Towards a Cultural History of the Mamluk Era

The nineteen articles gathered in this volume were presented at a conference on the cultural history of Mamluk Egypt and Syria, jointly sponsored by the Orient-Institut Beirut and the University of Balamand in May 2005. The authors of these studies break new ground, delving into diverse topics seldom examined in Mamluk studies, bringing new approaches to familiar subjects, and employing sources rarely used by historians of the Sultanate.
The first part of the volume, the papers of which served, to a great extent, as the heart of the conference proceedings, examines interaction between the diverse religious communities of Syria and Egypt and the state establishment. The second part, divided into three sections, concerns production in the visual arts, the sciences, and literature, shedding new light on Mamluk society and on the variety of its artistic production and intellectual vitality. The third and last part of the volume deals with the cultural contexts of political practice and social interaction, including studies on the relations between the Mamluk elite and the indigenous population, state institutions, and gender relations. Together these studies offer fresh insight into the cultural diversity and unity of the Mamluk period.
This volume, which includes articles in Arabic, French and English, will be a welcome addition to the libraries of historians of the Mamluk Sultanate, as well as a useful resource for scholars of the history of architecture, art, literature, religion, and science.