Browse Items (172 total)

A pre-revolutionary primer on Egypt's struggle to keep up its rich Islamic heritage while attending, unsuccesfully, to the economic and political needs of its…

Independent, large in area, and durable, Mamluk Cairo ruled Egypt, Syria, and the Hegaz from AD1249 until the Ottoman conquest of AD1517. Until after Napoleon's expedition, Istanbul relied for the administration, tax collecting, and military control…

Sayyida Ruqqaya is the daughter of 'Ali, husband of Fatima, the Messenger's daughter. The 'Alid cult that Christian vizier Badr al-Gamali elevated (and a modern version of which today operates her shrine) revered Ruqqaya as a blood relative of…

These monuments enshrine ahl al-bayt (al-ashraf), or members of the family of the Messenger. The entombed were not Shi'a, since the distinction between Shi'a and Sunni was not so clearly cut at the time of the burials. Nor are Shi'a…

The Masged Gumm'aa and Madrasa of Sultan Hasan is as Egyptian as are the pyramids or, better said, as Egyptian as is the obelisk. It is indeed the work of a polyglot building crew, commissioned by a monarch of Kipchak Turk ancestry, ruling on behalf…

The Complex was constructed fast, as is usual for Mamluki monuments, in two years, Ad1472-1474. As the first of the Sultan's architectural works, he gave four years thought to it. He had also seen the other, earlier other complexes. Like the others,…

The minaret appears short and simple, elegantly served its purpose, decorated only with a muqarna cornice. the placement so close to the midan wall insures its visibility. That simplicity permits the midan-facing dome and walls to dominate the…

Al-Ashraf Salah id-Diin Khalil ibn Qalawun was sultan from AD1290-1293. He was the first of Qalawun's sons to hold the sultanate, but was designated successor only at his brother as-Salih's unexpected death in AD1288. Al-Ashraf Khalil began…

Shagarat id-Durr was the last female ruler of Egypt, the last woman to exercise personal, direct control over the state and nation. Given the current condition of masrayya in society and in Arab Republic politics, and today's larger questions…

Gamal id-Diin id-Dhahabi was no great warrior. He was a canny, successful merchant trading in precious metals and in smithing them. "Dhababi" is Arabic for "gold." He was good enough at his job to become chief of the Ottoman goldsmith's…