Bab a-Zahara Arabic: باب الساهرة is an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem, north of the Old City and South of Salaheddin Street. It is bordered by the Herod's Gate and Damascus Gate on its south, and the American Colony and Sheikh Jarrah to the north, Bar Lev Street and Mea She'arim to the west, and Wadi Joz to the east. Herod's Gate, which is called Bab a-Zahara (Gate of Flowers) in Arabic, lend its name to this neighborhood.[1]
The neighborhood was founded at the end of the 19th century along the road to Nablus and near the Garden of the Tomb (Hebrew: Gan HaKever), and was one of the first Arab neighborhoods built outside the Old City walls.[2] During the British Mandate in Palestine, and especially after the partition of Jerusalem in 1948, the neighborhood became a commercial center of East Jerusalem.
The main thoroughfares of the neighborhood, Nablus Road (see Highway 60) and Salah a-Din Road (pictured at right) are commercial centers for the Arab people in Jerusalem. Branches of the main banks and restaurants have offices there. These practically continue the open market in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. In the eastern part of the neighborhood resides 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.[2]