Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in Africa. Located on both banks of the Nile River near the head of the river's delta in northern Egypt, the site has been settled for more than 6000 years and has served as the capital of numerous Egyptian civilizations. Cairo is known locally as Misr, the Arabic name for Egypt itself, because of its centrality in Egyptian life. Cairo is marked by the traditions and influences of the East and the West, the ancient and the modern. Egyptian history is displayed and preserved in the city's numerous museum collections. Founded in 1902, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo contains hundreds of thousands of works, including more than 1700 pieces from the collection of Tutankhamun; the Museum of Islamic Arts (1881) contains a vast collection relating to early Islamic civilization; and the Coptic Museum (1910) traces the history of the Coptic community in Egypt. Other Cairo museums maintain collections relating to more modern themes; these range from the Al Gawhara Palace Museum, built in 1811 in the Ottoman style, to the Mahmoud Khalil Museum, founded in 1963, which contains works by Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Peter Paul Rubens, and other European and Egyptian painters of renown. Cairo's rich cultural life is further enhanced by local theater, cinema, dance, and music, in addition to the city's vibrant community of journalists and fiction writers; The origins of the site of present-day Cairo can be traced back to the Egyptian capital of Memphis, which is believed to have been founded in the early 4th millennium BC near the head of the Nile delta, south of the present city. The city spread to the north along the east bank of the Nile, and its location has commanded political power ever since. It was there that the Romans constructed their city called Babylon. The site was later called Al Fustat by Muslim Arabs who immigrated there from the Arabian Peninsula in AD 641. When a dissident branch of Muslims known as the Fatimids conquered Egypt in 969, they established their headquarters in the city and called it Al Qahira (Cairo). In the 12th century Christian Crusaders attacked Cairo, but they were defeated by a Muslim army from Syria, led by Saladin, who founded the Ayyubid dynasty in the city. The Mamluks established their capital in Cairo in the 13th century, and the city became renowned throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe.