Site and urban network
[Picture source: © 2009 Stefan Knost] [Picture source: © 2009 Stefan Knost] 
Figure 1: Main alley of Banqusa to the northeast, with Waqf Raqban to the right. [Picture source: © 2009 Stefan Knost] The buildings of the Waqf Raqban are situated next to each other outside Bab al-Hadid on the main thoroughfare that traverses the Banqusa suburb. (Fig. 1) It seems that that area was already well developed in Mamluk times, and a number of mosques, public fountains and hammams date from that period. These include the Mushatiyya Mosque (cf. Jamiʿ al-Mushatiyya), probably from the 15th century, the Qarliq (built in 1389), and three other hammams and khans dating from the Mamluk period exist outside Bab al-Hadid.[1] By the 16th century, then, Aleppo already had a highly urbanized area concentrating services linked to the caravan trade.
