Right after reblogging that post about medieval high rises in Yemen, I came across this passage from Nasir Khusrow’s account of his journey to Egypt in the eleventh century:
Looking at Old Cairo from a distance, because of the way it is situated, you would think it’s a mountain. There are places where the houses are fourteen stories tall and others seven. I heard from a reliable source that one person has on top of a seven-story house a garden where he raised a calf. He also has a waterwheel up there turned by this ox to lift water from a well down below. He has orange trees and also bananas and other fruit bearing trees, flowers, and herbs planted on the roof.
And here’s Muqaddasi on Cairo, about a century earlier:
Their buildings are of four stories or five, just as are lighthouses; the light enters them from a central area. I have heard it said that about 200 people live in one building.
I shouldn’t be surprised that people in crowded cities built up, but reading this feels jarring in a way that makes me realize how many preconceptions I still have about the Middle Ages, and how much we don’t know (and probably never will) about how people in the past actually lived.
the cayuga duck is a heavyset domestic duck breed descending from the mallard, originating in new york. the breed originated for meat and egg production, and is characterized by its black feathers that shine glossy green in light.
