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-Ra?man al-Sakhawi, following his life as a promising scholar in Mamluk Cairo, along with the friendships and rivalries he formed. It highlights his biographical dictionary, Al-?aw? al-lami? li-ahl al-qarn al-tasi? (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 Mamlu
k 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.

Source: National news agency – Lebanon