Article
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
Crusader Spolia in Medieval Cairo. The Portal of the Complex of Sultan Ḥasan
-
Cathleen A. Fleck
Published/Copyright:
December 17, 2014
Abstract
: Turkish-origin Mamlūk rulers in Egypt carried out grand construction projects in the late medieval period, including the complex (beg. 1356) of sultan al-Nāṣir Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Qalāwūn (or sultan Ḥasan, 1335-1361, r. 1347-1351 and 1354-1361) in Cairo. This article analyzes the symbolism and meaning of a pair of pilasters pillaged from a Levantine Christian crusader monument and set into the portal of sultan Ḥasan’s complex: one with relief floral decorations, and the other with relief panels representing Jerusalem buildings. Scrutinizing the reuse of these items provides insight into the meanings and functions of the pilasters: as spolia, or pillaged architectural elements that are symbols of power and beauty; as apotropaic objects in the age of the Black Death; as signs of local Muslim-Christian conflict; and as evidence of the Mamlūk interest in the holy city for political and religious reasons. All of these elements demonstrate the strategic choices made by sultan Ḥasan to assert his legitimacy and express his religious authority through his magnificent complex.
Published Online: 2014-12-17
Published in Print: 2014-12-1
© 2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
You are currently not able to access this content.
You are currently not able to access this content.
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Editorial: Crossing the Mediterranean World. New Contributions on Transcultural Historiography, History of Mathematics and Art History
- Papers
- Translation-Based Chronicles, Twelfth to Thirteenth Centuries. New Sources for the Arabo-Latin Translation Movement in the Iberian Peninsula
- Fibonacci – Protagonist or Witness? Who Taught Catholic Christian Europe about Mediterranean Commercial Arithmetic?
- Crusader Spolia in Medieval Cairo. The Portal of the Complex of Sultan Ḥasan
- Reviews
- Ra‘anan S. Boustan e. a. (ed.): Envisioning Judaism. Studies in honor of Peter Schäfer on the occasion of his seventieth birthday 1–2, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013
- Elisheva Carlebach/Jacob J. Schacter (ed.): New perspectives on Jewish- Christian relations. In honor of David Berger (The Brill Reference Library of Ancient Judaism 33), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2012
- Talya Fishman: Becoming the people of the Talmud. Oral Torah as written tradition in medieval Jewish cultures (Jewish Culture and Contexts), Philadelphia (Pa.): University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011
- Resianne Fontaine/Gad Freudenthal (ed.): Latin-into-Hebrew. Texts and studies 1: Studies (Studies in Jewish History and Culture 39), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2013, X + 494 pp., 3 figures; Alexander Fidora e. a. (ed.): … 2: Texts in contexts (Studies in Jewish History and Culture 40), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2013
- Marc von der Höh e. a. (ed.): Cultural brokers at Mediterranean courts in the Middle Ages (Mittelmeerstudien 1), Paderborn: Fink/Schöningh, 2013
- Johannes von Segovia, De gladio divini spiritus in corda mittendo Sarracenorum. Edition und deutsche Übersetzung mit Einleitung und Erläuterung von Ulli Roth 1–2 (Corpus Islamo-Christianum. Series Latina 7, 1–2), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2012
- Andreas Lehnardt (ed.): Wein und Judentum (Jüdische Kulturgeschichte der Moderne 2), Berlin: Neofelis, 2014
- Sönke Lorenz (†)/Dieter Mertens (ed.): Johannes Reuchlin und der ‘Judenbücherstreit’ (Tübinger Bausteine zur Landesgeschichte 22), Ostfildern: Thorbecke, 2013
- Knut Martin Stünkel: Una sit religio. Religionsbegriffe und Begriffstopologien bei Cusanus, Llull und Maimonides, Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2013
- The Trial of the Talmud. Paris, 1240. Hebrew texts translated by John Friedman. Latin texts translated by Jean Connell Hoff. Historical essay by Robert Chazan (Mediaeval Sources in Translation 53), Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2012
- News
- Project: The Latin Talmud and Its Influence on Christian-Jewish Polemic
- Workshop: New Perspectives on Comparative Medieval History. China and Europe, 800–1600. Workshop Report
- Winter School: Cultural Transfer – Culture as Transfer. Conference Report – IASH Winter School 2014
Keywords for this article
Crusades;
Jerusalem;
Black Death;
Cairo Architecture;
Mamlūk sultan al-Nāṣir Ḥasan
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Editorial: Crossing the Mediterranean World. New Contributions on Transcultural Historiography, History of Mathematics and Art History
- Papers
- Translation-Based Chronicles, Twelfth to Thirteenth Centuries. New Sources for the Arabo-Latin Translation Movement in the Iberian Peninsula
- Fibonacci – Protagonist or Witness? Who Taught Catholic Christian Europe about Mediterranean Commercial Arithmetic?
- Crusader Spolia in Medieval Cairo. The Portal of the Complex of Sultan Ḥasan
- Reviews
- Ra‘anan S. Boustan e. a. (ed.): Envisioning Judaism. Studies in honor of Peter Schäfer on the occasion of his seventieth birthday 1–2, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013
- Elisheva Carlebach/Jacob J. Schacter (ed.): New perspectives on Jewish- Christian relations. In honor of David Berger (The Brill Reference Library of Ancient Judaism 33), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2012
- Talya Fishman: Becoming the people of the Talmud. Oral Torah as written tradition in medieval Jewish cultures (Jewish Culture and Contexts), Philadelphia (Pa.): University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011
- Resianne Fontaine/Gad Freudenthal (ed.): Latin-into-Hebrew. Texts and studies 1: Studies (Studies in Jewish History and Culture 39), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2013, X + 494 pp., 3 figures; Alexander Fidora e. a. (ed.): … 2: Texts in contexts (Studies in Jewish History and Culture 40), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2013
- Marc von der Höh e. a. (ed.): Cultural brokers at Mediterranean courts in the Middle Ages (Mittelmeerstudien 1), Paderborn: Fink/Schöningh, 2013
- Johannes von Segovia, De gladio divini spiritus in corda mittendo Sarracenorum. Edition und deutsche Übersetzung mit Einleitung und Erläuterung von Ulli Roth 1–2 (Corpus Islamo-Christianum. Series Latina 7, 1–2), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2012
- Andreas Lehnardt (ed.): Wein und Judentum (Jüdische Kulturgeschichte der Moderne 2), Berlin: Neofelis, 2014
- Sönke Lorenz (†)/Dieter Mertens (ed.): Johannes Reuchlin und der ‘Judenbücherstreit’ (Tübinger Bausteine zur Landesgeschichte 22), Ostfildern: Thorbecke, 2013
- Knut Martin Stünkel: Una sit religio. Religionsbegriffe und Begriffstopologien bei Cusanus, Llull und Maimonides, Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2013
- The Trial of the Talmud. Paris, 1240. Hebrew texts translated by John Friedman. Latin texts translated by Jean Connell Hoff. Historical essay by Robert Chazan (Mediaeval Sources in Translation 53), Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2012
- News
- Project: The Latin Talmud and Its Influence on Christian-Jewish Polemic
- Workshop: New Perspectives on Comparative Medieval History. China and Europe, 800–1600. Workshop Report
- Winter School: Cultural Transfer – Culture as Transfer. Conference Report – IASH Winter School 2014
