Wikala and Sabil-Kuttab of Sultan Qaytbay
The Wikala and Sabil-Kuttab of Sultan Qaytbay is a complex of monuments built by the Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Abu Al-Nasr Qaitbay in 1477 CE (882 AH) in Islamic Cairo, the historic medieval district of Cairo, Egypt. The complex consists of an urban caravanserai (wikala, also spelled wakala), a water dispensary (sabil), a water trough (hod), and a school (kuttab). It is located just south of Al-Azhar Mosque. Historical context It is one of the two wikalas built by Sultan Qa’it Bay during his reign, the other one being Wikala of Sultan Qaytbay on Bab Al-Nasr street. Though the ground floor originally contained storerooms, in modern times it is inhabited by residents of Cairo, while the original living units upstairs are abandoned. The primary function of a sabil was as a public work, to provide water to the community. Charitable acts, especially the supply of food and water to the needy, were considered enormously pious in medieval Islam. The giving of water was especially important to the people of Cairo, because of the city's dry climate and distance from the Nile. Mamluk rulers, including Sultan Qa'it Bay, would grant waqf endowments to maintain aesthetically-pleasing sabils as acts of piety, or even