The Sebil of the Lion’s Gate (Sebil Sit Mariam)

This sebil is a public water facility that was built during the 16^th century, one of the 6 sebils built by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who built the Walls of Jerusalem. During the rule of this sultan, the Ottoman empire thrived and flourished. The sultan did a lot for the development of Jerusalem, renovated its water supply system, and built the sebils for the benefit of the city’s residents. The sebils were meant to provide water for the daily needs as well as the purification customs of the believers, and they were beautiful architectural items in the alleys of old Jerusalem. Private sebils were built in residential houses throughout the old city, as well as in education and religious institutions. Most of the sebils were connected to the lower aqueduct from the times of the Second Temple, which supplied water from Solomon’s Pools to the pools in the Temple Mount, and to channels that split from it. The sultan renovated the ancient aqueduct in order to fill the water pools in the Temple Mount. A channel was attached to the aqueduct, named “The Sebil Aqueduct” (Kanet El Sebil), and it filled the sebils. Storage containers were built for most of the sebils, filled by the Sebil Aqueduct, and attached to the back of the sebils. Unlike the other sebils built by Suleiman, this one did not receive water from the lower aqueduct, and its waters may have come from the livestock pools, which are currently located inside the compound of the nearby Saint Anne Church. The sebil’s name was coined by the Arabs: Sit Miriam Sebil, due to its proximity to this church, an impressive and beautiful church from the crusader era, which was built in a place that was, according to the tradition, the home of Anne and Joachim, the parents of Miriam, mother of Jesus, and it commemorates Miriam’s place of birth.