- Bab al-Maqam
Bab al-Maqam ( _ar. باب المقام) is one of the Gates of
Aleppo . It was built byal-Aziz Muhammad in1230 on the road that connected the Maqamat with the Citadel. It is unique in its planning and form. The design's innovative quality implies a monumental, ceremonial function rather than a military one.Yasser Tabbaa presents an argument that supports this hypotheses. He explains how this gate differs from nearly all other medieval Syrian gates in three very important respects: it has no defense towers; it has a straight instead of a bent axis; and it has three openings instead of one. Most of the gates built after this one were developed for defense reasons; one opening to control access, bent axes to prevent direct passage and two massive defense towers. Bab al-Maqam is the only tripartite gate built in theAyyubid period. Though triumphal arches are a rareIslamic architecture type, Tabbaa points to the existence of several precedents such asBab al-Maydan inFustat , a brick arch at the foothill of Qal'at- al Bust and theGate of Wine at theAlhambra palace. These precedents reinforce the possibility of Bab al-Maqam's ceremonial program both religious, a point of entry to pay homage toAbraham , and political, countering the Shi'i shrines (Mashhad al-Dikka andMashhad al-Husayn ) to the east [Tabbaa, Yasser, 1997, Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo, The Pennsylvania State University Press, pp. 21.] .Notes
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