 Cairo was intended as a royal enclosure for the Fatimid caliph and his army, though the actual administrative and economic capital of Egypt was in cities such as Fustat until 1169.After Egypt, the Fatimids continued to conquer surrounding areas until they ruled from Tunisia to Syria and even crossed the Mediterranean into Sicily and southern Italy.Under the Fatimids, Egypt became the center of an empire that included at its peak North Africa, Sicily, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, the Red Sea coast of Africa, Yemen and the Hejaz.