| Al-Bāb الباب Bāb Bzāʻā |
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Al-Bāb
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Syria |
| Governorate | Aleppo Governorate |
| District | Al Bab District |
| Elevation | 471 m (1,545 ft) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Total | 144,705 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 (UTC) |
Al-Bāb (Arabic: الباب Al Bāb) is a Syrian city administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate. Al Bab is located northeast of Aleppo and has an area of 30 km². Al-Bab has an altitude of 471 meters. It has a population of 144,705 as of 2007, making it the 8th largest city per geographical entity in Syria. The majority of the city's population is Sunni Muslim.
Al-Bāb in Arabic means the door. According to Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in 1226, the name is a shortening of Bāb Bizāʻah (the gate to Bizāʻah). Bizāʻah (also Buzāʻah and Bzāʻā) is a town located about 10 km east of Al-Bāb.
Al-Bāb was conquered by the Arab army of the Rashidun Caliphate under caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab. It received its name, meaning "the Gate", during Islamic rule as it served as "the gate" between Aleppo and the adjacent town of Buza'ah. The tomb and shrine of Aqil ibn Abi Talib (the brother of Ali) was located in al-Bāb, and until its rule by the Ayyubids in the 13th century, the town was populated mostly by Shias of the Ismaili sect.[1]
According to Yaqut al-Hamawi in 1226, it was a small town in the district of Aleppo. In the town were markets filled with a type of cotton product called kirbas which were exported to Damascus and Egypt. Abu al-Fida writes that al-Bab was a small town with a market, a bath, pleasant gardens, and a mosque (the Great Mosque of al-Bab).[1]
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