Bab a-Zahara

Salah a-Din Street in Bab a-Zahara

Bab a-Zahara Arabic: باب الساهرة‎‎ is an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem, 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 on its south, and Mas'udiyyah and Mea Shearim to the west. Herod's Gate, which is called Bab a-Zahara in Arabic, lent its name to this neighborhood.

History

At the end of the Second Temple Period, the building of the so-called Third Wall of Jerusalem, started under the reign of Herod Agrippa I (r. 41-44 CE) and destroyed the end of the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 CE, meant that the area was included behind the protective walls of the city.

The modern neighborhood was founded at the end of the 19th century along the road to Nablus in the proximity of the Garden Tomb, and was one of the first Arab neighborhoods built outside the Old City walls.^[1]

During the British Mandate in Palestine, and especially 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, Salah ad-Din Street (pictured at right), A-Zahara 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 Museum of Archaeology, which was opened in 1937. Also on Salah a-Din Road are located the district court, the judiciary office, and the legal counsel for the government. Another famous building in this neighborhood is the Orient House.^[1]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bab a-Zahara.

Neighborhoods of Jerusalem
Jerusalem neighborhoods east of the 1949 armistice line are depicted in green, those west of the line in blue (see Green Line).
Old City	Armenian Quarter Christian Quarter Muristan Jewish Quarter Muslim Quarter Bab al-Huta
Central Neighborhoods	Arzei HaBira Batei Ungarin Beit David Beit Ya'akov Beit Yisrael Bukharim Downtown Triangle Geula Givat HaVradim Givat Ram Katamon Kerem Avraham Kiryat HaLeom Kiryat HaMemshala Kiryat Shmuel Kiryat Shomrei Emunim Kiryat Wolfson Ma'alot Dafna Mahane Israel Mahane Yehuda Mea Shearim Mekor Baruch Mount Zion Musrara Nahalat Shiv'a Nachlaot Nayot Neve Granot Neve Sha'anan Rehavia Romema Rova Mevo Ha'ir Russian Compound Sha'arei Hesed Shmuel HaNavi Talbiya Yemin Moshe Zikhron Moshe
Northern Neighborhoods	Al-Ram Beit Hanina Ezrat Torah French Hill Givat HaMivtar Har Hotzvim Kafr 'Aqab Kiryat Belz Kiryat Itri Kiryat Mattersdorf Kiryat Sanz Mount Scopus Neve Yaakov Pisgat Ze'ev Ramat Eshkol Ramat Shlomo Ramot Ramot Polin Sanhedria Sanhedria Murhevet Shikun Chabad Shuafat Tel Arza Unsdorf
Eastern Neighborhoods	American Colony Al Bustan Al-Issawiya At-Tur Bab a-Zahara Ir David Jabel Mukaber Kiryat Menachem Begin Ma'ale ha-Zeitim Nachalat Shimon Nof Zion Ras al-Amud Sheikh Jarrah Shimon HaTzadik Silwan Wadi al-Joz
Southern Neighborhoods	Abu Tor Arnona Baka Beit Safafa East Talpiot German Colony Gilo Givat HaMatos Givat Oranim Givat Massuah Greek colony Har Homa Katamonim Malha Mekor Chaim Pat Ramat Rachel San Simon Sharafat Sur Baher Talpiot Umm Tuba
Western Neighborhoods	Bayit VeGan Beit HaKerem Ein Karem Givat Beit HaKerem Givat Shaul Givat Mordechai Har Nof Ir Ganim Kiryat HaYovel Kiryat Menachem Kiryat Moshe Motza Ramat Beit HaKerem Ramat Denya Ramat Sharett Yefeh Nof
Historical Neighborhoods	Atarot Batei Munkacs Batei Saidoff Even Yisrael Ezrat Yisrael Kirya Ne'emana Knesset Yisrael Lifta Mahane Yehuda Mamilla Mazkeret Moshe Mishkenot Sha'ananim Moroccan Quarter Ohel Shlomo Sha'arei Yerushalayim Sheikh Badr Zikhron Tuvya Zikhron Yosef
See also: Ring Neighborhoods

Coordinates: 31°47′14″N 35°13′54″E / 31.78722°N 35.23167°E / 31.78722; 35.23167