The Sabil Bab al-Maghariba (سبيل باب المغاربة) was built sometime between 948-987 and 1541-1579. Its eastern wall is constructed around the mouth of a cistern that predates the building itself. It is located directly in front, east, of the Bab al-Maghariba (Moroccans' Gate) and west of Masjid al-Aqsa.
The sabil is a freestanding structure consisting of a single simply constructed square room covered by a shallow dome that sits directly onto the four walls, without a transitional drum. The dome is conch-like in the interior and covered with smoothly finished stone on the exterior. The sabil is no longer in use, even though the cistern still holds water, and a modern water pipe was recently connected to it. When it still functioned as a well house, water was drawn from the cistern and distributed among three basins located inside the building, in front of three windows.
circa
It is almost identical to the Mamluk era Sabil of Ibrahim al-Rumi. Its four identical external walls are built of finely dressed stone blocks. They are unbroken except for three identical windows set into the northern, western, and southern facades. The door and windows are topped by arches surmounted by rectangular niches of the same height. A particularly big stone under the window of the north façade with a circular aperture (today blocked) might have used as an overflow for any excess water. From an 18th century waqfiyya (endowment document) we know that a water-carrier was paid to fill the basins of the Sabil Bab al-Maghariba from its cistern from morning to evening, every day.
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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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