الفهرس 
Introductionيوجد فقط 14 صفحة متاحة للعرض العام
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المستخلص
There is a special kind of magic in ”fireworks”, that term which always has a strong correlation with joy and excitement. ”Fireworks during the Mamluk sultanate in Egypt (648 – 923 A.H / 1250 – 1517 A.D)” is an interesting and rich topic that deserves to be discussed with studious care and attention.
Despite the key historical and civilizational significance of this topic, researchers did not study it with due attention. The subject of this thesis has not been tackled before in a detailed study. It was only mentioned in few researches; The most important of them was that of Ṭāriq Manṣūr and Maḥāsin al-Waqqād entitled ”al-Nafṭ istiḫdāmuhu wa taṭawwuruhu ʻinda al-muslimīn (64 – 923 A.H / 684 – 1517 A.D)” that was published in Cairo in 2006 as they specified a considerable part about the usage of nafṭ in the various celebrations and ceremonies occurred in the Mamluk period. Moreover, the second part of ”al-Malā‘īb fī ‘aṣr salāṭīn al-mamālīk, hazl fursān al-ḫayl wa ba‘ḍ mā yunazzih nufūsuhum wa abdānuhum qabla yawm al-ḥaqā᾿iq” for Nabīl ‘Abd al-‘Azīz which was published also in Cairo in 2006 is also a very appreciated reference as it presented a full discussion of playing with fire during this period. It also mentioned many historical citations that are clearly evident in the usage of fireworks under the Mamluk rule.
The importance of fireworks during the Mamluk period emerged the need for a specialized study. That was the reason behind the researcher’s selection of this topic to be her subject matter to get the master Degree from Tourism Guidance Department, Faculty of Arts at ‘Ain Shams University.
The research includes a preface, an introduction, four chapters and a conclusion. The introduction tackles firstly the usage of fire in seriousness and amusement. Then, it discusses the debate about gunpowder that explosive mixture which different civilizations competed in ascribing its invention to themselves. After that, it elaborates on the history of gunpowder in the Arab civilization through discussing the terms of potassium nitrate and its uses. it sets forth the terms that denoted gunpowder in the Arabic sources. Finally, it tackles a study for dating gunpowder and cannons in the Arab civilization.
As for the first chapter whose title is ”Celebrations and occasions witnessing fireworks in accordance with the Mamluk historical sources”, it tackles the various historical marks of the fireworks’ usage in the different celebrations and occasions during the Mamluk period. Actually, fireworks were used as one of the manifestations of religious festivals, national ceremonies, river celebrations and family celebrations. In addition, they played a magnificent role in entertainment as well as power show off during the Mamluks’ rule.
The second chapter, entitled ”Types of fireworks”, states that the Mamluks used three basic types of fireworks: nafṭ ignition which was known in the historical Mamluk sources as iḥrāqat nafṭ, fire performance that was strongly correlated with horsemanship as well as fire tricks which seemed to be a kind of magic. These various kinds of fireworks that Mamluks knew are fully discussed in this chapter.
Regarding the third chapter, it tackles the ”Tools of fireworks” that Mamluks used during the different shows of fireworks, such as mangonels, cannons, hurling tubes, nafṭ containers, fireable statues, fire trees and towers of fire. Mamluks even rendered their personal arms as swords, lances, flags, maces and arrows into fiery ones. They also used fireable armours like helmets, body armours and bucklers.
The fourth chapter which entitled ”Fireworks’ artificers” discusses their identity, tasks, costumes and tools. It also tackles their role on land and in sea either in war or peace besides their role during different celebrations and occasions. It elaborates on the work risks of those artificers and the ways of protecting them from fire. It ends by studying the social status of this category in the Mamluk society. It is annexed by a list that includes the names of some zarrāqūn princes.
Finally, the conclusion includes the most important results of the study. Moreover, the thesis includes a number of addenda which shed more light upon some aspects of this study. There is also a list of bibliography used in this thesis. The dissertation is also accompanied by a portfolio of some relevant plates.