A Muslim-Christian Heterarchy in 12th-Century Cairo

In 1103 C.E. the newly elected Coptic patriarch Abā Maqāra rode in a procession to the residence of the Fatimid vizier al-Afḍal in al-Qāhira, where a ceremonial reception took place. Both men represented entangled political groups of interest, and this moment can be taken as an equilibrium of power between the city’s Muslims and Christians. At least, the main document about the event evokes this impression: being part of the official historiography of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church, this text is an element of political negotiations and semantics too. Carole Crumley’s approach of a dynamic interplay between hierarchy and heterarchy can be a tool for better understanding this historic moment and for illuminating its complex sociocultural and spatial constructions. On the one hand, the Christians’ status was shaped by the strict ranking of the ḏimma-law. On the other hand, Cairo was like other urban settlements under Muslim rule: at least in some aspects an heir of the antique polis representing several groups of interest.