Al-Qasr: Reading a City through its Foundation Texts

The first comprehensive reference work to gather the inscriptions of the town of al-Qasr and to document the history of this important region — affirming, on the one hand, the singularity of the place, and on the other, the distinctive character of Arabic calligraphy, especially after some of the inscriptions on the lintels of its houses had been lost. The writings of al-Qasr constitute a distinct school of Arabic calligraphy — and of jali thuluth in particular — that fashioned for itself a defined style well worth documenting, for it offers a picture of the provincial calligraphic styles that prevailed in Egypt during the Ottoman period. The book falls into two parts: the first documents civil foundation texts on the lintels of houses, gateways, and mills; the second documents the foundation inscriptions on shrines and mausoleums.