Although the dramatic changes to the land tenure system of medieval Egypt that occurred during the crucial period of Mamluk rule (648-923/1250-1517) has been a matter of academic enquiry for decades, earlier interpretations deserve re-evaluation in light of new evidence and methodologies. Earlier studies have largely focused on the fifteenth century and the growing amount of agrarian land subsumed by endowments (sing. waqf, pl. awqaf). This paper intends to outline the complexity of the changing agrarian landscape that took place over the course of the Mamluk period using a digital database that combines the data from Ibn al-Ji'an's (d. 885/1480) cadastral survey with the first digital mapping of Mamluk Egypt's land tenure system using GIS. The database, built around the earliest dateable and as yet unpublished manuscript of Ibn al-Ji'an's survey held at the Bodleian Library, describes in textual terms the state of Mamluk Egypt's land tenure system at two important crucial periods: the reigns of Sultan al-Ashraf Sha'ban (r. 764-778/1363-1377) and al-Ashraf Qaytbay (r. 872-901/1468-1496). The ability to manipulate this 'big data' source will allow previously buried trends to be revealed. By employing data visualization techniques with traditional textual analysis, this paper shows not only the origins of long-term trends but also changing inhabitation of rural communities. The "waqfization" of state lands so prominent in the late fifteenth century will be shown to have originated in the late fourteenth century. This earlier origin date has large historiographical implications since this trend has often been generally attributed to economic decline of the fifteenth century. Furthermore, the database provides a starting point for future enquiries. The changing inhabitation patterns of rural communities outlined in the survey's data, due to depopulation and Bedouin encroachment, offers tantalizing opportunities for archeologists wishing to explore these important events. Finally, while the increased investment for digital projects has often been viewed as a potential drawback, this paper will show the advantages outweigh those concerns.