While the Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk realm in 1516-17 doubtlessly changed the balance of political power in Egypt and Greater Syria, the changes must be seen as a wideranging transition process. The present volume with contributions both by scholars from Mamluk and Ottoman studies provides several case studies on the changing situation during the 15th and 16th centuries and explains how the reconfiguration of political power affected both Egypt and Greater Syria. By combining both perspectives, the authors provide a more comprehensive, but nuanced picture of the process of transformation.

While the Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk domain in 1516–17 doubtlessly changed the balance of political power in Egypt and Greater Syria, the changes must be seen as a wideranging transition process. The present volume provides several case studies on the changing situation during the 15th and 16th centuries and explains how the reconfiguration of political power affected both Egypt and Greater Syria. The concept of transition has been introduced in the first volume (2017) in order to shed a new light on 16th-century Mamluk Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire. This second volume continues to examine continuities and changes during the transitional process with contributions both by scholars from Mamluk and Ottoman studies. By combining both perspectives, the authors provide a more comprehensive, but nuanced picture of the process of transformation.

Yehoshua Frenkel is Professor of Middle Eastern History at the University of Haifa. His research interests embrace popular culture, Islamic etiquette, communal practices, social history, and legal discourse in Middle and Late Caliphate Egypt and Syria (1055–1517).