SOCIAL LIFE IN EGYPT AND THE LEVANT DURING THE EARLY REIGN OF SULTAN BARQUQ 784-801 AH / 1382-1399 AD THROUGH THE JOURNEYS OF THE ITALIAN TRAVELERS FRESCOBALDI AND SIGOLI

Abstract

This article examines the journeys of the Italian travelers Leonardo Frescobaldi and Simone Sigoli who visited Egypt and the Levant in 786 AH / 1384 A.D. The accounts of their trips provide political, economic, social and religious information about the Mamluk state at that time. The study identifies their sources for information that they did not see themselves and highlights the value of the most important observations about social conditions in Egypt and the Levant, traditions, dress, religious rituals and festivals, and the status of women in the Islamic society. The two travel accounts are important for the study of social conditions in the Levant and Egypt in the Mamluk era. The two trailers relied on sources like consuls, translators, and merchants who transmitted unique information about social life, customs, traditions and dress that other European travelers did not report.