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“THE PRINCE WILL
ENTER THROUGH THIS GATE
AND HE WILL EAT BREAD BEFORE THE LORD”
EZEKIEL 44:3
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WALK JERUSALEM BY
NIGHT accompanied by stories of
Solomon's quarries, Solomon's stables, Solomon's
porticoes, Solomon's pantry and Suleiman's dream.
And for good measure: the escapades of Charles
"Chinese" Gordon, Dr. James Barclay, the Baroness
Angela Burdett-Couts and Captain Charles Warren.
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The tour starts at Damascus Gate and ends at
Dung Gate (or vice versa). You choose the starting
hour and the starting point. For more
details
email Gila. This exclusive evening tour
outside the Old City walls is designed for anyone
wanting to stretch his or her legs around
Jerusalem and enjoys good old-fashioned
story-telling. (June to September)
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When you
visit the Old City of Jerusalem, you’ll be entering
through one of its eight gates. The ninth
gate, the Eastern Gate, is blocked up and shut,
waiting for the arrival of the Messiah. The
following is an orientation to the gates of the Old
City, naming them in English, Hebrew and Arabic, and
describing what is to be found inside each gate.
Let’s start with the lowest gate, located in the
south. It’s called the
Dung Gate. From inside the city, to
reach the gate, one would walk downhill and it’s
where Old City residents, over the centuries, would
throw their garbage. Can you imagine anyone
ever walking uphill to throw their garbage?
Well, that name stuck in Hebrew as well – it’s
called Sha’ar Ashpot. Paradoxically, the Dung
Gate is today one of the cleanest areas in the Old
City. In Arabic the gate is called Bab el Mugrabi
meaning the gate of the North Africans. During
the Turkish times there was a neighborhood inside
the Dung Gate, close to the Wailing Wall called the
Mugrabi neighborhood whose residents had originated
from North Africa.
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Map showing the nine gates of
Jerusalem's Old City |
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When you
enter the Old City through the Dung Gate, you’ll
walk up directly through the security outpost to the
Western (“Wailing”) Wall plaza. If it happens
to be a weekday when the
Temple Mount is open to
Jews and Christians, you can view the Dome of the
Rock and the El Aqsa Mosque from close-up and
photograph the inside
of the eastern gate which was blocked up in the 8th
century to prevent unauthorized access to the Temple
Mount. Both the Western Wall and the Temple
Mount require “modest dress,”
so if you’re female, don’t even think about entering
the Dung Gate in shorts or sleeveless! |
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Tour the Temple
Mount with
in the
company of Abraham and Isaac, David and Solomon,
Jesus and the disciples, the angel Gabriel and
Mohammed -- and Gila. Meet many other luminaries,
both real and legendary.
Now available as a written 24-page
PDF with a
Temple
Mount plan,
guidelines for passing the security check
and ten best reads on the
Temple
Mount from Gila's bookshelves.
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Next to the Dung Gate is a new pedestrian gate
called Tanners Gate.
It’s actually an old medieval gate which was
uncovered during excavations in the 1980s.
During the 1990s and the millennial year, we had so
much traffic entering and exiting the city from the
Dung Gate, the municipality decided to restore the
medieval gate for pilgrims. This gate is not
yet well-known. In Hebrew it’s called
Sha’ar HaBurskai, which was apparently its name
during the Crusader period when it must have been an
industrial area for tanners. Whoa – block your
nose – tanning was a smelly business. (Remember when
Peter was staying in the house of Simon the Tanner,
he had to go up on the roof-top for fresh air.
Acts 10)
As you enter Tanners Gate, you will be walking on
Hollywood Boulevard of the fifth century. It
was a branch of the Cardo which you see in the
Jewish Quarter and led straight up to Damascus Gate
in the north. Just to give you some
atmospheric context, as you enter Tanners Gate,
you’ll face a wall mural reflecting main street
during the Roman times. Below, I’ve entered a
time machine that brought me back to the fifth
century where I’m sightseeing on Hollywood
Boulevard.
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Photo: Silvia
Hess |
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Hollywood Boulevard in fifth
century Jerusalem |
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Zion Gate, on
the southwest perimeter of the Old City, leads from
the tomb of King David and the Upper Room on Mount
Zion into the Armenian and the Jewish Quarters of
the Old City. In Hebrew it’s called Sha’ar
Tziyon (Zion Gate) and in Arabic, Bab a-Nabi
Daud (Gate of the Prophet David).
Legend has it that Turkish Sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent who commissioned the rebuilding of the
city walls in 1538 was furious when he discovered
that David’s Tomb was left unprotected outside the
city walls. He summoned the two architects
responsible before him and ordered that they be
beheaded. The architects are buried right
inside the Jaffa Gate, some say so that people
entering and exiting the city could spit on their
graves to show their displeasure that the tomb of
Nabi Daud (the prophet David according to the
Moslems) was left unprotected outside the city
walls.
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Tomb of one of the hapless Turkish
Architects |
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In the four hundred years (1516
to 1916) that the Turks ruled the Holy Land, the
best law they ever instituted in my opinion, was to
forbid camels inside the walled city of Jerusalem.
That bylaw is still on the books to this very day!
When I lead my groups through the Old City I thank
the Turks that I do not have to duck spitting
camels, or dodge camel dung. While the camels
aren’t inside Zion Gate, expect to see one right
outside. Be prepared: it’s $2 to get up on the
camel – and $5 to get off! |
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| Outside
of Zion Gate, if you walk to the west, you will find
the burial site of
The nineteenth and twentieth century
Holy Land explorer and preeminent
archeologist
Sir Flinders Petrie. He
chose to be buried headless in the Protestant
Cemetery on Mount Zion.
Read about why he is important and why
he is headless! |
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COMING TO
JERUSALEM?
BOOK GILA for your customized private tour |
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Jaffa Gate, one
of the city’s busiest, is located on the western
perimeter, right above Hinnom Valley, the Valley of
Hell (Gehenna in Greek). In ancient
days, if you were a pilgrim who docked at the
Mediterranean port of Jaffa and walked east for
three days, or perhaps more, along the Jaffa Road,
you would eventually reach the Jaffa Gate.
Hence its name. In Hebrew the gate is
translated Sha’ar Yafo. Yafo is the
name for Jaffa in the Hebrew Bible, mentioned for
example, in the Book of Jonah.
In Arabic the gate is called Bab el Halil
which means Hebron Gate. If you exit the gate
and turn left, cross the Hinnom Valley and walk
straight along what’s nicknamed the Patriarchal
Highway along Hebron Road, you would eventually
reach Hebron. Halil in Arabic means
“friend.” In Islam, Abraham’s title is the
“friend of God.” Abraham is buried in Hebron.
Until the end of the 19th century, Jaffa Gate was
locked every night to keep out marauders, hyenas,
jackals and dragons. The dragons may have been
imaginary, but the others were real. Travelers
arriving at dusk had to carry lanterns so they could
be identified and admitted into the city.
Latecomers had to sleep outside the walls and wait
until dawn when Jaffa Gate opened.
In 1898 Kaiser Wilhelm the Second made a spectacular
pilgrimage to the Holy City accompanied by a huge
entourage numbering over a thousand cheerleaders.
In honor of this great occasion, the Turks made a
breach in the wall by the Jaffa Gate so the Prussian
Emperor could enter the Old City in a gold-plated
Mercedes. (Just kidding
of course -- he made his grand entrance in a bronze
chariot.) |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Procession at the Jaffa Gate
led by the Ethiopian Patriarch (in white) |
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Are you coming to Jerusalem
this year?
Explore Jerusalem’s
Soul gives
you 40 suggestions of the top places to meditate
on the Bible, visit little-known churches, enjoy
extraordinary roof-top views and savor Middle
Eastern soul food. Eight are less than a
ten-minute walk from the Jaffa Gate! More on
Gila's Jerusalem Guide....
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From the Jaffa
Gate you can stop for a bagele and
hyssop or walk
straight into the bazaar. If you take a
right, you will pass by the Tower of David.
If you continue on the right, you will be
walking along Armenian Patriarchal Road to reach
the Armenian Quarter.
New Gate is
located on the northwestern perimeter of the
walled city. Its Hebrew name is Sha’ar
Hadash and its Arabic name is Bab el
Jedid, both meaning “new.” The gate
was opened in 1887 by the Turkish sultan Abed el
Hamid after intense lobbying by Christians who
had settled outside the walled city and wanted
direct access to the Christian Quarter and the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Damascus Gate,
on Fridays and Saturdays, is the busiest gate
leading into the city, with hundreds and
sometimes thousands of shoppers looking for
bargains, home-grown spices or the freshest
fruits. Located along the northern wall of
the Old City, Damascus Gate is named after the
most important city to the north during nearly
every historical period. Its Hebrew name
is Sha’ar Shechem, meaning Nablus Gate,
after the northern city of Nablus, established
by the Romans 1900 years ago.
The Arabic name is Bab el Amud which
means the Gate of the Pillar. The Romans
built roads throughout their empire and laid
milestones measuring distance. The zero
point in Judea was a tall imposing pillar
standing in the central plaza inside the
Damascus Gate. Perhaps it was adorned with
the bust of the emperor. The pillar,
although pictured on a mosaic map from the sixth
century, has never been found. However,
archeologist Menachem Magen exposed the second
century AD Roman piazza in the 1980s. The
memory of that pillar is inscribed in the Arabic
name, Bab el Amud, the Gate of the
Pillar, to this very day, nineteen centuries
later.
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Damascus Gate, in Arabic,
Bab el Amud, meaning the Gate of the Pillar |
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The Damascus
Gate leads you straight into the heart of the
Old City market (shuk in Hebrew and
souk in Arabic). Be prepared to bargain!
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If you are hungry by this time,
Explore
Jerusalem’s Soul tells you how to find
four local joints for the best hummus,
falafel and yummy sweets that the Holy City
has to offer. And as a bonus, Armenian
pizza! More on
Gila's Jerusalem Guide....
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12 MOST
POPULAR ARTICLES this month |
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Herod’s Gate,
also called Flowers
Gate, is located on the northeastern
perimeter of the Old City. Outside the
gate, up on the hill is a cemetery which we view
on the
Rampart’s Walk. In Arabic, the gate
was called Bab es Sahirah, Cemetery Gate.
But would you want to receive a letter addressed
to “cemetery neighborhood?” Well, neither
did the residents of the northeast corner of the
Old City. Substituting only one letter,
they changed the name of the gate to Bab el
Zahirah meaning Flowers Gate. Now that
sounds welcoming!
In Hebrew the gate is named Sha’ar Perachim,
Flowers Gate. There is another name,
Sha’ar Hodus which means Herod’s Gate.
This part of the city was not enclosed by a wall
during the reign of Herod the Great. Roman
Catholic tradition has it that the home of Herod
Antipas was in the area of the Flagellation
Convent, near the gate. If you know
another explanation of why it’s
called Herod’s Gate,
please let me know.
Lions Gate,
located on the eastern perimeter of the Old
City, is also known as
St. Stephen’s Gate. Tradition
has it that Stephen, the first Christian martyr,
was stoned in the Kidron Valley below. In
Arabic the gate is called Bab el Asbat,
the Gate of the Tribes, for they say the tribes
of Israel entered the Old City through this
gate. In Hebrew it’s called Sha’ar Ha-Arayot
in honor of the decorations above the gate.
If you look carefully at the gate as you enter,
you’ll see two lions on either side of the
outside entrance. It’s said that in the
16th century, Suleiman the Magnificent ordered
that these sculpted icons be placed above the
gate as a reminder of the dream which led him to
commission the rebuilding of the dilapidated
walls.
One night the sultan dreamed that he was being
devoured by four fierce lions which leapt upon
him out of the thickets of the River Jordan.
Trembling and feverish, he awoke in a great
fright. When dawn broke, he summoned all
the wise men of his kingdom to explain the
significance of the dream. But words
failed them until a wise old sheikh said, “Tell
me Sultan Suleiman, what were you thinking about
before you fell asleep?”
Suleiman thought for a few moments and said, “I
was thinking of the best way to punish the
people of Jerusalem – they haven’t been paying
their taxes.” “Ohhh,” said the wizened old
sheikh, “Don’t you know that our prophets David
and Solomon ruled from the Holy City while lions
guarded their thrones? If you treat this
Holy City with goodness and mercy, you will be
blessed as was David and Solomon.”
So Suleiman made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and
realized that the walls needed rebuilding.
He commissioned two architects who designed the
route of the fortifications. The work took
seven years and the walls are still standing to
this
very day.
Now, if you look even more carefully at the
Lions Gate, you may decide that the icons are
leopards and not lions. But that’s a story
for another day!
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Lions or Leopards flanking the
Lions Gate? |
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The Eastern Gate
was identified by the Prophet Ezekiel when
he wrote in chapter 44, “The prince will
enter through this gate and he will eat
bread before the Lord.” This is the origin
of the Judeo-Christian belief that the
Messiah will enter through the eastern gate.
Today, this gate is indeed shut and no one
enters the Temple Mount from the east. In
Hebrew, the portal is known as Sha’ar
HaRahamim, the Gates of Mercy.
It’s said that when the Messiah comes and
the dead arise, they will enter through this
gate to win eternal life. In Arabic,
it’s called Bab el Rahmeh, the Gate
of Eternal Life for the same reason.
Another name is the
Golden Gate which seems to
retain a memory of the Gate Beautiful where
Peter cured a lame man, as recorded in Acts
3. I’ve heard that the Greek word
oraia means beautiful and a similar
sounding word in Latin, aurea, means
golden, thus the jump from beautiful to
golden.
When Jesus came to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday,
the crowds shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of
David!” It’s thought that Jesus
entered the Temple courtyard through this
gate and then proceeded to drive out all
those who were selling and buying, upsetting
the tables of the money changers. In
the time of the Second Temple, the Eastern
Gate was open.
If you want to be here when the Messiah
arrives, why don’t you plan on coming next
year? In
Explore Jerusalem’s Soul, I suggest the
best private spot to take in the spectacle
that the world has been waiting for….
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Nine Gates of the Old City |
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English |
Hebrew |
Arabic |
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Dung Gate |
Sha’ar Ashpot |
Bab el Mugrabi
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Tanners Gate |
Sha’ar HaBurskai |
Bab el Dabbagha |
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Zion Gate |
Sha’ar Tziyon |
Bab a-Nabi Daud
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Jaffa Gate |
Sha'ar Yafo |
Bab el Halil |
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New Gate |
Sha’ar Hadash |
Bab el Jedid |
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Damascus Gate |
Sha’ar Shechem |
Bab el Amud |
| Flowers Gate
/ Herod's Gate |
Sha’ar Perachim |
Bab el Zahirah |
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Lions Gate / St. Stephen's |
Sha’ar Ha-Arayot
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Bab el Asbat |
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Eastern Gate / Golden Gate |
Sha’ar HaRahamim |
Bab el Rahmeh |
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By the time you walk around the Old City
passing all its ancient gates, you may need
the Balm of Gilead (Jeremiah 8:22) to
recover! But unfortunately the Balm of
Gilead is today extinct. You may be
surprised to learn that the
Balm of Gilead is believed to
have been grown in En Gedi by the Dead Sea. |
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Copyright 2007,
2020
Gila Yudkin. Permission needed for any reuse. |
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More on Jerusalem |
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YUDKIN
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JERUSALEM
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