Although rumored to date back to pre-Islamic times in Gaza, a plaque in the lobby of the bathhouse proclaims that Hamam al-Sammara was restored in 1320 by the Mamluk governor of the city Sanjar al-Jawli.
Along Saliba Street in Medieval Cairo near the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, al-Jawli founded the Khanqah wa Madrasa Salar wa Sanjar al-Jawli in 1304.