Al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub before his death, he built a rather unique school (madrasa) between 1242 and 1244, with the later addition of a tomb. This mausoleum was built in 1250 by Shajarat al-Durr, the wife of Salih al-Din who outlived him and became famous as she ruled with the first of the Mamluk sultans after his death. Though several madrasas were built in al-Qahira and al-Fustat (modern
Cairo) during this period, many of them amongst houses and palaces, this is about the only one to have survived in a condition that allows its design to be fully explored.
The construct is unique in that it was the first known example of a tomb being attached to a madrasa. The transitional zone of the mausoleum has the earliest example of a Cairene three-tiered brick muqarnas squince. Another notable feature of the mausoleum is that its Mihrab is the earliest extant example of an Egyptian prayer niche with a marble lining, and there remains a fine, wooden cenotaph marking the tomb itself. There are two carved wooden Qaranic friezes around the chamber. A part of the mausoleum protruded into the street and on this side were windows fronted by iron grilles, behind which sat the reciters of the Qur'an, whose recitations invoked the blessings of those passing by. The Mausoleum became a site of grand Bahri Mamluk ceremonials, for it was here that new Mamluk amirs, upon descending from the Citadel in a long procession, pledged allegiance to the sultan.
