Skip to main content

Secondary sourceArtifact1303

Madrasa of Al-Nasir Muhammad

1303

A Cairo madrasa and mausoleum built by the Mamluk sultan who hosted Mansa Musa in Cairo during his 1324 pilgrimage.

This Cairo madrasa belonged to the sultan who hosted Musa for three months during his famous pilgrimage of 1324.

Ask Mansa Musa about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Front facade of a stone madrassa with a tall, ornately carved minaret rising above a pointed-arch wooden doorway. Visitors stand in the courtyard in front; a blue information sign stands at right.
Madrasa of al-Nasir Muhammad, Cairo, completed 1303.

About this source

What it is

This madrasa and mausoleum in Cairo was begun under Sultan al-Adil Kitbugha and completed in 1303 by Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, a Mamluk ruler of Egypt. It stands in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area and is notable for a marble gothic portal taken from a church in Acre, and for stucco work resembling styles from Mongol Iran.

Why it matters

Al-Nasir Muhammad was the sultan who received Mansa Musa in Cairo during his three-month stay there in 1324, on his way to and from Mecca. This building reflects the wealth and court culture of the Mamluk capital that Musa encountered and reportedly impressed with his own riches.

Look closer

  • What does the mixing of Cairo, Acre, and Persian styles in one building tell us about the Mamluk Sultanate's connections?
  • Why might a ruler build grand religious and funerary buildings like this one?
  • What does this building not tell us directly about Mansa Musa's visit?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Mansa Musa on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Mansa Musa sources

Meet the AI Mansa Musa →
Detail of a medieval painted map showing a crowned figure seated on a throne, holding a gold coin in one hand and a scepter in the other, with towns, handwritten labels, and wavy sea nearby.Painting

Secondary source

Catalan Atlas: Mansa Musa Enthroned

Abraham Cresques (attributed) · 1375

Open manuscript on a display, pages covered in brown-ink Arabic script on aged, yellowed paper. The left page is written in handwriting across most of its lines, and the right page has a decorated heading at the top followed by dense Arabic text. The leather-bound spine is visible at the left edge.Book

Secondary source

Tarikh al-Sudan

Abderrahmane Es Saâdi · c. 1655

Tall mud-brick mosque with stepped towers, small wooden beam projections on its walls, and a low wall with arched buttresses and a wooden door, set on sandy ground under a pale sky.Artifact

Secondary source

Sankoré Madrasa

14th-15th century

Detail of a medieval painted map showing a seated crowned figure holding a gold coin and a scepter on a throne, a camel rider in green robes and turban on the left, walled cities drawn in red and purple, red rhumb lines, and handwritten Catalan-style text in brown ink.Painting

Primary source

Catalan Atlas, Sheet 6: Western Sahara

Abraham Cresques · 1375

Exterior view looking up at a mud-brick mosque with a tall tapering tower topped by a rounded dome, with protruding wooden beam ends set in its walls. A large studded wooden door sits at lower left beside steps, under a pale sky with power lines crossing.Artifact

Secondary source

Djinguereber Mosque

1327 (traditional date)

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Mansa Musa now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions