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During the Mamluk period (1260–1516), Gaza developed from a minor town into an important city in southern Bilād al-Shām, the capital of an administrative province. This prosperity was the product of substantial and continuous Mamluk investment in the town, the security and stability maintained by this regime, and Gaza's strategic location as the bridge connecting Egypt and Bilād al-Shām. This article will trace the concomitant development of Gaza as a provincial intellectual centre within this context. Combining narrative sources with epigraphic and material evidence, it will show how the growth of Gaza as an administrative centre instigated a flourishing—albeit modest—scholarly scene in the town, which, while strongly connected to and integrated with wider social and intellectual networks within the Sultanate, retained its unique character.

Syria has the most beautiful works of art and architecture in world history. Palmyra, Apamea, Aleppo, Damascus, Hama, Homs, Bosra, Latakia and Tartus have been important settlements in the history of civilization since the First Age. Many historical artefacts especially the findings from excavations and research in the region, are exhibited in the museums of Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, and Raqqa. In this article, the works that could be exhibited in the museums of Aleppo, Hama, and Raqqa in the pre-war period (before 2011) are reviewed. The sarcophagus of Huseyin b. Hasan al-Shukri, architectural plastic with lion relief, the mihrab of the Madrasa Halawiye, sun patterned luster bowl, ceramic pots, architectural plastic with Mamluk coat of arms, inscription piece of Sultan Kayıtbay and war tools from the National Museum of Aleppo; the minbar of the Great Mosque of Hama from the Hama Museum and plaster decorations of the Great Mosque of Raqqa from the Raqqa Museum will be introduced. These artefacts are among the most precious examples of their era. The mihrab, especially, and the other works in the National Museum of Aleppo, the minbar in the Hama Museum, and plaster decorations of the Great Mosque Raqqa are very precious works of the Seljuk, Zengid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk eras.

Öz:İbn Teymiyye’nin felsefe, kelam ve tasavvufa; Şîa, Cehmiyye, Muʻtezile ve Eşʻarî mezheplerine yönelik tenkitleri çeşitli çalışmalara konu olmuştur. Ona yapılan eleştirilere dair metodolojik bir çalışmanın bulunmayışı, bizi reddiyelerin kaynaklarını, gerekçelerini ve buna yön veren faktörleri incelemeye sevk etmiştir. Bu araştırma, İbn Teymiyye’nin vefatından sonraki bir asırlık dönemde ortaya çıkan reddiye literatürü üzerinden ona yönelik eleştirilerin gerekçelerine ve bunlara yön veren faktörlere odaklanmıştır. Bahsi geçen süre zarfındaki reddiyelerin çoğu Şâfiî Eşʻarî gelenek mensuplarınca kaleme alınmakla birlikte, Hanefî ve Mâlikîlerden de reddiye edebiyatına katkıda bulunanlar olmuştur. İbnü’l-Muallim el-Kureşî, İbnü’z-Zemlekânî, Şehâbeddin İbn Cehbel, Takıyyüddin es-Sübkî, Bahâeddin el-İhmîmî ve Takıyyüddin el-Hısnî Şâfiî Eşʻarî geleneğe mensubiyetleriyle ön plana çıkmışlardır. Bahsi geçen isimlerden sadece Takıyyüddin el-Hısnî 9./15. asrın başlarında vefat etmiştir. Diğer ulemanın tamamı 8./14. asırda vefat etmişlerdir. Bu araştırmada, Memlükler döneminde 9./15. asrın ilk çeyreğine kadar ortaya çıkan İbn Teymiyye’ye yönelik eleştiriler analiz edilerek, reddiyelerin neden ortaya çıktığı saptanmaya çalışılmıştır. İbn Teymiyye’nin kelam ilmine ve özelde Ebü’l-Hasan el-Eşʻarî, Ebü’l-Meâlî el-Cüveynî, Fahreddin er-Râzî ve Ebû Hâmid el-Gazzâlî gibi Eşʻarî büyüklerine metodik tenkitlerde bulunması, reddiye edebiyatının oluşmasının temel nedenlerindendir. İbn Teymiyye’nin ashabının taassubu ve muhaliflerinin ona yönelik tenkit ve ithamları birbirini beslemiş, bunun sonucunda İbn Teymiyyecilik ve İbn Teymiyye muhalifliği olgusu erken sayılabilecek bir dönemde ortaya çıkmıştır. Hanbelîlerin tevile ve kelam ilmine yaklaşımı zemmü’l-kelâm geleneği etrafında şekillenmiştir. Belirli dönemlerde bu anlayış, kelam yöntemini benimseme şeklinde ortaya çıksa da kelam karşıtlığı, mezhebin hâkim görüşü olarak varlığını sürdürmüştür. Kelam ilmini yöntem olarak kullanmak, Eşʻarîliğin varlık sebebidir, ancak Memlükler’deki akide Eşʻarîliği, inancı koruduğu sürece ona tolerans göstermiştir. Bununla birlikte, dönemin Şâfiî Eşʻarî uleması İbn Teymiyye ile yükselişe geçen Hanbelîliğe karşı Eşʻarî büyüklerini savunmak adına kelam ilminin meşruiyetini müdafaa etmek durumunda kalmışlardır. Eşʻarîler ile Hanbelîlerin tasavvufi geleneklerinin farklılığı ve kelamın ilmi hüviyetine yaklaşımları, ayrışmanın diğer bileşenini oluşturmuştur. Taraflar birbirlerini tenkit ederken bu mezhebî ve kültürel mirasa müracaat etme ihtiyacı duymuşlardır. İbn Teymiyye’nin kabir ziyareti, tevessül, istigâse, talâk, haberî sıfatlar ve kelâmullaha dair görüş ve fetvaları nedeniyle muhakeme edilip çeşitli şekillerde cezalandırılması, nihayetinde hapisteyken vefat etmesine kadar giden süreç, meselenin toplumsal ve siyasi boyutlarını ortaya koymaktadır. Özellikle mutasavvıfların, İbn Teymiyye'yi yönetime şikâyet etmeleri sonucunda ona çeşitli cezalar verilmesine neden olduklarına dair kayıtlar, bu bağlamda büyük önem taşımaktadır.

This article attempts to establish basic biographical information about the prolific Egyptian alchemist ʿIzz al-Dīn Aydamir al-Ǧildakī, more specifically his birth and death dates and his origin. To this end, the article makes use of and critics manuscripts and secondary sources in order to untangle probable facts from unsubstantiated assumptions. The result moves closer to identifying the time and place, and thus the historical context, for an influential alchemist in the medieval Islamic world. Cet article tente d'établir les informations biographiques de base sur le prolifique alchimiste égyptien ʿIzz al-Dīn Aydamir al-Ǧildakī, en particulier ses dates de naissance et de mort et son origine. À cette fin, l'article utilise et critique des manuscrits et des sources secondaires afin de dégager les données historiques les plus probables des présupposés infondés. Le résultat précise l'identification du temps et du lieu, et donc du contexte historique, de cet alchimiste fondamental dans le monde islamique médiéval. This article is in English.

The study of medieval and early modern architecture located in Anatolia, from the Byzantine to the Ottoman Period, has focused on the region as a landmass, marked by mountains, rivers, and steppes. Defined in geographical texts of the Islamic world as Lands of Rūm (Bilād al-Rūm) and understood as a frontier region between various polities and empires, as well as between Christianity and Islam, the region and its buildings emerge from the literature as solidly tied to land, connected through trade routes overland through Iran, Central Asia, and all the way to China. At the same time, attention to trade and its routes can help shift the narrative towards the sea, and a better understanding of Anatolia in a Mediterranean context. Major ports existed in Alanya and Sinop; new ports were created in Balat-Miletus and Ayasuluk-Selçuk-Ephesus, to replace silted-up antique ones. While these facts, and their impact on the economic and cultural setting of individual sites, have been studied, a synthetic approach to the question of what it means to conceive of Anatolia as a Mediterranean region is yet to be endeavored.

This paper reexamines the sources used by N. Fancy and M.H. Green in “Plague and the Fall of Baghdad (1258)” (Medical History, 65/2 (2021), 157–177). Fancy and Green argued that the Arabic and Persian descriptions of the Mongol sieges in Iran and Iraq, and in particular, in the conquest of Baghdad in 1258, indicate that the besieged fortresses and cities were struck by Plague after the Mongol sieges were lifted. This, they suggested, is part of a recurrent pattern of the outbreak of Plague transmitted by the Mongol expansion across Eurasia. Fancy and Green concluded that the primary sources substantiate the theory driven by recent paleogenetic studies indicating that the Mongol conquests of the thirteenth century set the stage for the massive pandemic of the mid-fourteenth century. The link between the Plague outbreak and the Mongol siege of Baghdad relies on three near-contemporaneous historical accounts. However, our re-examination of the sources shows that the main text (in Persian) has been significantly misunderstood, and that the two other texts (in Syriac and Arabic) have been mis-contextualized, and thus not understood properly. They do not support the authors’ claim regarding Plague epidemic in Baghdad in 1258, nor do other contemporary and later Arabic texts from Syria and Egypt adduced by them, which we re-examine in detail here. We conclude that there is no evidence for the appearance of Plague during or immediately after the Mongol conquests in the Middle East, certainly not for its transmission by the Mongols.

This study focuses on the religious policy of the Mamluk Sultan Rukn al-Din Baybars (d. 1277), and its application throughout his rule in Egypt and Syria (Bilād al-Shām). This study also discusses the impact of this policy and its benefit for Muslims and Islam in general in the region. Dealing with the character of Baybars of Mamluk origin is very important in this study to obtain the required answers to the questions related to the Islamic character of Mamluk rule in the regions of the Middle East in the Middle Ages. Although Baybars’ background was as a slave (mamlūk), who was not familiar with the religion of Islam, he had to prove his ability to act as a leader of an Islamic state. Baybars worked to implement the principles of Islam according to the Quran and the tradition of the Prophet (sunna), thus exploiting his status as an Islamic leader and as Sultan during his reign. Baybars was strict in his religious policy toward those who committed forbidden acts according to the Islamic religion, and he was keen to punish them and implement the Sharīʿa as required, in cooperation with the ʿulamā. Baybars was given relevant degrees and titles he deserved by the revived Abbasid Caliph in Cairo, such as a “holy warrior” (Mujāhid), “partner of emir of believers/the Caliph” (Qasīm Amīr al-Mu’minīn), and other religious titles that testify his high-ranking religious status as defender of Islam.

Abstract This essay reconstructs a late-Ayyubid court case in Damascus that was litigated repeatedly between 651/1253 and 655/1257, five years prior to the beginning of Sultan Baybars's judicial reform in 660/1262. The case involved the marriage of a minor orphan girl. The Shāfiʿī chief justice of Damascus initially permitted the marriage but later instructed his deputy judge to annul it, a move that outraged jurists and elicited a transregional debate. I reconstruct the case proceedings and ensuing controversies primarily from an unpublished treatise by Abū Shāma al-Maqdisī (d. 665/1268), which is partly corroborated by contemporaneous fatwas and historical chronicles. The case illustrates that pre-reform Ayyubid courts lacked the coherent jurisprudence and institutional oversight that might have prevented abuses of power by unscrupulous and inept officials. Although Baybars's reform has long been recognized as a critical turning point in Islamic legal history, this case exposes the social and institutional dilemmas that the reform sought to address.

The name Ilqāy appears on small monetary weights for 1251 and 1252 in Cairo at the beginning of Mamlūk rule. This person was a high official in the treasury, responsible for regulating monetary transactions. However, the name is not Arabic but Mongolian—and at this point, the Mamlūks and Mongols were contesting the Middle East. This article traces the meaning of the unique name and its appearance in Mongol history. It then discusses the hypothetical way in which Ilqāy developed Mongol coinage in his early career. The violent purges of the Mongol civil war may have forced him to escape and enter Egypt's financial system. This biography is hypothetical since there is no literary evidence for mint activity and personnel at this time. Nevertheless, the unusual name and timing create a mystery that invites special consideration.

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the state of preservation of one of the most famous manuscripts dated back to the 15th century using some analytical techniques to identify the manuscript components, explain its deterioration mechanisms and produce some solutions for conservation processes in future studies. Design/methodology/approach The analytical techniques used were visual assessment, digital microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM) with EDX, pH measurement, attenuated total reflection – Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR/FTIR) and cellulose crystallinity. Findings Stains, missed parts and scratching were the most common aspects of deterioration. Some insects were observed by digital microscope. The SEM showed that linen fibers and goat skin were used to manufacture paper sheets and leather binding. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis proved that niobium and tantalum were added during the manufacture of paper sheets. Carbon black ink was the main writing material. The other pigments used were cinnabar in red ink, gold color from brass and blue color from lapis lazuli. FTIR analysis proved that some chemical changes were noticed. Low crystallinity of the historical paper was obtained. There was a reduction in the pH value of the historical bookbinding. Originality/value The importance of the analytical techniques used to detect the main components, forms and mechanism of deterioration of the studied manuscript. The elements of niobium and tantalum were added to paper sheets, which protected them from deterioration. The insects such as house flies and Sitophilus granarius were found in the manuscripts.