685/1286) spent several years in Egypt.¹ In his description of Cairo Ibn Saʿīd observes that he found the city ‘particularly welcoming for the poor’ (al-faqīr), a term that clearly includes Sufis: The ...

In a recent article dedicated to the Ninth Crusade, we explained that the English prince and future king Edward I landed in Acre in the spring of 1271, ready to confront the Egyptian Mamluks under ...

In 1798, Napoleon faced off against the fierce Mamluk cavalry near the shadow of the Great Pyramids. What followed was a stunning tactical victory that reshaped France’s legend—and Egypt’s fate.

The Ajloun Castle represented a monumental fortress which controlled trade routes from Syria to Palestine (Photo courtesy of ACOR) AMMAN — The archaeology of the Mamluk period, as practised today, is ...

In 1347 slave traders from the Black Sea brought with them something far deadlier than a cargo of future Mamluk warriors: the Black Death. Plague infested the whole of the known world, but nowhere ...