently remained subject to pillage in Ethiopia. Except for fragmented references such as these, very little is known about the Armenian communities in Egypt during the Fatimid period. Bloody events after the fall of Bahram point towards dispersal of the Armenian population also towards the south. Taking into account the number of Armenians in Egypt being at least 30,000, it is reasonable to assume that at least some percentage of that population, including merchants and craftsmen, were interested in developing new avenues for trade and employment, and that they were looking toward the opportunities in Nubia and Ethiopia, both being Christian and ideologically friendly miaphysitic territories. SOURCE: - Dictionary of Islamic Architecture, A. Petersen, p.28 - Examples of Armenian Presence and Contacts in Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia From 5th to 16th Century by Halina Walatek McKenney, Series Byzantina IX. -- source link