The first articles in this collection investigate patterns of settlement and communication in medieval Egypt, looking in particular at the growth, the planning and the buildings of Cairo and its precursors as capital of Egypt, and comparing this with the situation in the provinces. From this basis Jean-Claude Garcin constructs a periodisation which he suggests may serve as an index for the development of Egypt as a whole. The articles in the second part concentrate on the Mamluk period of Egyptian history and on the contrasting attitudes of the military class, the ’ulama and those of the mystics. They have as their main theme the exercise of power, the use of force and the social, cultural and religious reactions that this evoked, and reveal the continuing strength of the cultural attitudes of the past during this period.