Inspector's Gate

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

The gate from inside the compound

Names

It has two current Arabic names, both are in use:

• the Inspector's Gate or Superintendant's Gate (باب الناظر Bāb an-Nāẓir^{[N 1]}): named after the Inspector of the Two Noble Sanctuaries, the Nāẓir al-Ḥaramayn ash-Sharīfayn [of Jerusalem and Hebron]^[1][2] – 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".^[3]
• the Council Gate (باب المجلس Bāb al-Majlis): named after the Supreme Muslim Council.^[4]

Its obsolete names:

• Michael's Gate (باب میکائیل Bāb Mīkāʾīl or باب ميخائيل Bāb Mīkhāʾīl): named after Michael the archangel.^[5]
• the Gate of ʿAlāʾ ad-Dīn al-Baṣīr:^{[N 2]} named after a nearby ribat: the Aladdin Ribat, which in turn was named after Emir ʿAlāʾ ad-Dīn al-Baṣīr.^[4]
• the Prison Gate (باب الحبس Bāb al-Ḥabs), when the ribat was converted into a prison.^[4]

History

It was probably built on the same spot as the Umayyad-period Gate of al-Walīd.^[10] It was rebuilt in 1203, during the Ayyubid era.^[4] The gate was expanded in the Mamluk 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.^[11]

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. 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).^[12] In front of each school, there is a sebil. In front of al-Manjakiyya is the Ibrāhīm al-Rūmī Sebil, aka Sabīl al-Būṣairī^{[N 2]} or Sabīl Bāb an-Nāẓir. (Note, however, Sabīl Bāb an-Nāẓir also refers to the al-Ḥaram Sebil outside of the compound, on al-Wad Street [de].)^[13] In front of al-Wafā’iyya is the Mustafa Agha Sebil (al-Budayrī Sabil).^[14]