Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Barbara L. Carter, The Copts in Egyp-

tian Politics (London: Croom Helm, 1986); Jill Kamil, 

Coptic Egypt: History and Guide (Cairo: American Uni-

versity in Cairo Press, 1987); Otto F. A. Meinardus, Two 

Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity (Cairo: American 

University in Cairo Press, 1999); John Watson, Among 

the Copts (Brighton, U.K.: Sussex Academic Press, 

2000).

Cordoba

 

(Córdoba, Cordova)

Cordoba is a large city that was once the leading 

center of Muslim political power and culture in 

a

ndalUsia

 in medieval Spain. It is located on the 

banks of the Guadalquivir River, which flows 

between the Sierra Morena range to the north 

and the Sierra Nevada range to the south before 

it enters the Atlantic Ocean. Its location has made 

it an important center of commerce since ancient 

times. The Romans seized and colonized it in 

the second century 

b

.

c

.

e

. and ruled it until they 

were replaced by Germanic invaders from central 

Europe, who controlled it for most of the time 

between the fifth and eighth centuries 

c

.

e

. It sur-

rendered to Muslim armies from North Africa in 

711 and achieved the height of its greatness dur-

ing the reign of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Rah-

man III (r. 912–961). It is estimated to have had 

about 300,000 inhabitants at that time, making it 

the largest city in medieval e

Urope

. Medieval Arab 

historians remembered Cordoba as “the bride of 

al-Andalus,” and even Hroswitha (d. ca. 1002), a 

Christian nun in Germany, called it “the ornament 

of the world.” After the 10th century, its fortunes 

declined because of political strife, and it finally 

fell to the armies of the Christian Reconquista in 

1236. Today its population still stands at about 

300,000, and it serves as the capital of the Spanish 

province of the same name.

Islamicate Cordoba’s most famous architec-

tural landmarks were its grand 

mosqUe

 and pal-

ace cities. The mosque is thought to have been 

founded on the site of an ancient church by prince 

Abd al-Rahman I (r. 756–788), the last surviving 

member of the Umayyad dynasty of s

yria

 that had 

been massacred by the Abbasids in 750. By the 

10th century, it had become the largest mosque 

The Virgin Mary Coptic Church in Zamalek, Cairo, also 

called the Maraashly Church 

(Juan E. Campo)