Author
A team of local architects and architects from the city of Aleppo participated in the restoration of the Old City Wall, and they held the title of Architect in the Jerusalem Wall or Architect of the Sultan in the Wall.
Author Original
شارك في ترميم سور المدينة القديمة فريق من معمارين محليين ومعمارين وافدين من مدينة حلب، وحمل هؤلاء لقب معمار في سور القدس أو معمار السلطان بالسور
Publication Date
945 / 1538- 1539
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;pa;Mon01;34;ar
Library Location
It is located in the wall of the eastern wall of Jerusalem, and it is the only open door in this wall, Jerusalem
Date
945 / 1538- 1539
Notes
Bab al-Asbat has a large oriental architectural façade that shows the features and characteristics of the military architecture that prevailed in the 10th/16th century and which belongs to the Ottoman architectural school while maintaining some Mamluk architecture traditions. The facade was built of large stones, especially in the lower courses, and a rectangular door opened in the middle of this facade, inside an apse slightly set back from the level of the facade. Above the door opening is a motor arch, above which stands a solid rectangular stone panel, perhaps intended to be a decorative element. On both sides of the plate and at the top in the middle, there is a prominent circular pad that resembles a disc. The entrance opening is crowned by a pointed arch, and on each side of the arch there is a stone-relief carving of a pair of lions or lions representing the blazon (emblem) of the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baybars (ruled in the period 658-676 / 1260-1277). The name of this door, the Lions Gate, is due to the presence of these sculptural pieces that were originally located in a khan built by Sultan Baybars to the west of the Old City of Jerusalem, and were reused to decorate the wall. Several folklore stories have been written about the sculpture of the pair of lions and the purpose of its presence in the architectural fabric of the wall, but these stories lack evidence to confirm their authenticity. Directly at the outer edge of each pair of lions, there is a raised circular panel decorated with a floral ornament. Above and below this decoration there is a hole or mazghal for throwing arrows and observing, and each of the two upper holes ends with a circular disk devoid of decoration. Two levels high from the pointed arch, there is a small observation deck. The balcony rests on a cantilever with four supports, and is crowned by a gabled roof. On each side of the balcony is a blind spire that ends in a small, pointed, lobed arch (gedron). The façade ends at the top with a group of rectangular balconies. The entrance to Bab al-Asbat leads to a porch with a square ceiling and a fan-vaulted ceiling. The entrance is broken, as whoever enters the gate must face north, instead of walking in a straight line towards the west, and this is a feature of military architecture intended to hinder attackers. During the British Mandate period, the western wall of the entrance was removed, which facilitated direct entry instead of cutting to the north. The doors open on both the west and south sides with a pointed arch. Above the southern arch, a rectangular stone plaque was installed with an inscription written in the Ottoman Naskh script indicating that the one who ordered the construction of the door in the year 954 / 1538-1539 was Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
Sample Text
Yusuf al-Natsheh “Bab al-Asbat” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;pa;Mon01;34;ar
