Rania El Sayed

In Ayyubid Egypt during the reign of Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil, Abū Djaʿfar Muḥammad al-Idrīsī (1173-1251), a first-generation Egyptian of Moroccan origin, sparked national consciousness in the 13th century by writing one of the literature’s most prominent treatises written on the Pyramids of Egypt entitled Anwār ʿUluww al-Ad̲j̲rām fī’l-Kash̲ ̲f ʿan Asrār al-Ahrām”.
In this paper, I demonstrate how the pyramids of Egypt, the ancient monuments and the hieroglyphic script all served as enduring symbols of a unique Egyptian identity.
The paper was delivered in the English language and published in the Arabic langauge in the book entitled Huwīyatu Miṣr: al-Abʻād wa al-Taḥawwulāt, edited by Professor Nassir Ibrahim

While it is true that Egyptian nationalism was born in the early 19th century, the national consciousness or national identity of the Egyptian people is deeply rooted in the pre-modern period. The Arabic literature of Medieval Egypt manifests a surge in Pharaonism movement. Ruled by ethnically but not religiously foreign dynasties, the Egyptian intelligentsia contemporary to the reign of the Ayyubid and Mamluk Muslim Sultans, articulated their ethnic superiority owing to their affiliation to a Pharaonic ancestry. In the 13th century, an Egyptian historian named al-Idrisi penned his treatise Anwār ʻulwī al-Ajrām fī al-Kashf ʻan Asrār al-Ahrām on the Pyramids of Egypt. In his treatise, al-Idrisi advocates Pharaonism by sanctifying the Pyramids which he repeatedly describes according to A. Smith: a sacred territory of an inalienable homeland. Al-Idrisi employs Islam as the system of belief adopted by the state, its holy texts, practices, and morals to urge the people of Egypt to visit and pay respect to the Pyramids, and its ‘sacred’ vicinity, in which the ancestors and heroes of Egypt’s golden age are buried. In attempting to “territorialise memory” as A. Smith describes it, al-Idrisi neutralizes the (material) culture and heritage of ancient Egypt to become an integral part of the practices and traditions of Islam. Al-Idrisi even states that one of the Pyramids is the tomb of a prophet hailed in the Quran. This paper attempts to examine the articulation of the Egyptian national identity or national consciousness and its relationship to Islam through an analysis of al-Idrisi’s 13th century treatise.

The 27th Conference of the Association of the Study of Ethnicity & Nationalism
Anthony Smith & The Future of Nationalism: Ethnicity, Religion And Culture, 27-28 March 2017, London School of Economics

Exchanging pureblood horses was the hallmark of the Mamlūk Sultanate. A Mamlūk sultan would bestow a gift as valuable as purebred horses upon members of his entourage should the latter reciprocate with devotion and allegiance to the sultan and the Sultanate. The exchange on behalf of the sultan would vary from gifting a single pureblood or commissioning the construction of stables.
History chronicles such al-Maqrizi’s  al-mawāiz wa al-'i'tibār bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athār reveal the exchange tradition practiced by Sultan al-Nāṣir Mohammed b. Ḳalāwūn. He did not restrict the exchange on his entourage; he extended the practice beyond the boundaries of Egypt to include Bedouin tribes of Syria, such as Banū Muhanna Banū Fadl. It is reported that Sultan al-Nāṣir bestowed iqta'at upon the then chief of Muhanna tribe in exchange for pureblood horses.
It seems that an implicit agreement took place between al-Nāṣir and Banū Muhanna and Banū Fadl: al-Nāṣir would bestow titles and lands upon both tribes in exchange of acquiring the most prized purebloods owned by the tribe or other neighbouring or rivalling tribes. While Banū Muhanna and Banū Fadl would provide al-Nāṣir with a constant flow of pureblood horses in exchange for power and money and supremacy above the rest of the Bedouin tribes.
Tracing pureblood horses masked acts of espionage whether for the benefit of the Muhannas and al-Fadl or for al-Nāṣir.
In this paper, I shall discuss the exchange practiced between Sultan- al-Nāṣir b. Ḳalāwūn and the Bedouin tribe of Muhanna and contextualize the exchange within the contemporary political upheaval.

Third Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies
University of Chicago
June 23–25, 2016

The ancient Greeks prized the Quince as a symbol of fertility and dedicated it to the Goddess Aphrodite. It was also a wedding gift presented to the bride on her wedding day as a token and wish for fruitfulness and to sweeten her breath on her wedding night.

Centuries later, the quince was rediscovered and landed itself a prestigious status in Islam. It is reported that Prophet Muhammad was approached by people who complained to him about the ugliness of their born infants. He recommended feeding pregnant women quince, particularly during the third and the fourth months of a pregnancy. The beauty of the infants is reported to then be guaranteed.
The Sunnīs as well as the Shīʿas narrate numerous hadiths on the blessings of the quince. For a man, it is supposed to enhance the quality of his sperm and purify his heart. His tongue would utter wisdom for forty continuous days after eating the quince. It is the food of prophets, for it grants them courage and steadfastness required for their arduous mission. According to another hadith ascribed to Prophet Muhammad, eating quince three times a day clears the mind, drives away Satan’s evil doing and bestows knowledge and prudence upon the eater. For women, eating quince is no less important. It is supposed to freshen their breath, combat negative symptoms of pregnancy such as vomiting and nausea and prevent abortion.

This paper traces the quince and its symbolism in Sunnī and Shīʿa ḥadīth collections and attempts to contextualize the hadiths on the quince in the late antique world.

AGYA-Conference “Insatiable Appetite: Food as a Cultural Signifier”
Lebanon, 11-14 May 2016
American University of Beirut

In Chapter 9 of the catalogue entitled, Al-Tibb: Healing Traditions in Islamic Medical Manuscripts, I discuss the Mamluk equestrianism and veterinary in the era of the Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun and the treatise his veterinarian Abu Bakr al-Nasiri wrote.
The catalogue is published by Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia

On the 28th of April 2023, I gave a talk to members of Friends of Manial Palace Museum chaired by HRH Prince Abbas Hilmi, on my ethnographic study of an equestrian game known as Al-Mirmah. This equestrian game is specific to Upper Egypt, a region known to be the home of tribes migrating from Arabian peninsula since the Islamic conquest of Egypt. A typical al-Mirmah tournament comprises three disciplines, and is organized to commemorate Muslim saints (known as 'moulids'), Islamic occasions, in addition to weddings. The art of horse riding and training is transmitted orally from one generation to another. The performance of local breed horses is preferred to other breeds which led to their continuous breeding and preservation.