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Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in Egypt and Africa. Ahmed Ibn Tulun was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty in Egypt. He established a new capital of Egypt called Al Qatai and founded his mosque in the middle of the city on a hill called Jabal Yashkur. The purpose of building Al Qatai was to announce his independence from the Abbasid Caliphate. The mosque was built in 876 A.D. and designed by the famous Egyptian architect Said Ibn Kateb Al Farghany.
Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque was influenced by the Samarran style of architecture. The mosque has one of the most unique minarets in Islamic architecture in Egypt. It features a spiral outer staircase inspired by the minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq.