The Art of the Saracens in Egypt

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Stanley Lane-Poole's study of Saracenic art opens as both a scholarly correction and a vivid tour through medieval Egypt's artistic world. Rejecting loose labels such as "Arab" or "Mohammadan," he defines Saracenic art as a distinct Eastern tradition best preserved in Egypt, especially Cairo, where dated monuments, inscriptions, and surviving craftsmanship offer the clearest record of its development. His method is rigorous and historical: rather than a full architectural history, he traces the evolution of ornament, carving, metalwork, glass, pottery, textiles, and manuscripts through carefully authenticated examples and the testimony of Arabic and European sources. The book also serves as a guide to Egypt's political and artistic past, from the Arab conquest and the barren governorate years to Ibn Tūlūn's ambitious capital, the glittering court of Khumāraweyh, and the Fātimid founding of Cairo and al-Azhar. Its richest focus is the Mamlūk period, when Cairo's mosques and hospitals produced the finest surviving art. Among the highlights are carved wooden panels from Sultan Kalaūn's Māristān, alive with birds, hunters, centaurs, and deer, revealing Persian, Mesopotamian, and older Near Eastern influences within a uniquely Egyptian Islamic style.