The Imperial Gate (Bâb-i Hümâyûn) was the first and most accessible of the three main gates of the Topkapi Palace which was designed to be experienced sequentially from public to private access. The Imperial Gate and outer wall were added to the fortress in Ramadan 883 AH, that is between November and December 1478, after the buildings and gardens had been finished.
The Imperial Gate is the first entrance into the palace and thus separates the palace from the city. Additionally, this gate includes Celi-Sülüs style calligraphy (Sülüs: proportioned calligraphic script type; Celi: meaning clear, conspicuous to describe large, monumental versions of script during Ottoman times) with an inscription by Ali bin Yahya Sofi with a date of 1478/883AH placed above the doors. Considering that the signatures, known as tuğrâ (inspect), of the Sultan Mehmet II and Abdulaziz are below the inscriptions could mean that the door may have been repaired a number of times.
circa 1610 CE
Inscriptions of the Facade
The inscription inside the arch is written in mirror Arabic calligraphic (inspect) style of the Qur'anic verses, so you only need to read the right-half starting from top right.
إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَعُيُونٍ -Sura Al-Hijr, Ayah 45
ادْخُلُوهَا بِسَلَامٍ آمِنِينَ -Sura Al-Hijr, Ayah 46
وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَانًا عَلَىٰ سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ -Sura Al-Hijr, Ayah 47
لَا يَمَسُّهُمْ فِيهَا نَصَبٌ وَمَا هُمْ مِنْهَا بِمُخْرَجِينَ-Sura Al-Hijr, Ayah 48
circa 1610 CE
Interior
On each side of the gate are small rooms for gatekeepers and in 1866/1282AH, a fire destroyed the manor style flat used as Beytül mâl (Kapı arası hazinesi or to keep the goods are not yet taken to the Sultan's treasury) which rested above the door and was used by Fatih for himself.
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The Madain Project is an online archive of Abrahamic History and Archaeology.
Abrahamic History & Archaeology is the study of history and archaeology with respect to the three Abrahamic Faiths without considering the religious and theological aspects. The goal of Abrahamic History is to understand how and why the religious doctrines and behaviours have evlovled and changed over time. Searching for patterns in the evolution of significant cultural events such as the development of farming, the emergence of cities, or the collapse of major civilizations for clues of why and how these have influenced the three major Abrahamic religions.
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