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Exploring Egypt Seminar: Histories and Historiographies
Le mardi 18 février 2025 à 18h00 (heure du Caire), PCMA
Calligraphers and Patrons in Mamluk Cairo
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ṣāyigh and the Arts of the Book
Noha Abou-Khatwa
Partenaire(s) de l’Ifao : DAIK, NVIC, CAI, PCMA
Langue : anglais.
The 10th session of the seminar series 'Exploring Egypt: Histories and Historiographies', a joint initiative of the Ifao, DAIK, CAI, PCMA & NVIC, will be hosted at the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology Cairo (PCMA). This session features Noha Abou-Khatwa, and it is entitled "Calligraphers and Patrons in Mamluk Cairo: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ṣāyigh and the Arts of the Book". The lecture is open to the public in the limit of available places.
Abstract:
The age of the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt and Syria is known for the flowering of the arts of building and the arts of the book. Both regimes, the Bahri Mamluk and the Circassian Mamluk, left us treasures of calligraphy and epigraphy seen in the streets of Cairo and in the various manuscript collections around the world. Patronage of luxurious manuscripts was an important part of the artistic patronage of Mamluk rulers, and thus often entrusted to famous calligraphers. One of the most calligraphers of the period was the master ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ṣāyigh (770/1368 - 845/1441). This calligrapher, however, did not only practice his art but also composed a treatise on calligraphy and laid the foundation of a calligraphic school. It is thus the aim of this paper to present this master and his works in a way to enable the reconstruction of his tradition of learning. Such a study also aims to examine his artistic agency by analyzing his skill, students and relation with Mamluk patrons who made it possible for him to excel.
Five main aspects of his life and practice will be tackled:
- His biography, as given to us by a few of the 15th century Mamluk sources. This will focus on the entry by the historian al-Sakhāwī in his al-Ḍaw’ al-lāmiʿ fī ahl al-qarn al-tāsiʿ, since al-Sakhāwī was also one of Ibn al-Ṣāyigh’s students
- His chain of transmission.
- His treatise on calligraphy which carries two titles: Tuḥfat ʾūlī al-albāb fī ṣināʿat al-khaṭṭ wa al-kitāb and Risāla fī al-khaṭṭ wa barī al-qalam.
- This will be followed by the examination of the extent to which his theoretical tradition reflects in his scripts as seen in the surviving manuscripts he signed.
- The exploration of his impact will be completed by a review of his students who all penned or illuminated manuscripts in the 15th
- Lastly, the socio-intellectual network of this calligrapher will be investigated to help us better understand the artistic and intellectual life of Mamluk Egypt in the final years of the 14th century and the first half of 15th century


Exploring Egypt Seminar: Histories and Historiographies
A joint collaboration between the Ifao (Institut français d’archéologie orientale) & the DAIK (German Archaeological Institute in Cairo), joined in 2025 by the CAI (Centro Archeologico Italiano), PCMA (Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology Cairo) & NVIC (Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo).
This seminar series aims, broadly speaking, to discuss different aspects related to the production of historical knowledge on Egypt. Speakers are invited to reflect on the different ways of writing, narrating and thinking about Egypt’s history at different periods, as well as on the actors, contexts, and power relations involved in the production of historical narratives. By adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, the seminar series seeks to bring into conversation fields which have traditionally been examined separately, such as the history of Egyptology, the study of modern Egyptian historiography, and the history of heritage and preservation.
In addition, while the seminar series seeks to shed a critical light on the formation of specific disciplinary fields and traditions, it also moves beyond an exclusive focus on professional history writing, in order to explore the various institutions, genres, and channels, through which historical narratives have been produced and disseminated. Among the themes that will be discussed, for instance, are the different “histories” of Egyptology, archaeology or Arabic and Islamic studies, academic versus “popular” representations of history, and heritage preservation as a site of production of historical narratives.
Exploring Egypt: Histories and Historiographies Seminar is organised by Fatma Keshk, Postdoctoral fellow at DAIK & Ifao and Malak Labib, scientific member of the Ifao.