Name of Monument:

Bab al-Asbat

Also known as:

Lady Mary Gate; St Stephen’s Gate; Lion’s Gate

Location:

Bab al-Asbat is located in the wall of the eastern enclosure of Jerusalem and is the only gate open on this side of the wall, Jerusalem

Date of Monument:

Hegira 945 / AD 1538–9

Architect(s) / master-builder(s):

A team of local architects as well as architects from the city of Aleppo participated in the restoration of the walls of the old city. The walls bear the titles of individual architects and the mark of the Sultan’s architect.

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Patron(s):

Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent (r. 926–74 / AD 1520–66).

Description:

Bab al-Asbat has a large eastern façade that reveals a number of distinguishing traits and characteristics specific to military architecture. This style predominated in the AH 10th / AD 16th century and is associated with the School of Ottoman architecture, along with the retention of some traditions pertinent to Mamluk architecture.
The façade was constructed from stones of immense size especially in the lower courses. In a recess in the middle of the façade there is a rectangular portal, above which is a mortar arch. Above the arch there is a rectangular stone plaque which might have been designed as a decorative element. On each side of the plaque, and above it in the middle, there is a projecting circular panel that resembles a medallion. The entrance opening is crowned by a pointed arch. On either side of the arch there is a stone carving in relief of a pair of lions, which represent the blazon of the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baybars (r. AH 658–76 / AD 1260–77). The gate was therefore assigned the name Bab al-Asbat (Lion's Gate). The gate structure dates to the placement of the carved lions, and although their presence within the architectural fabric of the walls is linked to a number of popular tales, the veracity of these cannot be confirmed with any certainty. Directly on the outer edge of each of the two pairs of lions there is a projecting circular panel decorated with vegetal ornamentation. Above and below this panel there are embrasures for shooting arrows which were also utilised as look-outs, the two upper ones end with a circular medallion, devoid of decoration. Two courses away from the keystone of the pointed arch there is a small observation balcony. This is held up by a bracket with four supports, and covered by a gabled roof. On either side of the balcony there is a window, the top of which terminates in a small tapered and lobed arch. At the top of the façade there are a series of rectangular balconies.
The entrance to Bab al-Asbat leads to a vestibule with a square floor plan and a ceiling with a fan-shaped vault. The entrance is typical of military architecture as, in an attempt to impede the progress of the enemy, the vestibule is elbow-shaped, whereby on entering it the visitor is forced to go north instead of moving straight in a westward direction. In the period of the British Mandate the western wall of the entrance was removed, allowing direct entry without the northward bend. The vestibule opens on the south and west sides with a tapered arch. Mounted above the southern arch there is a rectangular stone panel upon which there is an inscription in Ottoman naskhi script. The inscription indicates that the order to build the gate was given in AH 954 (AD 1538–9) by Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent.

This is the only open gate in the eastern wall of Jerusalem (other gates are closed off with stone). It was built by the Ottoman sultan, Sulayman the Magnificent, when he ordered the building of the city’s walls and gate. It is composed of two vestibules that are at right angles to each other for defence purposes. The exterior of the gate is characterised by many decorations, the most important being a pair of lions carved in stone. This was the blazon of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars and was probably brought from another building to adorn the gate. A foundation inscription appears on the gate.

How Monument was dated:

Bab al-Asbat is dated by a carved inscription on the inside wall of the southern façade.

Selected bibliography:

Natsheh, Y., “The Architecture of Ottoman Jerusalem”, in S. Auld and R. Hillenbrand (eds), Ottoman Jerusalem: The Living City 1517–1917 (Part II), London, 2000.

Citation of this web page:

Yusuf al-Natsheh "Bab al-Asbat" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;pa;Mon01;34;en

Prepared by: Yusuf Al-NatshehYusuf al-Natsheh

Yusuf Said Natsheh is a Palestinian and since 1997 he has been Director of the Department of Islamic Archaeology in al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem. He is a lecturer at al-Quds University. He was educated in Jerusalem and Cairo and in 1997 obtained his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Dr Natsheh is a council member of many Palestinian societies for architectural heritage and a consultant for various projects on Jerusalem. He has written books and more than 40 articles about Jerusalem's architectural heritage including the architectural survey of Ottoman architecture in R. Hillenbrand and S. Auld (eds) Ottoman Jerusalem: The Living City 1517–1917 (London: Altajir World of Islam Trust, 2000). He has contributed to many international and national conferences. He supervised the restoration project, sponsored by the Arab League, on Mamluk monuments in and around al-Haram al-Sharif, and was Palestinian expert for the UNESCO mission to Jerusalem in 2004.
Copyedited by: Majd Musa
Translation by: Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: PA 34