This present chapter is part of an ongoing larger study on the history of Gaza and the surrounding countryside in the late Middle Ages, with an emphasis on the Mamluk period. My interest in late medieval Gaza was piqued while leafing through the then recently published Volume 4 of Moshe Sharon's Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palestinae (CIAP), which is largely devoted to Gaza City. I was struck by the large number of Mamluk-era inscriptions, almost seventy, which is similar to the quantity that we find in Jerusalem from the same period. The corpus of Mamluk epigraphy of Gaza is a little different from that of Jerusalem, mainly in the fact that many of the inscriptions in the former are devoted to a few important projects (particularly thirteen in the Great Mosque, originally a Crusader church), while in Jerusalem, the inscriptions are generally each devoted to one construction project.

This large corpus of extant Mamluk inscriptions in Gaza, early on the provincial capital for south-west Palestine, along with much of the coast, is clear evidence of large-scale patronage in the city by the military–political elite, hinting at not insignificant cultural and intellectual activity there. This impression has been confirmed by my subsequent researches into the quarter millennium of the city's history under the Mamluks, showing also demographic and economic prosperity throughout this period. This view has been further strengthened by the examination of the history of the city's agricultural hinterland, where a few interesting Mamluk (and Ayyubid; see below) inscriptions have been found, and we can also postulate a thriving rural sector. In short, Gaza and its environs under the Mamluks seem to have been a vibrant place in many respects.

While some important preliminary studies on Mamluk-era Gaza and its immediate hinterland have been published, notably by ‘Ata Allah and Sadek, we lack a comprehensive and up-to-date monographic study. It is thus with some relish that I have embarked on my own study of Mamlukera Gaza. To this end, one must look back over the earlier centuries to the region's history, in order to provide background, to examine long-term trends and to have a point of reference for the Mamluk era.