User:Incennative23/Tennis, Egypt

Article Draft

Tennis or Tinnis (Egyptian Arabic: تنيس‎, Coptic: ⲑⲉⲛⲛⲉⲥⲓ) was a medieval city in Egypt which no longer exists. It was most prosperous from the 9^th century to the 11^th century until its abandonment. It was located at 31°12′N 32°14′E, on an island in Lake Manzala, southwest of Port Said.

Tinnis was an island city on the Eastern part of the Nile River Delta of Egypt . Its city was protected by a wall that had four surrounding suburbs. Each one had different functions such as the suburb to the west that held the arsenal and the Governor’s palace, and the suburb to the north holding the mosques, churches, and prayer places. Tinnīs also had a complex water carrying system, in which the west, south, and east suburbs all had waterwheels to carry fresh water to cisterns and bathhouses among the city. The water of the Nile was only potable during certain times of the year, mainly the summer, which required them to collect the pure water in cisterns for use throughout the year.

Pistachio colored textile from Tinnīs that is decorated with Arabic text in gold.

Tinnis had a prosperous market, with numerous large markets for merchants. There were over 2,500 shops, with 150 shops that specialized in textiles. Tinnīs had five-thousand weaving looms, which employed over ten thousand workers. Special textiles were also made such as woven gilded clothes, velvet, and silken cloth embroidered with gold, would be used for numerous applications, including as headdresses, sofas, chairs, canopies, and curtains.

Food Supply

Fishing was a large part of the culture, as it provided majority of the city’s food supply . They had various boats, including fishing boats, shrimp-catchers boats, and carp-catchers boats of all sizes that would gather several types of fish like perch, catfish, eel, crab, herring, dolphins, tuna, or shark. There would also be boats were dedicated to catching birds, which could be consumed or exported. These birds were presumptively migrating, which allowed for them to be plump. Some of the birds that were caught included bats, robins, turtledoves, cranes, Egyptian vultures, geese, crows, owls, duck, and pelicans. The people of Tinnis also relief on grains throughout the year, including wheat, barley, and legumes. There were 160 mills that were used to grind, husk, and knead the grains throughout the year.

Culture and Entertainment

           Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Salim, who was a market inspector in Tinnīs noted that the city had healthy air which allowed for its inhabitants to have fine and pleasant lives. The people of Tīnnis were known to be generous and wholesome companions, who were very satisfied with their life without hardship. The joy and happiness throughout the city were also generated from listening to music and traveling. People in Tinnīs would entertain themselves through creative activities such as painting, drawing, embroidery, or dyeing textiles. They would also travel when possible and were known to be very friendly to other travelers and outsiders.

Religion

The people of Tinnīs primarily practiced Islam, with 167 prayer areas and mosques with minarets reported around the city. There were also 72 churches that were used by Christians in Tinnīs. However, they were persecuted under al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in 1012-1013. The churches were then destroyed and replaced with mosques.