Fostat (also spelled Fustat; Arabic: الفسطاط) was the first capital city of Egypt under Arab rule. It was built by Amr ibn al-As right after the Arab conquest of Egypt. It was later overtaken by Cairo, which was built to the north of Fostat during the Fatimid reign. Fostat is now part of the 'Old Egypt' District in Cairo. The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ... Amr ibn al-Ās (Arabic: عمرو بن العاص) (d. ... Modern Cairo Cairo (Arabic: ‎ translit: ) is the capital city of Egypt (and previously the United Arab Republic) and has a metropolitan area population of approximately 15. ... The Fatimids or Fatimid Caliphate (Arabic الفاطميون) is the Ismaili Shiite dynasty that ruled much of North Africa from A.D. 5 January 910 to 1171. ...

It is featured in Amitav Ghosh's "In an Antique Land". You can also get valuable and interesting information about Misr al-Fustat in Janet Abu-Lughod's book from 1998 - Cairo, The City Victorious. Amitav Ghosh (born 1956 in Calcutta), is an Indian author, known for his work in the English language. ...