The American University of Beirut (AUB)’s university press (AUB Press) announced the release of the latest publication in the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan series, Al-Sakhawi: A Biography from Mamluk Cairo and his Dictionary of Women, studies by Renate Jacobi and edited by Kirill Dmitriev.
The book centers on the historian Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sakhāwī, following his life as a promising scholar in Mamluk Cairo, along with the friendships and rivalries he formed. It highlights his biographical dictionary, Al-Ḍawʾ al-lāmiʿ li-ahl al-qarn al-tāsiʿ (The Brilliant Light of the Notables of the Ninth/Fifteenth Century), which documents the social, educational, and economic profiles of more than 1,000 women.
The first part of the book is divided into three sections: “Al-Sakhawi and his Family,” detailing the life of his grandfather, a Mamluk merchant; “Biography as Self-Narrative”; and “The Scholar and the Poetess: A Friendship of the Heart in Mamluk Egypt.” The second part delves into the subject of women in Mamluk society with chapters such as “Learned Women in the Mamluk Period According to Al-Sakhawi” and “Women in the Endowment System of the Mamluk Period.” The collection concludes with a collection of selected biographies.
The publication reveals valuable insights into the social fabric of the Mamluk period, highlighting the often-overlooked contributions of women and serving as a unique source for studying the social role of Islamic women in the Mamluk period.
About AUB
Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut bases its educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal arts model of higher education. A teaching-centered research university, AUB has more than 750 full-time faculty members and a student body of over 8000 students. AUB currently offers more than 140 programs leading to bachelor’s, master’s, MD, and PhD degrees. It provides medical education and training to students from throughout the region at its Medical Center that includes a full-service 365-bed hospital.
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