Qusayr, al-
QUSAYR, AL-
Historic Egyptian port on the Red Sea.
The town al-Qusayr in Egypt on the Red Sea is located slightly north of the twenty-sixth parallel, and linked to the Nile by a trade route to Qina. The site has been in use since pharaonic times and served as a port of embarkation for Muslim pilgrims to Mecca. It was a major commercial center in Mamluk and early Ottoman Empire times and experienced a revival under Muhammad Ali, but the pilgrimage traffic was diverted to Suez after the canal was built (1859-1869), eclipsing its importance.
Bibliography
Garcin, J. "Kusayr." Encyclopedia of Islam, new edition, Vol. V, edited by C. E. Bosworth, B. Lewis, E. van Donzel, and C. Pellat. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1979.
Meyer, Carol. Glass from Quseir Al-Qadim and the Indian Ocean Trade. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
arthur goldschmidt
updated by donald malcolm reid