Islamic archaeology. Hand of a dead body, over 1000 years old, from the Al-Fustat necropolis in Cairo, Egypt, where members of the Fatimid dynasty wer
Islamic archaeology. Hand of a dead body, over 1000 years old, from the Al-Fustat necropolis in Cairo, Egypt, where members of the Fatimid dynasty were buried. The Fatimids, a Shiite Muslim dynasty that ruled a large North African empire from 909 to 1171, founded a new capital city of Al-Qahira (Cairo) in 972. Some of the bodies in Cairo were brought from the previous capital in Tunisia. Many of the bodies are well-preserved, having mummified naturally. Skin and tiraz fabric is seen here. The bodies have been exhumed as part of research that is using genetic analysis to study the origins of the Fatimids, including family relationships, and to explain why some of them had blond hair.
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Photo credit: © PASCAL GOETGHELUCK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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