ABSTRACT
This paper presents evidence for the relevance of four sciences and their practices to the Ayyubid and Mamluk elites in Egypt and Syria from the twelfth through the fifteenth century. These four sciences are timekeeping, astrology, philosophy, and alchemy. The importance of timekeeping in the Mamluk realm has been amply documented by the work of David A. King. This paper adds to his results some information about the social recognition of its practitioners. For astrology and philosophy, the paper argues based on historical chronicles and biographical dictionaries that both disciplines were practised during the times when the Ayyubids and Mamluks ruled. The focus with regard to astrology are several stories highlighting how members of the elite used expert knowledge for learning about their future, planning their activities, or coping with a solar eclipse. In contrast, the focus on philosophy is the critical analysis of historiographical approaches to interpreting narratives about the alleged interdiction of the study of this and other disciplines from the so-called ancient sciences. The last section assembles data about scholars who engaged in alchemy, the outcome of their activities, and the evaluation of their efforts by the chronicles.
