American University in Cairo AUC Knowledge Fountain Theses and Dissertations 6-1-2019 Women, Architecture and Representation in Mamluk Cairo Amina Karam Follow this and additional works at: https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds Recommended Citation APA Citation Karam, A. (2019).Women, Architecture and Representation in Mamluk Cairo [Master’s thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/787 MLA Citation Karam, Amina. Women, Architecture and Representation in Mamluk Cairo. 2019. American University in Cairo, Master's thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/787 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by AUC Knowledge Fountain. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of AUC Knowledge Fountain. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The American University in Cairo School of Humanities and Social Studies Women, Architecture and Representation in Mamluk Cairo A Thesis Submitted to Department of Arab and Islamic Civilization in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Amina Karam (under the supervision of Dr. Ellen Kenney) Spring 2019 Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... iv Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 The Transitional Reign of Shajar al-Durr ......................................................................... 7 Mausoleum of al-Salih Najm al-Din (1250) .................................................................... 11 The Complex of Shajar al-Durr (1250) ............................................................................ 13 The ‘Formative’ Period of the Early Bahri Mamluks .................................................... 18 Hammam Iltutmish Khan (between 1264 and 1285) ....................................................... 21 Madrasa and Mausoleum of Umm al-Salih (Fatima Khatun) (1283) .............................. 22 Ribat al-Baghdadiyya (1285) ........................................................................................... 26 Mausoleum at Zawiyat al-‘Abbar (1283-84) ................................................................... 27 Ribat al-Sitt Kalila (1295) ................................................................................................ 28 The Third Reign of al-Nasir Muhammad ........................................................................ 30 Turbat al-Sitt (c. 1318) ..................................................................................................... 34 Mosque of al-Jazira al-Wusta .......................................................................................... 37 Mosque of Sitt Hadaq (1336-37) and the Mosque of Sitt Miska (1339-40) .................... 37 Al-Nasir’s Successors ......................................................................................................... 43 Khanqah of Tughay (before 1349) ................................................................................... 49 Turba of Narjis and Turba of Umm Hajji ........................................................................ 56 The Mausoleum of Malktumur al-Hijazi (1347) ............................................................. 57 Al-Madrasa al-Saghira (1350) ......................................................................................... 58 Madrasa of Tatar al-Hijaziyya (1360).............................................................................. 58 Mausoleum of Khawand Zahra’ ...................................................................................... 62 Mausoleum for the mother of al-Nasir Hasan (1354-61) ................................................ 63 Turba of Tulubay (1364) .................................................................................................. 66 Madrasa of Umm al-Sultan Sha‘ban (1368-69) ............................................................... 68 Turbat Khawand Samra al-Nasiriyya............................................................................... 75 The Circassian Mamluks ................................................................................................... 77 The Southern Mausolea at the Funerary Complexes of Faraj ibn Barquq (1400-11) and al-Mu’ayyad Shaykh (1415-20) ....................................................................................... 87 Mausoleum of Khadija Umm al-Ashraf (1430-40) ......................................................... 88 Hammam and Sabil of Surbay (before 1448) .................................................................. 90 Masjid al-Shaykh Madyan ............................................................................................... 90 Zawiya (before 1451) ....................................................................................................... 94 Madrasa of Fatima Umm Khawand (1450s) .................................................................... 95 Ribat of Zaynab (between 1453 and 1461) ...................................................................... 96 Masjid Fatima al-Shaqra’ (1468-69) .............................................................................. 102 Mosque of Asalbay, Fayoum (1498-99) ........................................................................ 103 ii Women and the Culture of Mamluk Architecture ....................................................... 106 The Role of Women in Mamluk Architecture ............................................................... 106 The Feminine Idiom: Self vs. Sultanate ......................................................................... 114 The Mamluk Household and the Shifting Architectural Image ..................................... 120 Pilgrimage and Philanthropy ......................................................................................... 121 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 125 Appendix: Foundation Inscriptions ............................................................................... 128 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 151 Primary Sources ............................................................................................................. 151 Secondary Sources ......................................................................................................... 153 Figures ............................................................................................................................... 162 iii List of Figures FIGURE 1. Monuments associated with Mamluk women, (base map after URHC, Historic Cairo: Visitors Map; additions after Warner, Monuments, 24). ...................... 137 FIGURE 2a. Monuments associated with Mamluk women, showing chronology (base map after Warner, Monuments, 24). .............................................................................. 138 FIGURE 2a. Monuments associated with Mamluk women, showing status (base map after Warner, Monuments, 24). ...................................................................................... 138 FIGURE 3. Madrasa and Mausoleum of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub, plan (after Arida, Archnet). ........................................................................................................................ 165 FIGURE 4. Mausoleum of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub. ............................................. 166 FIGURE 5. Mausoleum of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub, inscription above entrance. 166 FIGURE 6. Mausoleum of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub, carving above window. ....... 167 FIGURE 7. Mausoleum of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub, mihrab. ................................ 167 FIGURE 8. Map of Khalifa Street (after Survey of Egypt in Behrens Abouseif, “The Lost Minaret,” 5). ........................................................................................................... 168 FIGURE 9. Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr, plan (after Le Comité, “1915-1919,” Plate 33). ................................................................................................................................. 168 FIGURE 10. Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr (after Creswell, Archnet). ........................... 16 FIGURE 11. Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr (after Creswell, Archnet). ........................ 169 FIGURE 12. Mausoleum of the Abbasid Caliphs (after Creswell, Archnet). ............... 169 FIGURE 13. Drawing assumed to be of the Complex of Shajar al-Durr (after Pascal Coste in Behrens-Abouseif, Cairo, 116). ...................................................................... 170 FIGURE 14. Madrasa al-Firdaws, plan (after Discover Islamic Art, MWNF) ............ 170 FIGURE 15. Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr, painted transitional zone and drum (after al- Athar Lina). ................................................................................................................... 171 FIGURE 16. Mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr, mihrab (after John A. and Caroline Williams, Archnet). ....................................................................................................... 171 FIGURE 17. Madrasa and Mausoleum of Umm al-Salih, plan (after Arida, Archnet). 172 FIGURE 18. Madrasa and Mausoleum of Umm al-Salih