Sabil Qasim Pasha (Fountain of Qasim Pasha), also known as Sabil Bab al-Mahkama (Fountain of the Court House) and Sabil Bab al-Naranj (Fountain of the Bitter Orange) is the first Ottoman public building to be built in Jerusalem. Earlier works were not new buildings but the restoration of the wall and transformation of the citadel of Jerusalem to Masjid al-Nabi Da'ud (Mosque of David the Prophet). The function of Sabil Qasim Pasha, like other sabils, was to supply fresh water to the general public for drinking and for ablution. Accounts exist that the sabil was in use until the late 1940's.

The sabil structure, enclosing a cistern, is sunk about 1m below the platform of the Haram. The structure is preceded by a square shallow pool, with marble paving and a modern fountain in its center. The structure is octagonal, its dome rests on an octagonal drum. During the 1920's restoration work a wooden colonnade was added to shelter the benches and steps surrounding the sabil from rain and especially from the hot summer sun. The Dome was rebuilt during the restoration in the 1920's by the Supreme Muslim Council, and covered with lead panels that bestowed upon it a pointed shallower profile. In the recent restoration, in 1998, the lead sheeting was removed and a handsome finely crafted stone-dome was exposed.

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, 665-670.

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.