Articles

De muwaqqit in 14de-eeuws Syrië & Egypte: Tussen religieus geleerde en wetenschapper?

---

Abstract

This article deals with the function of the muwaqqit or Islamic timekeeper in the 14th century
Syro-Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate. On the basis of the case study of lbn al-Shatir, I
will argue that this function cannot be understood as that of a scientist in the service of
lslam, as it has been presented until now. This view on the muwaqqit is based on studies
which focus solely on the treatises written by muwaqqits themselves, considering them as
mere conveyors of facts that do not need any contextualisation. A socio-historical outlook
which studies texts of the muwaqqit lbn al-Shatir in relation to other cultural and socio-political
practices among which they took shape, provides amore nuanced altemative to
this view and opens new avenues for research.

How to Cite:

De Block, F., (2015) “De muwaqqit in 14de-eeuws Syrië & Egypte: Tussen religieus geleerde en wetenschapper?”, Handelingen - Koninklijke Zuid-Nederlandse maatschappij voor taal- en letterkunde en geschiedenis 69, 203-216. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/kzm.v69i0.17534