Wikala and Sabil-Kuttab of Sultan Qaytbay

Charitable acts, especially the supply of food and water to the needy, were considered enormously pious in medieval Islam.

[3] The giving of water was especially important to the people of Cairo, because of the city's dry climate and distance from the Nile.

[3] The wikala portion makes up the majority of the complex, with the sabil-kuttab and a watering trough for animals lying on the western end.

In the late Burji Mamluk period, street-level sabils such as this one, were accompanied by a kuttab on the upper floors.

The kuttab served as a place to teach children the Quran and was, again, considered a pious donation on part on the sultan.