High Middle Ages · Middle East · Religion

1017

Al-Hakim's persecutions intensify in Egypt

1017

The Fatimid caliph, whose edicts had already ordered the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre, imposed increasingly bizarre restrictions on Christians and Jews in Cairo: banning certain foods, forbidding women from leaving their homes, and ordering the slaughter of all dogs in the city. His behavior bewildered even his own courtiers and deepened sectarian tensions across the caliphate.