Būlāq was, during its long history, the northern of the two river ports of Cairo: it served vessels to and from the north, including Lower Egypt and the Mediterranean ports, while the southern port, Miṣr al-Qadīma, served vessels to and from Upper Egypt. Until the modern period, Būlāq was separated from Cairo by approximately two to three kilometres of agricultural fields. Būlāq was founded in about the seventh/thirteenth century. It emerged when the Fāṭimid port of al-Maqs was rendered unusable by the deposition of alluvium; its origins