The architectural patronage of the Fāṭimid queen-mother Durzān (d. 385/995): an interdisciplinary analysis of literary sources, material evidence and historical context
This paper on Fāṭimid female architectural patronage is divided into two parts. The first contains an analysis of the link between historical sources and epigraphic evidence, the second interprets such evidence in the light of the political and economic climates in which such patronage took place. The figure this paper focuses on is Durzān. She was the consort of the Fāṭimid imam-caliph al-Mu‘izz (r. 341-365/953-975) and mother of his successor, the imam-caliph al-‘Azīz (r. 365-386/975-996) and the first and most prolific of the Fāṭimid patronesses
