The gate was preserved and well-maintained until Ottoman troops demolished it on 11 March 1917 when retaliating from the city during World War I.

During the late Abbasid Era, the 28th Caliph, al-Mustazhir (r. 1094–1118 CE), built a new wall around the eastern side of Baghdad to protect it from invading armies and Bedouin raids.

In 1221, Caliph al-Nasir restored the gates and walls of Baghdad and decorated Bab al-Halba with an inscription and a tower.

[1][2] Al-Nasir's inscription on the gate depicts two knotted serpents or dragons who are being held by a seated figure who is believed to be the Caliph himself.

[9] An inscription ran on the wall above the gate, mentioning the Abbasid Caliph as “the Imām, to whom the whole of humanity has to submit,” as well as “the Caliph who is initiated by the master of the world and who is a proof for Allāh of the entirety of beings.”[11] The most notable part about the gate was the detailed stone-craved inscriptions depicting a seated human figure, possibly a ruler, grasping the tongues of two dragons or serpents.

The carvings could symbolize his victory over his two major enemies at the time: the Grand Master of the Order of Assassins, and the Khwarizmian Empire ruler Muhammad II.