Istanbul Conferences at Pera Museum

As part of the Istanbul Conferences, the Pera Museum Auditorium will host Professor Doris Behrens-Abouseif, who will talk about the diplomatic gift exchange between the Mamluk sultans and other courts of their time (1250-1517). Due to its geographic position, the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, Syria and the Hejaz held the monopoly over the spice trade between the Far East and Europe and controlled the holy sites of both Christianity and Islam. Its international status and leverage worldwide was mirrored in a dense network of diplomatic exchange, making Mamluk Cairo a “crossroad of embassies.” Alongside written and oral messages, diplomatic gifts were a major element in diplomatic communication. Abouseif highlights in this talk some remarkable gifts sent and received by the Mamluks in the course of their diplomatic correspondence with the Ottoman, Timurid and European courts while also shedding light on scenarios that involved some exchanges of gifts. The conference will begin at 6:30 p.m.