抄録
In the Islamic period, Egyptian society was controlled by the cycle of the Nilotic fluctuation without changing from the Pharaonic period. The Nile's annual flood usually reached 16 cubit measure on the Nilometer so called the level of wafa) al-Nil (plentitude of the Nile) in the middle of the Coptic last month Misra (in the end of July or the beginning of August). The festival of wafa) al-Nil was held because people in this society regarded the filled Nile as the requirement of their sufficient winter harvest. Consequently, they fixed their eyes on the rise of the Nile's water and looked forward to wafa) al-Nil.
The festival consisted of two rituals, one was takhliq al-Migyas (perfuming the Nilometer) to perfume the column in the well and its walls of the Nilometer in Rawda island by saffron, the other was fath al-khalij (opening the canal) to open the earth dam built at the mouth of Khalij al-Qahira (Cairo canal) and introduce the Nile's water into the canal. The festival was the expression of the gratitude for the grace of Allah and the important partition of the year, showing the beginning of the irrigation, and announcing new agricultural season. For this reason, every Islamic dynasty ruling Egypt considered this festival important, and every monarch had administrated by his own hand since the Fatimid Caliph al-Mu(izz entered Cairo in 362/973.
As for the Burji Mamluk period, we can find, from narratives of chronicles, that sultan administered this festival from the reign of Sultan Barquq to that of Sultan Mu)ayyad Shaykh. However, on the other hand, we can also find that sultan's oldest son who had the title of maqam (crown prince) administered it after 826/1423 until 864/1460, between the reign of Sultan Barsbay and that of Sultan Inal.
This important suggestion that maqam involved in the festival as the administrator has never been pointed out before, although some researches deal with this festival. Moreover, maqam as the title has been paid no attention even in the studies of the Mamluk dominion. Therefore, this thesis aims to clarify the background of this issue, investigating the significant connection between the succession to the throne and the role of maqam.
