17TH CENTURY EGYPT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF JEAN DE THÉVENOT

The Ottoman geography became a center where many travelers visited in order to explore, observe or trade. The focus of these travelers was not only the imperial center but also sovereign regions such as Egypt. The works they wrote are important sources for understanding the history, culture and geography of the Ottoman Empire and the regions under its sovereignty. Each of them provided remarkable information by looking at the Ottoman lands from a different perspective in their own period. French traveler and geographer Jean de Thévenot, who lived between 1633-1667, is one of them. He started his travels in the middle of the 17th century. Thévenot made three different journeys between 1655-1667. Some of the cities the traveler saw were Istanbul, Alexandria, Rashid and Cairo. He made detailed notes of his travels. This work contains important information, especially about the culture, geography and lifestyle of the East. He traveled to Egypt in 1657 and stayed there for about two years. His work is a valuable source because it describes the situation of Egypt in that period in detail. It offers a perspective on Egypt in particular and the Ottoman Empire in general. In addition, he examined Egypt’s history, culture, geography and social structure in detail. In his work, he shared various information about the cities on the banks of the Nile River, Egyptian architecture, the daily life and traditions of the local people. In addition, he provides enlightening data on the administration of Egypt, which was far from the center, despite being within the borders of the Ottoman Empire. This study aims to reveal the socio-economic and political life of Egypt in the 17th century by making a comparative analysis of Arabic-Turkish chronicles, Ottoman archive documents and data in the literature, based on Thévenot's travelogue.