Thesis advisor: Sheila S. Blair / The field of Mamluk art and architectural history is well developed but there has been a tendency to discuss objects apart from their architectural contexts. My research seeks to explore the relationship between Mamluk objects, furnishings, and fittings attached to particular foundations in Cairo, The aim of this study is to examine the dialogue between design elements in different media and explore their aesthetic and functional relationship to their surroundings. This will give insight into how designs are transferred across media, and how architecture acted as a meeting place for a variety of artistic disciplines. The study will also investigate the merits and limitations of such an approach, and the effects the removal of Mamluk objects from their context has on our perception of them. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Middle Eastern Studies.

The Mamluk period was the most exuberant in Egypt. It lasted from 1250 to 1517, a short period of only 267 years but highly dynamic in art and architecture. No historian has given a documented and defendable reason for this rise yet many spoke of the origins of the Mamluks in Eastern Europe, Anatolia, and the Caucus. Their excellence in design was directly related to the diversity of their population in Egypt and Syria but more specifically in Cairo. A new aesthetic developed in their art and architecture and became uniquely Mamluk. It was a culmination of design influences coming from as far away as Persepolis in the East and al-Andalus in the West. Good trade relations with Catalonia played an important role in the transmission of design ideas and the prosperity of the Mamluks. The doctorate thesis is a study of the sources of Islamic design in several regions and their development. It analyzes examples from the pre-Islamic, Islamic and post-Islamic periods to show how design shared inspirational sources. It traces the aesthetics of Islamic architecture, using twentieth century Spain as a case study, to show how this affected the development of modern and contemporary architecture. / El període Mameluc era el més exuberant a Egipte. Va durar des·de 1250-1517, un curt període de només 267 anys, però molt dinàmic en l'art i l'arquitectura. Cap historiador ha donat una raó documentada i defensable per aquest augment però molts van parlar dels orígens dels mamelucs a Europa de l'Est, Anatòlia i el Caucus. La seva excel·lència en el disseny estava directament relacionada amb la diversitat de la seva població a Egipte i Síria, però més específicament al Caire. Una nova estètica desenvolupada en el seu art i arquitectura, i va esdevenir únic mameluc. Va ser la culminació d'influències de disseny procedents de llocs tan llunyans com Persépolis a l'est i al-Andalus a l'Oest. Les bones relacions comercials amb Catalunya van exercir un paper important en la transmissió de les idees del disseny i la prosperitat dels mamelucs. La tesi doctoral és un estudi de les fonts de disseny islàmic en diverses regions i el seu desenvolupament. S'analitzen exemples dels períodes pre-islàmic, islàmic i post-islàmic per mostrar com el disseny comparteix fonts d'inspiració. Traça l'estètica de l'arquitectura islàmica, amb l'Espanya del segle XX com un estudi de cas, per mostrar com va afectar al desenvolupament de l'arquitectura moderna i contemporània.

This study seeks to contribute to a growing discussion about Islamic intellectual endeavours in the Middle Periods, providing new evidence from the genre of anti-innovation tracts (anti-bid‘a tracts) that has hitherto received relatively little modern scholarly attention. Specifically, this thesis examines tradition and innovation in Islam during the Mamluk period (648/1250 – 922/1517) through the lens of two jurists and their anti-innovation tracts. Ibn al-Ḥājj (d. 737/1336) was a Mālikī from North Africa who wrote Madkhal al-shar‘ al-sharīf. Ibn al-Naḥḥās (d. 814/1411), by contrast, was a Shāfi‘ī (and former Ḥanafī) from Damascus, who wrote a tract contained within his Tanbīh al-ghāfilīn, a work concerned with the duty of commanding right and forbidding wrong, and with naming and briefly discussing various sins and innovations. Ibn al-Ḥājj’s and Ibn al-Naḥḥās’ anti-innovation tracts are studied here for the first time in their own right, together with English translations of representative passages of their work that allow the reader to gain a direct impression of them. In addition to this, this thesis makes three unique arguments. First, anti-innovation tracts should be read as prescriptive yet flexible examples of furū‘. Second, the authors of the tracts investigated here, Ibn al-Ḥājj and Ibn al-Naḥḥās, were both ‘outsiders’ to Mamluk Egypt, who used this genre to define and regulate correct Muslim practices, in less formal ways that were both new and continuous with earlier thinking. Ibn al-Ḥājj’s programme - urging fledgling scholars, in almost encyclopaedic fashion, to know about and teach against innovative practices - was more important for him than addressing the topics of intention and innovation that feature in the full title of his work. Ibn al-Naḥḥās is an interestingly obscure figure. In an abbreviated and direct style, he urged non-specialists in Mamluk lands to censure innovations, and even to prevent them. Third, Ibn al-Ḥājj and Ibn al-Naḥḥās conceived of loyalty to their legal school in ways that require us to expand the terms of modern scholarly debates about such loyalty. This study contributes to the relatively recent, and fast-growing, literature on the Mamluk period in general, and its legal literature in particular. It supports a recent perspective on the Mamluk period, by illustrating the continuity and evolution of legal thinking during this period, which is both predicated upon, and differs substantially from, earlier periods of Islamic history. and deserves study in its own right.

Lors des fouilles archéologiques menées le long de la muraille médiévale du Caire, entreprises par l'organisationAga Khan Cultural Services et l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale entre 2000 et 2009, une importantequantité de céramiques a été mise au jour. L'objectif de cette étude est de caractériser les productions decéramiques communes et glaçurées et d'établir une chrono-typologie de ces céramiques de l'époque fatimide (finXe siècle) au début de l'époque ottomane (début XVIe siècle), à partir des données fournies par le terrain. Dansune première partie, sont décrits les contextes archéologiques dont proviennent les céramiques, puis, sontdéfinis les différents types de pâtes. Il a semblé nécessaire de présenter également une sélection d'assemblagespour chaque période, bien calés chronologiquement grâce à l'analyse stratigraphique du terrain. La partessentielle de ce travail constitue la seconde partie, présentée sous la forme d'un catalogue morphologique de lacéramique commune et des productions de céramiques glaçurées locales et importées. Cette classification estorganisée de manière chronologique et complétée d'éventuelles comparaisons avec d'autres sites. La troisièmepartie est consacrée à l'évolution chronologique et à la proportion de chaque forme et et de chaque productionglaçurée ainsi qu'aux caractéristiques générales de la céramique pour chaque époque (fatimide, ayyoubide etmamelouke). Un développement plus particulier concerne certaines productions, locales ou importées, qui lesrelie, lorsque cela était possible, à un contexte historique, sociologique ou économique. / During the archaeological excavations along the medieval walls of Cairo, undertaken by Aga Khan CulturalServices and the French Institut of Oriental Archeology in Cairo between 2000 and 2009, a large amount ofpottery has been discovered. The purpose of this study is to characterize the production of the coarse and glazedpottery, and to establish a chrono-typolology of these ceramics from the Fatimid period (late tenth century) to thebeginning of the Ottoman period (early sixteenth century), with the data provided by the site. In the first part, thearcheological contexts of the ceramics are described then, the different types of paste are defined. It seemednecessary too to present a selection of layers for each period dated thanks to the stratigraphic analysis of thesite. The essential part of this work is the second part, presented as a morphological catalogue of commonceramics and the production of local and imported glazed ceramics. This classification is organizedchronologically and supplemented with possible comparisons on other sites. The third part is devoted to thechronological development and the proportion of each shape and each production of glazed ware as well as tothe general characteristics of ceramics for each period (Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk). A more specific part dealswith certain productions, local or imported, which connects them, when possible, to as historical, sociological oreconomic context.

This dissertation explores the emergence of a golden age of Arabic encyclopaedic literature in the scholarly centers of Egypt and Syria during the Mamluk Empire (1250-1517). At the heart of the project is a study of Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Nuwayrī’s (d. 1333) Nihāyat al-arab fī funūn al-adab (‘The Ultimate Ambition in the Branches of Erudition’), a 31-volume encyclopaedic work composed at the beginning of the 14th century and divided into five parts: (i) heaven and earth; (ii) the human being; (iii) animals; (iv) plants; and (v) the history of the world. My study examines the formal arrangement, thematic contents, and codicological features of this seminal work, arguing that the rise of encyclopaedism in this period was emblematic of a certain intellectual ethos, a systematic approach to the classification of knowledge which emerged in the discursive context of a rapidly centralizing imperial state. I argue that the Nihāya grew out of an amalgam of several genres (including the adab anthology, the cosmographical compendium, the chancery scribe manual, the dynastic chronicle, and the commonplace book), developing into a new form and serving a different purpose from its literary predecessors. Such texts, long considered tokens of intellectual and cultural decadence, demonstrate the strategies used by Mamluk religious scholars, chancery scribes, and littérateurs to navigate an ever-growing corpus of accumulated knowledge / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Entre le XIIe et XVIe siècle, sous les dynasties ayyoubide puis mamelouke, les routes du Bilād al-Šām étaient jalonnées de gîtes d’étapes pouvant fournir un abri aux voyageurs de toute sorte. Cette thèse se propose d’approfondir la connaissance de ces édifices en suivant deux axes de recherche principaux. Le premier objectif consiste dans l’étude de tous les aspects relatifs aux caravansérails en tant qu’édifices : leurs fonctions,leurs équipements et, surtout, leur architecture et les techniques constructives qui les caractérisent. Il s’agit ensuite de proposer une reconstitution du réseau routier syrien qui prenne en compte également la distribution de ces édifices le long des routes. En partant de l’établissement d’un nouvel inventaire des gîtes d’étapes et d’une tentative de redéfinition de la notion de caravansérail routier, la recherche se développe progressivement à travers un double angle d’approche historique et archéologique. Ce dernier aspect se traduit par la mise en place d’une chronotypologie des techniques constructives et par l’étude stratigraphique approfondie d’un des caravansérails routiers encore conservés, afin d’identifier ses différentes phases d’évolution. Le travail de recherche est enfin complété par un catalogue présentant en détail les différents sites identifiés. / Between the XII and XVI century, under the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties, the roads of Bilād al-Šām weredotted by wayside caravanserais that provided shelter to all kind of travellers. The purpose of this thesis is toimprove these edifices’ knowledge focusing on two main axis of research. The first aim of the work is toinvestigate all the aspects dealing with the caravanserai as a building, from its function and facilities to itsarchitecture and building techniques. Secondly, the objective is to propose a reconstruction of the Syrian roadnetwork which could also be supported by the spatial distribution of road caravanserais. Starting from thecreation of a new list of sites, also based on the development of a new definition of wayside caravanserai, theresearch work develops following a double point of view, both historical and archaeological. This latter aspectmaterialises through the establishment of a chronotypology of the building techniques, and through the detailedstratigraphic analysis of one of the preserved sites, in order to identify its different evolution phases. The studyis finally completed by a catalogue which presents in detail all the different road caravanserais we couldidentify.

This thesis examines the role that scholarly digests and commentaries played in the formation of legal rules in the Muslim legal institution known as the madhhab. I posit that a shared approach to legal rule-determination, and the respect of juristic precedent that it entails, underlies the jurisprudential processes of all of the four post-classical Sunni madhhabs (the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfi'ī, and Ḥanbalī), and unites them in a wider ‘madhhab-law tradition’. Taking the Ḥanafī madhhab as a case study, the thesis analyses a commentary written by the late Mamluk jurist Ibn Quṭlūbughā (d. 879/1474) upon the digest of the celebrated Abbasid-era Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Qudūrī (d. 428/1037). In discussing the madhhab's heritage of precedent, Ibn Quṭlūbughā's commentary weaves an intricate tapestry of quotations and references from previous jurists and works, providing us with insight into how author-scholars reacted to, and interacted with, other jurists over space and time. Chapter 1 provides a short introduction to the lives of Qudūrī and Ibn Quṭlūbughā, and the contexts within which they produced their works. Chapter 2 employs both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the commentary, in order to deduce historical and geographical patterns out of which a periodisation of rule-determination in the Ḥanafī madhhab is proposed. In Chapter 3, Ibn Quṭlūbughā's jurisprudential theory of rule-determination is studied, examining both the justifications and the processes employed by jurists in arriving at a legal rule in the Ḥanafī madhhab. Chapter 4 then turns to the craft of commentary itself, analysing over eighty case examples for the logical relationships, rhetorical devices, and legal arguments that inform the actual practice of rule-determination through commentary. A final chapter then summarises the conclusions, and situates them within a broader discussion as to the nature of the madhhab-law tradition.

Cette thèse analyse la manière dont Ibn ‘Atâ’ Allâh al-Iskandarî aborde, dans son œuvre, la notion du péché, mettant en exergue son aspect positif, voire salvateur, à la lumière des apports d’auteurs soufis précédents qui ont marqué sa formation spirituelle. Après un état des lieux de la situation de l’Égypte au début du règne mamelouk, ce travail tente de dessiner le portrait d’Ibn ‘Atâ Allâh en s’interrogeant sur des dimensions moins connues de sa personnalité et en démontrant l’importance de son œuvre dans la transmission de l’enseignement reçu oralement de ses maîtres, fondateurs de la Shâdhiliyya. Quant à la notion du péché, elle y est d’abord analysée au travers d’une étude lexicographique, avant de retracer les différentes manières dont elle a été évoquée chez Muhâsibî, Makkî, Qushayrî, Ghazâlî et Ibn ‘Arabî. L’influence de ce dernier auteur sur Ibn ‘Atâ Allâh, souvent minimisée dans des travaux plus anciens, est démontrée à plus d’un égard, à la fois dans sa manière de décrire le péché d’Adam et dans l’approche globale tendant à transcender l’existence d’une dualité immuable entre le péché et l’obéissance. / This dissertation analyzes how Ibn 'Atâ' Allâh al-Iskandarî deals, in his writings, with the notion of sin, highlighting its positive, or salvatory, aspect, taking into account the contributions of previous Sufi writers who played a role in his spiritual education. After an overview of the situation in Egypt in the early Mamluk era, this work tries to draw the portrait of Ibn 'Ata Allah by treating some less known dimensions of his personality and demonstrating the importance of his works in transmitting the spiritual teaching he received orally from his masters, the founders of the Shâdhiliyya. Concerning the concept of sin, it is first analyzed through a lexicographical study, before retracing the ways in which it was addressed by Muhâsibî, Makkî Qushayrî, Ghazâlî and Ibn 'Arabî. The latter’s influence on Ibn 'Atâ’ Allâh, often minimized in earlier works, is demonstrated in more than one respect, both in the way he describes Adam’s sin and in his general approach tending to transcend the existence of an immutable duality between sin and obedience.

L’historiographie traditionnelle considère que le druzisme – entendu comme la doctrine religieuse du tawḥīd propre aux Druzes – a connu son apogée au IXe/XVe siècle grâce à l’enseignement et à la direction spirituelle d’al-Sayyid (m. 884/1479). La présente étude a pour objectif d’analyser cette construction d’une figure mythifiée de grand saint et d’un récit peu ancré dans les réalités sociales au niveau local. Une telle révision est rendue possible par un double renouvellement : une lecture critique des sources et un élargissement du corpus à des manuscrits druzes inédits. Confronter les hagiographies sayyidiennes aux chroniques locales permet de distinguer entre les Vitae du saint et le personnage historique d'al-Sayyid, afin d’étudier sa vision, son action et son autorité dans les contrées syriennes du Ġarb et du Šūf. Les traités de droit druze livrent par ailleurs des indications précieuses sur l’organisation nouvelle mise en place par ses disciples après sa mort et sur le fonctionnement des communautés druzes au niveau local. Enfin l’articulation du pouvoir religieux des initiés avec le pouvoir politique des émirs ḥusaynides, issus des Banū Buḥtur, est révélatrice des formes de légitimation qui apparaissent alors. / Traditional historiography considers that Druzism – understood as the religious doctrine of tawḥīd specific to the Druzes – had its heyday in the 9th/15th century through teaching and spiritual guidance from al-Sayyid (d. 884/1479). The present study aims to analyse this construction of a mythical figure of a great saint as well as that of a narrative scarcely rooted in the local social realities. Such a revision was made possible by double-renewal: a critical reading of the sources and the enrichment of the corpus with unpublished Druze manuscripts. Confronting Sayyidian hagiographies to local chronicles allows us to distinguish between the Vitae of the saint and the historical character of al-Sayyid, and thus to study his vision, action, and authority in the Syrian regions of the Ġarb and Šūf. The Druze law treaties also give valuable information on the new organisation implemented by his followers after his death as well as the functioning of Druze communities at the local level. Finally, the articulation of the religious power of initiates with the political power of the Ḥusaynid emirs from the Banū Buḥtur, reveals the forms of legitimation which then appear.

Le quartier d'al-Mïdan est un exemple judicieux pour présenter l'histoire et le développement de l'expansion urbaine extra-muros de la ville de Damas. En effet, son expansion s'est poursuivie sans interruption au fil des siècles. Longeant la Rue principale vers la Terre Sainte, l'Égypte et la Palestine, ce quartier a été divisé en trois parties (Nord, Centre et Sud) afin d'en faciliter son étude. Le quartier s'est développé à partir des villages des premières tribus arabes installées aux alentours de la muraille (VIIe et VIII siècle). La partie Nord a été le premier secteur du quartier à connaître un vrai essor dans son urbanisation jusqu'à l'époque ayyoubide (570-658/1174-1260) où le Musalla a été transformé en mosquée (en 606/1211) et où la partie centrale a connu un noyau d'urbanisation. A l'époque Mamelouke (658-923/1258-1516), le village al-Qubaybat est apparu dans le Sud avec sa mosquée, la Mosquée al-Karïmï (en 718/1318). Par la suite, la Mosquée de Manjak a été érigée (avant 826/1423) dans le secteur Central qui a intégré la partie Nord. Suite à cela, al-Qubaybat a perdu son indépendance en intégrant l'unité spatiale du quartier avant l'arrivée des ottomans (en 923/1516). L'étude architecturale de l'ensemble des monuments du quartier d'al-Mïdan révèle une identité spécifique avec, d'une part, l'absence totale de madrasa et, d'autre part, la présence de mausolées mamelouks à deux coupoles. Par ailleurs, le quartier présente le seul exemple dans l'architecture damascène d'un édifice proche du type« sabïl- maq'ad », bien connu au Caire d'époque mamelouke. Les sources historiques et les documents écrits des archives fournissent des listes importantes de monuments du quartier disparus de nos jours. Cela s'ajoute à la liste issue des travaux sur le terrain et permet d'avoir une vue plus complète sur l'histoire de l'urbanisation du quartier. La société a été composée de plusieurs classes: les notables (al-Kubartiou al-A 'yiin) qui ont collaboré avec les militaires pour contrôler les peuple (al-'Amma), sans oublier les grand commençants et les milices locales appelées « al-Zu 'ur ». Le pouvoir était représenté par un walï, qui avait la responsabilité de le contrôler, d'y maintenir l'ordre et de collecter les impôts. Ce dernier était soutenu dans sa mission par deux autres personnages : le Shaykh al-hara, qui en général était choisi par le pouvoir parmi les élites ou les personnes puissantes du quartier, et le 'Arif al-hara, qui était un des chefs des milices locales « al-Zu 'ur ». / The district of al-Mïdan is a perfect example to present the history and development of the extramural expansion of the city of Damascus. Indeed, its expansion has continued without interruption for centuries. On both sides of the main road to the Holy Land and Egypt, the area was divided into three sections (North, Central and South) to facilitate its study. The district started to develop from the villages of the first Arab tribes settled a round the wall (seventh and eighth century AD). The northern part was the first sector to experience a real momentum in its urbanization in the Ayyubid period (570-658 / 1174-1260), where the Musalla was converted into a mosque (in 606/1211) and the central part became the core of urbanization. ln Mamluk times (658-923 / 1258-1516), the town of al-Qubaybat appeared in the South with its al­Karimï mosque (in 718/1318). Thereafter, the Jamï Manjak was erected (before 826/1423) in the central area which then incorporated the northern part. Subsequently, al-Qubaybat lost its independence by incorporating into the spatial unity of the area before the arrival of the Ottomans (in 923/1516). The architectural study of the monuments in the district of al-Mïdan reveals a specific identity, total lacking madrasas on the one hand, and on the other band, including: Mamluk mausoleum with two domes. Furthermore, the district has the only example in Damascus of a building approximating to the type "sabïl­maq'ad", well known under the Mamluks in Cairo. The historical sources and written documents of the archives provide important lists of monuments today disappeared. This can be added to the list of the monuments studied and provides a more comprehensive view of the area's urbanization. The social organization was composed of several classes: the notables (al-Kubariï or al-a’yan) who worked with the military to control the people (al-'Amma), without forgetting the well known merchants and local militias called "al-Zu'ur ". The authority was represented by the walï, who was responsible for control, maintaining order and collecting taxes. The walï was supported in his mission by two other persons: Shaykh al-hara, who in general was chosen by the authorities among the elites or powerful people in the district, and the 'Arif al- hara, who was a leader of local militias "al-Zu'ur".