The Cotton Merchants' Gate ( ar, باب القطانين ) is one of the gates of the

al-Aqsa Compound The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compoun ...

(). It is by the western esplanade of the compound and leads to the Cotton Merchants' Market, a , it is also called the Gate of the Cotton Merchants' Market ( ). Its intricate eastern façade makes it one of the most recognizable and "the grandest of the Haram gates".

History

It was built under the supervision of

Tankiz Sayf ad-Din Tankiz ibn Abdullah al-Husami an-Nasiri better known simply as Tankiz ( ar, تنكيز) (died May 1340) was the Damascus-based Turkic ''na'ib al-saltana'' (viceroy) of Syria from 1312 to 1340 during the reign of the Bahri Mamluk sultan ...

in 1336, during the time of Sultan

an-Nasir Muhammad Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun ( ar, الملك الناصر ناصر الدين محمد بن قلاوون), commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad ( ar, الناصر محمد), or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali () or as Ibn Qal ...

of the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16t ...

. The 14th-century historian al-ʿUmarī explained that the gate was constructed in order to link the compound with the 's market street, which was also built by Tankiz around that time: in 1336-37.

Description

There are ten descending steps to reach the gate. Its eastern façade faces the inside the compound and features a recess with a

semi-dome In architecture, a semi-dome (or half-dome) is a half dome that covers a semi-circular area in a building. Architecture Semi-domes are a common feature of apses in Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civil ...

. The semi-dome has a gently pointed arch, and its

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...

has

ablaq Ablaq ( ar, أبلق; particolored; literally 'piebald') is an architectural technique involving alternating or fluctuating rows of light and dark stone. Records trace the beginnings of this type of masonry technique to the southern parts of S ...

(alternating) masonry of red and beige bricks. It also contains five rows of

muqarnas Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of ...

. Between the semi-dome and the door is a

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

-shaped arch, with

patterns in black and beige bricks. Above the door is a straight stone

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case o ...

, which is composed of three external pieces. There used to be a small window in the trefoil arch's tympanum, but the window was blocked in 1927.

Environs

Ablution Gate Ablution is the act of washing oneself. It may refer to: * Ablution as hygiene * Ablution as ritual purification ** Ablution in Islam: *** Wudu, daily wash *** Ghusl, bathing ablution *** Tayammum, waterless ablution ** Ablution in Christianity ** ...

is nearby and to the south. These are the closest gates to the

Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock ( ar, قبة الصخرة, Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra) is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site also known to Muslims as the ''al-Haram al-Sharif'' or the Al-Aqsa Compound. Its initia ...

, with the

Fountain of Qaytbay Fountain of Qayt Bay ( ar, نافورة قايتباي) or Sabil Qaitbay ( ar, link=no, سبيل قايتباي) is a domed public fountain ('' sabil'') located on the western esplanade of the Al-Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem, near to Madrasa Al-A ...

near the gates. Immediately north of the gate is the Khātūniyya Madrasa, and even farther north is the Arghūniyya Madrasa. North of the madrasas is the Iron Gate.

References

External links

Photos of the Cotton Merchants' Gate
at the

Manar al-Athar Manar al-Athar is a photo archive based at the Faculty of Classics at the University of Oxford which aims to provide high-quality open-access images of archaeological sites and buildings. The archive's collection focuses on areas of the Roman Emp ...

photo archive {{coord, 31.77798, 35.23420, display=title Gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls Buildings and structures in Jerusalem