Bab az-Zahra ( ) is an Arab neighborhood in

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

, north of the Old City. It is bordered by the American Colony to the north, Wadi al-Joz to the east, Herod's Gate and

Damascus Gate The Damascus Gate is one of the main Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side and connects to a highway leading out to Nablus, which in the Hebrew Bible was called Shechem or Sichem, and from the ...

on its south, and Mas'udiyyah and Mea Shearim to the west. Herod's Gate, which is called ''Bab az-Zahra'' in Arabic, lent its name to this neighborhood.

History

At the end of the Roman Period, the building of the so-called Third Wall of Jerusalem, started under the reign of Herod Agrippa I (r. 41-44 CE), finished by the rebels around 66 CE and destroyed by the Romans at the end of the

First Jewish–Roman War The First Jewish–Roman War (66–74 CE), also known as the Great Jewish Revolt, the First Jewish Revolt, the War of Destruction, or the Jewish War, was the first of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire. Fought in the prov ...

in 70 CE, meant that the area was included for a short while behind the protective walls of the city. The modern neighborhood was founded at the end of the 19th century along the road to

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

in the proximity of The Garden Tomb, and was one of the first Arab neighborhoods built outside the Old City walls. First during the British Mandate in Palestine, and then even more so under Jordanian rule after the partition of Jerusalem in 1948, the neighborhood became a commercial center of East Jerusalem.

Features

The main thoroughfares of the neighborhood, Nablus Road, Saladin Street (Salah ad-Din Street), az-Zahra Street and surrounding streets are major commercial centers. Branches of the main banks and restaurants have offices there. The commercial area continues uninterrupted through Damascus Gate with the open market in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. In the eastern part of the neighborhood resides the Rockefeller Archeological Museum, which was opened in 1937. Also on Saladin Street are the district court, the judiciary office, and the legal counsel for the government. Another famous building in this neighborhood is the Orient House.

References

{{Coord, 31, 47, 14, N, 35, 13, 54, E, region:PS, display=title Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem