Tombs of the Mamluks, Cairo 📍 Egypt 🇪🇬 c. 1860s
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The Mamluks, meaning “owned slaves”, were people from the Caucasus region that acted as slave components of the military in Syria and Egypt. They formed the backbone of the Egyptian military in the 12th and 13th century, when they replaced black African soldiers.
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They soon took power from their overlords and proclaimed the Mamluk Sultanate which lasted for 250 years from the 13th to the 16th century. They are credited with being the first to defeat the Mongols as they swept though the Middle East (and world)
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Most of these monuments were destroyed in July 2020 to make space for a highway.