Fatimid art refers to Islamic artifacts and architecture from the Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171), principally in Egypt and North Africa. The Fatimid Caliphate was initially established in the Mahgreb, with its roots in a ninth-century Shia Ismailist religious movement originating in Iraq and Iran. Many monuments survive in the Fatimid cities founded in North Africa, starting with Mahdia, on the Tunisian coast, the principal city prior to the conquest of Egypt in 969 and the building of al-Qahira, the "City Victorious", now part of modern day Cairo. The period was marked by a prosperity amongst the upper echelons, manifested in the creation of opulent and finely wrought objects in the decorative arts, including carved rock crystal, lustreware and other ceramics, wood and ivory carving, gold j