merchandise as well). The three upper floors, above the portico, were part of the rab''' (a complex of low-income apartments for rent). Each apartment was arranged vertically across three floors, with the first floor usually featuring a reception room and latrines and the upper floors containing sleeping quarters and other private spaces. In the middle of the main courtyard is a fountain decorated in marble mosaics. The building's only external facade faces the street to the north, and is distinguished by its regular rows of windows and mashrabiyas just like its interior courtyard facade. The entrance is marked by a monumental portal that is ornately decorated with a trilobed groin vault, stone-carved muqarnas, marble mosaics, and alternating colored stone. Such monumentality was not typical of most wikalas, but it was a notable characteristic of both religious and commercial structures built by al-Ghuri and his predecessor Sultan Qaitbay (who built two other major wikalas as mentioned above). Gallery References Mamluk architecture in Egypt Buildings and structures in Cairo Medieval Cairo