Fountain of Qasim Pasha

The Fountain of Qasim Pasha ( ar, سبيل قاسم باشا) is an ablution and drinking fountain (''sebil'' or ''sabil'') in the western esplanade of the al-Aqsa Compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is in front of the Chain Gate.Qasim Pasha Sabil
Archnet Digital Library.

It was also known as the ("Sebil of the Bitter Orange") and ("Sebil of the Court House Gate", from another name of the Chain Gate, referring to a former court in the Tankiziyya).

History

The fountain was built in 1527 by (), the Ottoman governor of the Eyalet of Egypt ( wali of Egypt) during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. It was the first public Ottoman building on the Haram al-Sharif (al-Aqsa Compound). Earlier Ottoman works on the site were not the construction of newer buildings, but the restoration of Walls of Jerusalem.Al-Aqsa Guide
Friend of al-Aqsa 2007.
Suleiman's projects elsewhere in Jerusalem include the Masjid an-Nabi Dawud and .

A wooden colonnade was added to protect the benches and steps from rain and the summer sun in the 1920s restoration by the Supreme Muslim Council. Its dome was rebuilt during the restoration, and covered with lead panels that gave it a pointed and shallower profile. In 1998, the lead sheeting was replaced by a finely crafted stone.

Like other sabils, it was to supply fresh water to the public for drinking and ablution.
There are accounts that the sabil was in use until the late 1940s.
It originally got its water supply from a water channel, but today it is supplied with water from al-Aqsa's water system.

Architecture

It is an octagonal building consisting of 1.43-metre-long sides, topped by a dome. The structure has marble paving and a modern fountain in its centre. Around the sabil, there is a wooden canopy covered with lead which protects worshipers from the sun and rain. It is mounted by green pillars and descending into it by four steps to perform ablution and drinking. It has 16 faucets and several stone benches. The dome of the structure is built atop an octagonal drum.

It is unique in its design and differs from other Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque sabils.

Environs

To its north is Sabil Qaitbay, another fountain.
In between the two fountains, there is a fenced-off shallow square pool called the an-Nāranj Pool.

To its south is the Dome of Moses.
In between them, there is a (platform), called Maṣṭabat at-Tīn ('of the Fig') () or ('of Mud') ()
The mastaba has a mihrab.

Inscription

There is an Arabic inscription on the monument dedicated to Suleiman the Magnificent:

: "This blessed sabil has been constructed for the benefit and countenance of extolled Allah, in the days of our master, the greatest sultan, the second Solomon, the ruler of the World, son of Sultan Selim Khan, sultan of Arab and Persian (non-Arab) lands; by our master, Kasım Pasha, may Allah facilitate what he has intended; by the hands of the slave who is in need of Allah, Abdarrabbihi Mustafa, in the year of 933 at the end of the month of Shaʿban." (The Citadel inscription: p. 38.)

The inscription is dated Shaʿban 933 AH (1527 CE). In it, Suleiman is given the honorific "the second Solomon" ( ), as they were deemed comparable in achievements related to Jerusalem.
A later inscription (1531) on the Citadel's entrance gate also refers to him as "the second Solomon".

References

External links

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{{coord, 31, 46, 38.39, N, 35, 14, 04.99, E, display=title

Temple Mount
Fountains in Israel