The Book in Mamluk Egypt and Syria (1250–1517) Islamic History and Civilization Studies and Texts Editorial Board Hinrich Biesterfeldt Sebastian Günther Honorary Editor Wadad Kadi volume 162 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ihc The Book in Mamluk Egypt and Syria (1250–1517) Scribes, Libraries and Market By Doris Behrens-Abouseif LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Book dealer in Cairo, early twentieth century (Photo by Rudolf Franz Lehnert). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Behrens-Abouseif, Doris, author. Title: The book in Mamluk Egypt and Syria (1250-1517) : scribes, libraries and market / by Doris Behrens-Abouseif. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2018. | Series: Islamic history and civilization : studies and texts ; volume 162 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018036408 (print) | LCCN 2018041602 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004387058 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004387003 (hardback : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Books–Egypt–History–400-1450. | Books–Egypt–History–1450- 1600. | Books–Syria–History–400-1450. | Books–Syria–History–1450-1600. | Libraries–Egypt–History–400-1400. | Libraries–Egypt–History–1400-1600. | Libraries–Syria–History–400-1400. | Libraries–Syria–History–1400-1600. | Scribes–Egypt–History. | Scribes–Syria–History. | Calligraphers–Egypt–History. | Calligraphers–Syria–History. Classification: LCC Z8.E4 (ebook) | LCC Z8.E4 B44 2018 (print) | DDC 002.095691–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018036408 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. ISSN 0929-2403 ISBN 978-90-04-38700-3 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-38705-8 (e-book) Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. Not only books but also copies of books have their fates. —Walter Benjamin ∵ Contents Acknowledgments ix Figures and Credit x Note to the Reader xii Introduction 1 1 The Legacy 5 1 The Classical Heritage 5 2 The Fatimid and Ayyubid Legacies 7 2 Mamluk Libraries 15 1 Patronage of the Mamluk Book 15 2 A Palace Library? 17 3 The Libraries of Religious Institutions 19 4 The Librarians in Religious Institutions 28 3 Private Libraries and Endowments 34 4 Book Circulation and Storage 43 1 Borrowing Practices 43 2 The Size of Libraries 46 3 The Size of Books 50 4 The Physical Setting 52 5 The Market 71 1 Location and Environment 71 2 Dealers and Publishers 76 3 Value, Prices, and Fees 81 6 The Mamluk Scribe: Background and Formation 87 1 Terminology and Definition 87 2 Writing and Copying 88 3 From Oral to Written Books and Back 94 4 Books from the Barracks 96 viii contents 7 The Mamluk Master Calligraphers 103 1 The Art and Practice of Calligraphy 103 2 Teaching Writing and Calligraphy 108 3 The Social and Cultural Contexts 114 4 Calligraphers and Craftsmen 119 5 Calligraphers and the Aristocracy 123 8 The Chain of Mamluk Calligraphers 126 1 The Syrian School 126 2 The Egyptian School 134 Epilogue 144 Bibliography 153 Index 167 Acknowledgments My gratitude goes to Husam al-Din Ismaiʿil for his generous help with my field- work in Cairo in libraries and in my search for khizanat kutubs in Mamluk buildings, and for many other favors. I am also grateful to Richard Goldthwaite for inspiring ideas about the book as a commodity and Konrad Hirschler for precious advice and comments on the manuscript, Alison Ohta for generously sharing her knowledge and experience with Mamluk manuscripts, Bernard O’Kane for his photographs, Rosalind Wade Haddon and Rudolf Abraham for their stylistic corrections, Leonor Fernandes, Bora Keskiner, Ladan Akbarnia and Tim Stanley for help and favors that facilitated my work. I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewer of the manuscript for his/her very pertinent and useful comments and suggestions. Figures and Credit 1 The mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun (Photo by Ahmed Al. Badawy, May 29, 2010, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11174887) 23 2 The madrasa of Jamal al-Din Mahmud al-Ustadar, the Mahmudiyya, exterior view (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 26 3 The madrasa of Jamal al-Din Mahmud al-Ustadar, the Mahmudiyya, interior view (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 27 4 A pair of kutubiyyas at the madrasa of Jawhar al-Qunuqbaʾi in Cairo (1440) (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 53 5 The mosque of Sultan Hasan, ground plan with the khizana marked in red (Ministry of Egyptian Antiquities) 54 6 The mosque of Sultan Hasan, prayer hall showing entrance to the khizana to the left (Photo by Bernard O’Kane) 55 7 Interior view of the khizana in the mosque of Sultan Hasan (Photo by Hussam al-Din Ismaʿil) 56 8 Ground plan of the complex of Sultan Barquq with the khizana marked in red (Ministry of Egyptian Antiquities, drawing by Nicholas Warner) 57 9 Interior view of the complex of Sultan Barquq (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 58 10 Interior view of the khizana in the complex of Sultan Barquq (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 58 11 Street view of the Jamaliyya quarter with the remains of the elevated passage that included the khizana of the madrasa of Jamal al-Din Yusuf al-Ustadar (Lithograph, Robert Hay 1840) 59 12 Room over an elevated passage at the Mosque of Qijmas al-Ishaqi (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 60 13 Ground plan of the complex of Sultan al-Muʾayyad Shaykh with the khizana marked in red (Ministry of Egyptian Antiquities, drawing by Nicholas Warner) 61 14 Interior view of the complex of Sultan al-Muʾayyad Shaykh (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 62 15 Interior view of the khizana in the complex of Sultan al-Muʾayyad Shaykh (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 63 16 Ground plan of the complex of Sultan Barsbay with the khizana marked in red (Ministry of Egyptian Antiquities, drawing by Nicholas Warner) 64 17 Ground plan of the complex of Sultan Qaytbay with the khizana marked in red (Ministry of Egyptian Antiquities, drawing by Nicholas Warner) 65 figures and credit xi 18 Northwestern iwan at the mosque of Qaytbay leading to the khizana (Photo by Bernard O’Kane) 66 19 Ground plan of the complex of Sultan al-Ghawi with the khizana marked in red (Ministry of Egyptian Antiquities, drawing by Nicholas Warner) 67 20 The complex of Sultan al-Ghawri (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 68 21 Kursi or reading bench at the mausoleum of Sultan Qaytbay (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 69 22 Book dealer in Cairo, early twentieth century (Photo by Rudolf Franz Lehnert) 70 23 Colophon of Kitab Tuhfat al-Muluk, Fatih 3465 (Fatih Library Istanbul) 109 24 The complex of Emir Qanibay with a primary school or maktab (kuttab) on the upper left side (Photo by Doris Behrens-Abouseif) 100 25 Mamluk pen-box (Courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum, no. 370–1897 in the name of the Rasulid sultan of Yemen Dawud, dated 1302–1303) 151 26 Mamluk pen-box, mid-fourteenth century (British Museum, no. OA 1881.8–2.20) 152 Note to the Reader Due to the great number of proper names in the text, I have preferred not to transliterate them for the sake of clarity. Transliteration is used only in the bib- liography and for Arabic terms at their first appearance in the text. The transliteration follows the system commonly used in publications in the English language. To facilitate the identification of named persons, the year of their death, con- verted into the Christian era, has been added to their names. Whenever the month is not indicated in the source, the two alternative years are given. Introduction Walking through historic Cairo, from the northern gates of Bab al-Futuh or Bab al-Nasr, and proceeding toward the southern gate of Bab Zuwayla and further south to the Citadel, via Saliba Street and the al-Darb al-Ahmar quarter, I found myself reading Mamluk architecture, behind the facades and between the lines. The density of monuments along the way inspired wonder and provoked ques- tions about their meanings and purposes, the connection between their stated role and their implicit symbolism, between their pious dedication as mosques and madrasas and their worldly display of power and prestige. Returning home to my library and looking at the shelves stacked with thousands of pages of Mamluk books, more questions came to mind about the connection between these books and the monuments built to house scholars, students, and their libraries. This experience is the motivation behind the present study. The subject is the impact of the philanthropic and monumental patronage of the Mamluks as a significant expression of their government and their identity on the pro- duction of the book as a commodity. It focuses on commissioning and copying books, their material value, and their circulation between market and libraries and between the private and the institutional domain, the formation and func- tion of libraries, and the “who’s who” of the Mamluk circles involved. No such study has been available to date.