Person

Makīn Ibn-al-ʿAmīd, Ǧirǧis al-

1205–1273

Jirjis al-Makin was a Coptic Christian, and held high office in the military in Cairo. Such a position carried risks. He was twice imprisoned, possibly because of links to the contemporary unrest in Syria at the time of the Mongol invasion; in one case for over a decade. After his release, he wrote his chronicle in the years 1262–8, after his career (and his time in prison) was over. Later he moved to Damascus, where he died in 1273.