Download PDF | Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and Its Culture, By Doris Behrens-Abouseif, I.B. Tauris, 2007.
384 Pages
In 1961 the Egyptian scholar and polymath Husayn Fawzi published his book Sindbad Misri. It was immediately a great success. The Sindbad of this book is the author, who travels through Egypt's long history in search of the Egyptian identity, all the while asking himself which period is the one closest to his heart? His answer is the Mamluk period. Having grown up in the Jamaliyya quarter, in the heart of medieval Cairo, with its Mamluk monuments brought to life in the histories of Maqrizi, Suyuti and Ibn Iyas, he felt most at home in that era of Egypt's history.
There hojas among his own people. Despite the cruelty, extortion, dirt, smells, epidemics and other dark aspects of medieval life, when seen from the distance of history, Mamluk Cairo is, according to Husayn Fawzi, a city that offers many pleasures to the common man. From Cairo an empire that embraced Asia Minor, Libya, Nubia and Arabia was ruled and efficiently governed. People from the most exotic and remote places came there to pursue their careers and earn a living. It was a centre of scholarship, commerce and art, where books and beautiful things were produced.
With its recreation venues, a profusion of celebrations, amusements, waterfront fes- tivities, glamorous processions and parades, music and poetry, Cairo was a brilliant and bustling metropolis that maintained its Mamluk identity even after four centuries of Ottoman rule. Cairo of the Mamluks is a homage to Sindbad's choice. I dedicate it to the memory of my father, who opened my eyes on Sindbad.
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