Sabil Bab al-Maghariba
Jerusalem
Sabil Bab al-Maghariba ("The Fountain of the Gate of the Magharibis") is a simple square plan structure built around an ancient cistern. Inside, three basins are located in front of three identical windows centered in three rectangular walls. The eastern wall encases the entrance. The structure is topped by a shallow dome, conch-like in the interior and covered with smoothly finished stone on the exterior. A particularly big stone under the window of the north façade with a circular aperture (today blocked) might have used as an overflow for any excess water.

Today the sabil is no longer used, however, from an 18th century waqfiyya (endowment document) we know that a water-carrier was paid to fill the basins of the Sabil Bab al-Maghariba from its cistern from morning to evening, every day.

Sources:

Natsheh, Yusuf. 2000. "Architectural Survey". In Ottoman Jerusalem: The Living City 1517-1917. (Sylvia Auld and Robert Hillenbrand, eds.) London: Altajir World of Islam Trust II, 802-4.

Burgoyne, Michael H. 1976. "A Chronological Index to the Muslim Monuments of Jerusalem." In The Architecture of Islamic Jerusalem. Jerusalem: The British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem.
Location
Sharq Bab al-Maghariba, Jerusalem
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Associated Names
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Style Periods
1299-1922
Variant Names
Bab al-Maghariba Sabil
Variant
Fountain of the Gate of the Maghribis
Variant