Mamluk Female Patronage

This thesis is discussing the topic of Mamliik Female Patronage in Egypt and how it differed from its contemporaries in Jerusalem, Seljuq Anatolia, and Timurid Iran. This subject, however, has not attracted the attention of many scholars, probably, because the information provided by the chronicles and biographers oqhe Mamliik period is scattered and incidental. This is also related to the age-long assumption that women had neither the economic resources nor the legal standing to commission works of art or buildings. The scholars who approached this topic were dealing with the subject from an architectural point of view and not in terms of the phenomenon of female patronage itself. The intention here is not merely to survey buildings built by women during contemporary periods in different areas, but to analyze and understand the phenomenon of their patronage. The architectural legacy, which women left behind will be clues to their role as architectural patrons and as evidence for their political, social and economic positions in society. Unfortunately, all these surviving buildings left by these women are in a very bad state of preservation and are in much need of research and publication to preserve their memory before they totally disappear. In order to a1ticu late the role of women as patrons of architecture, certain questions need to be addressed. What status did women enjoy in the sociopolitical hierarchy of the Mamluk system? and in what capacity did they participate in public life? What types of buildings did women found? And how did they compare in form, style, and financing with their counterparts founded by men? How does the role of women in Mamluk Egypt, as patrons of architecture, differ from the role of women in Fa!imid and Ayyubid times in Egypt, as well as the role of women in Mamluk Jerusalem, Seljuq Anatolia, and Timurid Mtn