The Inspector's Gate (or the Council Gate, ) is one of the gates of the al-Aqsa Compound (). It is the second-northernmost gates in the compound's west wall, after the Bani Ghanim Gate. It is north of the Iron Gate.

Names

It has two current Arabic names, both are in use: * the Inspector's Gate or Superintendant's Gate ( ): named after the Inspector of the Two Noble Sanctuaries, the

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

] – not to be confused with the Servant of the Two Noble Sanctuaries [of Mecca and Medina]. It was also translated, less precisely, as "Gate of the Watchman". * the Council Gate ( ): named after the

Supreme Muslim Council The Supreme Muslim Council (SMC; ) was the highest body in charge of Muslim community affairs in Mandatory Palestine under British control. It was established to create an advisory body composed of Muslims and Christians with whom the High Comm ...

. Its obsolete names: * Michael's Gate ( or ): named after

Michael the archangel Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

. * the Gate of ʿAlāʾ ad-Dīn al-Baṣīr: named after a nearby

ribat A ribāṭ (; hospice, hostel, base or retreat) is an Arabic term, initially designating a small fortification built along a frontier during the first years of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb to house military volunteers, called ''murabitun' ...

: the Aladdin Ribat, which in turn was named after Emir ʿAlāʾ ad-Dīn al-Baṣīr. * the Prison Gate ( ), when the ribat was converted into a prison.

History

It was probably built on the same spot as the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

-period Gate of al-Walīd. It was rebuilt in 1203, during the

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

era. The gate was expanded in the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

period, especially from the eastern side, during the time of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun.

Description

The gate consists of a high and wide entrance, held with a pointed stone knot, with two wooden supports supported by it, topped on the western side by a written copper strip. On the eastern side of the entrance, there is a square shape inside the hallway of the mosque, with open sides covered with a shallow dome, with three rows of

muqarnas Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...

Environs

The southwestern part of the Muslim Quarter is west (outside) of the gate. The immediate neighborhood is home to a community of

Afro-Palestinians Afro-Palestinians are Palestinians of Black African heritage. In the Gaza Strip, around 1% of the population is estimated to be black, with roughly 11,000 Afro-Palestinians residing in Gaza City's Al Jalla’a district prior to October 2023. I ...

. Aladdin Street (Bāb an-Nāẓir Street) leads towards the gate. In the compound's western wall, the gate is between al-Manjakiyya Madrasa (to its north) and the al-Wafā’iyya Zawiya (to its south). #78. the madrasa, 79. the gate, 80. the al-Rumi sebil, 81. the zawiya, 84. the Agha sebil. In front of each school, there is a

sebil A sabil or sebil (; ) is a small kiosk in the Islamic architectural tradition where water is freely dispensed to members of the public by an attendant behind a grilled window. The term is sometimes also used to refer to simple unmanned fountain ...

. In front of al-Manjakiyya is the Ibrāhīm al-Rūmī Sebil, aka or . (Note, however, ''Sabīl Bāb an-Nāẓir'' also refers to the al-Ḥaram Sebil outside of the compound, on .) In front of al-Wafā’iyya is the Mustafa Agha Sebil ( al-Budayrī Sabil).

References

{{coord, 31.77912, 35.23397, display=title Gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls