Background
Bab al-Hara is based on an interpretation of life in the old city of Damascus. Every neighborhood, or hara, has its own mukhtar, a chosen older man held in high regard. Ideally chosen Mukhtar based on his history in the neighborhood, the mukhtar depended on a number of men from the neighborhood gathered around him to assist him in his functions. These members along with the mukhtar constituted a small nucleus that ran the hara and decided on what was good for it. Wealthier members funded the mukhtar and had a say in its use, such as use for public renovation, given to charities for the poor or set aside for emergency uses. Members generally were of the mercantile class, having steady incomes from having shop or businesses, such as barber shops, bakeries, smithies, ghouta, groceries or other merchant activities or from land rents.
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