The most enduring testament to the Mamluk sultanate is its architecture. Not only do Mamluk buildings embody one of the most outstanding medieval architectural traditions, Mamluk architecture is actually a key to the social history of the period. Analysing Mamluk constructions as a form of communication and documentation as well as a cultural index, Mamluk History through Architecture shows how the buildings mirror the complex—and historically unique— military, political, social and financial structures of Mamluk society.
With these sharply focused studies of Mamluk architecture and culture, Nasser Rabbat gives new definition to our understanding of a lost world. Both holistically and in case studies, Rabbat demonstrates how history is inscribed into and reflected by a culture’s artefacts. This is a groundbreaking work in the study of architecture and social history in the Middle East and beyond. Nasser Rabbat is the Aga Khan professor of Islamic architecture at MIT and director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture.
