PARIS.- The Musée du Louvre is dedicating an exhibition to the Mamluk sultanate (1250–1517), recounting the unique, glorious history of an Egypto-Syrian empire that brought about a golden age in the Near East during the Islamic period.

Comprising some 260 works from various international collections, the exhibition explores the rich productions of this remarkable, but little-known, society, whose visual culture considerably influenced the history of art and architecture in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel/the Palestinian Territories and Jordan.

This dynasty originated from an unconventional system made up of military slaves (the ‘Mamluks’), generally hailing from Turkey, then the Caucasus. They were bought or captured, then taught the principles of Islam and the art of war in the barracks in Cairo or in the great Syrian cities. They formed a military caste, of which a number gained their freedom and climbed to the top of the military hierarchy that controlled the state. The Mamluk dynasty built its notoriety through military might. Over the course of two and a half centuries, the Mamluk sultanate conquered the last bastions of the Crusaders, fought and repulsed the Mongol threat, survived Timur’s invasions and kept its threatening Turkish and Ottoman neighbours at bay before succumbing to the latter’s expansionism.

Mamluk society was a diverse patchwork of populations, who benefited from a great deal of social mobility and developed a complex, multifaceted culture which grew to become the cultural heart of the Arab world. A world in which sultans mingled with emirs and rich civil elites, all actively engaged in artistic patronage. A pluralistic society in which women as well as Christian and Jewish minorities had a place. A strategic territory where Europe, Africa and Asia converged and in which people and ideas circulated, as did merchandise and artistic repertoires. Textiles, objets d’art, manuscripts, paintings, ivories, stone and wood interior décors reveal a teeming artistic, literary, religious and scientific world.

Over forty years after the first exhibition dedicated to this dynasty (in Washington D.C., 1981), and in a European first, the Musée du Louvre presents 260 works, a third of which are held in the Louvre’s collection, alongside domestic and international loans of foremost importance.

The exhibition is articulated around five sections:

• The Mamluk sense of identity, exemplified by great figures such as sultans and emirs;

• A pluralistic, cosmopolitan society, where men and women, ulamas and Sufis, writers, merchants and artisans, and Christian and Jewish minorities all existed side by side;

• The wealth brought by intermingling cultures: military, religious, literary and popular, scientific and technical;

• The connections established with surrounding countries, which made the Mamluk sultanate into another ‘Middle Kingdom’;

• The character of Mamluk art and its major accomplishments, bringing together extraodinary works of calligraphy, design, textile, ceramics, enamelled glass, metal inlay and woodwork.

Through the spectacular scenography directed by the agency BGC, along with dedicated immersive interpretation spaces, the exhibition offers visitors an in-depth look into the world of the Mamluks. A series of portraits shown at various points in the exhibition will allow visitors to come face-to-face with historical figures representative of Mamluk society, telling their unique stories as part of the greater history.

This is an unprecedented opportunity to discover this glorious and yet little-known empire through masterpieces from around the world, providing a new perspective on medieval Egypt and the Near East, at a time when it stood at a cultural junction between Asia, Africa and Europe.