Bab al-Jinan

Bab al-Jinan, photo taken by Baron Max von Oppenheim, circa 1899

Bab al-Jinan (Arabic: بَاب الْجِنَان, romanized: Bāb al-Jinān), meaning the Gate of Gardens, was one of the gates of Aleppo that used to lead to gardens on the banks of the Quwēq river.[1]

The gate is thought to have been built by Sayf al-Dawla during his possession of Aleppo between 944 and 967. The gate provided access to the great palace of Halba and gardens that Sayf al-Dawla had built outside the city.[2][3][4] The gate was referred to by Al-Muqaddasi in 985 as The Watermelon Gate, and noted by Alexander Russell in his 1756 book The Natural History of Aleppo.[5]

The gate was demolished around 1900 in order to widen the road.[6] There used to be numerous exchangers and storage houses for goods near the gate, and a pine dating back to the 16th century. The gate had a tower called the "serpent tower" in which was said[by whom?] to be a talisman capable of protecting from serpent bites. Bāb Jnēn today is the site of a traditional souk.

  1. ^ Knost, Stefan (2011). Historical Disasters in Context: Science, Religion, and Politics. Routledge. p. 281. ISBN 9781136476259. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  2. ^ Tabbaa, Yasser (2010). Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo. Penn State Press. ISBN 9780271043319.
  3. ^ Bianquis (1997), p. 105
  4. ^ Humphreys (2010), p. 537
  5. ^ Strange, Guy Le (2011). Collected works of Guy Le Strange : the medieval Islamic world. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 362. ISBN 9781848856707. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  6. ^ "Bab Al-Jinan 2021, #8 top things to do in aleppo, aleppo governorate, reviews, best time to visit, photo gallery | HelloTravel Syria".