Qarafa (the city of the dead) became a real important burial ground during the Bahri Mamluks (1250-1382) and Circassian Mamluks (1382-1517).

Mamluks in Arabic mean "possessed" and the Mamluks was slave soldiers coming from Turkey and Black Sea area brought to Egypt as young boys. Then raised in the household of the sultan. When they reached maturity they were freed and remained the sultans loyal advisors and lifeguards, a kind of elite army so to say.

The last Ayyubid sultan died when the Sixth Crusade invaded Egypt, and his wife Shaggarat El Dorr took control and the Mamluks captured the French king in 1250. Shaggarat El Dorr marry later the Mamluk leader As-Salih and becomes the first (and only) Muslim Sultana. Her story could fill books, but important here is that from her death Egypt starts to be ruled by Mamluks. It's a strong area in Egypt's long history with its unique Mamluk architecture and the City of the Dead is maybe the best place to witness the remains of this period.

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