Rich Man - Poor Man: Two Muslim Pilgrims in Ottoman Cairo of the 17th Century
Located on the pilgrimage route (darb al-hajj) to Mecca and Medina, Ottoman Cairo was the place where Muslim pilgrims could venerate local Muslim “saints” and attend classes of renowned representatives of the cultural elite in Egyptian higher education schools - madrasas (primarily, in al-Azhar). Nevertheless, not all pilgrims could equally embrace the Islamic spiritual heritage. Some of them met in person the most authoritative experts on Muslim theology and law, while other travelers often did not have such an opportunity. Studying the treatises of two Arab-Muslim travelers of the 17th century, ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi and Muhammad Kibrit, we can simulate the structure, content and nature of cultural exchange and complex network of interpersonal contacts among intellectual circles of Greater Syria, Egypt and the Hijaz.