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Al-‘Aziz bi’llah Abu Mansur Nizar b. Abu Tamim Ma‘add al-Mu‘izz li-Din Allah (955–996 CE), the fifth Fatimid imam-caliph was the first sovereign of his dynasty to begin his rule in Egypt. Al- ‘Aziz’s reign epitomises the cultural, intellectual and architectural efflorescence of Fatimid rule in Egypt. It also established the Fatimids as a vibrant Mediterranean Empire, pursuing trade, diplomacy and warfare with their Byzantine, ‘Abbasid and Andalusian Umayyad counterparts.

This essay explores the architectural history of Jerusalem in the Abbasid (751– 970) and Fatimid (970– 1036) periods. Compared to the time of the Umayyads (661– 750), Abbasid-era Jerusalem was characterized by a caliphal disinterest in the monuments of the holy city. However, it also saw growth in the identification between local populations and their respective religious monuments. This contest over sacred space culminated under the Fatimid dynasty, in the cataclysmic reign of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (r.