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Of the extent and the position of the walls and gates of Jerusalem of the
ancient period, we know but little; we only find in 1 Kings 9.15, that Solomon
built the walls of the city; but we find no vestige to determine how far it
extended to the south and north. Of the gates but little is mentioned; we only
find in 2 Kings 14.13, that "Jehoash, king of Israel, broke down the wall of
Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits."
It is probable that this breach remained open till the time of Uzziah (2 Chron.
26:9), and Hezekiah (ibid. 32:5). We also find mention made of a gate between
the two walls near the king's garden (ibid. 25:4); but beyond these data we know
nothing.
But at the rebuilding of the city by Nehemiah, we have a more particular
description of the walls and the gates, which probably, therefore, existed
previously; since it appears likely that everything was built on the former
site, to the former extent, and after the ancient dimensions; I will, therefore,
investigate the probable previous position of the gates enumerated by Nehemiah.
 Zion, from the North.The Burial Place of the Kings of the House of David.
He
tells, in chap. 2:13-15, "And I went out by night by the Gate of the Valley,
even before the Dragon Spring, and to the Dung Gate, &c., then to the Gate
of the Spring (fountain, English version), and to the King's Pool, &c., and
then I went up in the night by the brook, &c., and turned back and entered
by the Gate of the Valley."
Zion, from the South. He
tells, in chap. 2:13-15, "And I went out by night by the Gate of the Valley,
even before the Dragon Spring, and to the Dung Gate, &c., then to the Gate
of the Spring (fountain, English version), and to the King's Pool, &c., and
then I went up in the night by the brook, &c., and turned back and entered
by the Gate of the Valley." I
scarcely doubt but that the Dung Gate was at the south, near the valley of
Hinnom, or the Tyropoeon;* so we read also in Jeremiah 19:2, "Go out into the
valley of Ben-Hinnom, which is before the gate Charsith" (East Gate,
English version). Jonathan [ben-Uzziel] renders
חרסית with Kikaltha
קיקלתא the Chaldean for "dung," which
clearly proves that the Dung Gate was near the valley of Ben-Hinnom. We are also
told that the Valley Gate was one thousand cubits distance from the former (Neh.
3:13), consequently the Valley Gate must have stood in a northwest direction
from the other, for to the east we find no other valley at the distance of one
thousand cubits (two thousand feet). I consider the Valley Gate to have led to
the valley of Rephaim, which encompassed Mount Zion altogether at the south and
partly at the west. Between the two gates just described, was the Dragon's
Spring, which is now totally unknown. Southeast from the Dung Gate, stood the
Gate of the Spring or Fountain, probably not far from the Lower Spring of
Siloah. There also was the King's Pool, which exists at this day, as will be
farther mentioned at the explanation of the pools of Jerusalem. There was
farther, in this vicinity, the Gate between the two Walls by the king's
gardens, of 2 Kings 25:4. Even at the present time, are found in that
neighbourhood, near the village Selivan, several gardens, which are abundantly
watered from Siloah. There were also the steps which led to the temple, as I
have stated above, when speaking of the Millo.
*
This Greek name of Josephus can also be explained, since this Dung Gate is
called in Nehemiah 3:13, ש׳ השפות, the
Gate Shephoth instead of האשפות Ashpoth, of
2:13. Now the word שפות Shephoth is used in 2 Samuel
17:29 to signify "cheese," whence we can conclude that the gate was also
called "the cheese gate," or the gate of the cheesemakers, whence again we
may assert that the name Tyropoeon, "valley of the cheesemakers" of
Josephus, finds it origin in the Scriptures.--[The English version of Charsith
with "east," is probably derived from חרס "the sun,"
thus the gate of "sunrise." --TRANSLATOR.]
I
will next describe the supposed situation of all the gates mentioned by
Nehemiah:
At
the south there were,
1. The Dung Gate, also called the Gate between the two
Walls; east of the same was
2. The Gate of the Fountain.
At
the west,
3. The Valley Gate;
4. The Corner Gate, properly northwest from the
first, at a distance of four hundred cubits.
At
the north,
5. The Gate of Ephraim, also called the
Gate of Benjamin, in Jeremiah
37:13, since it led into the territory of both Ephraim and Benjamin.
6. The
Prison Gate (Neh. 12:39), the site of which can be accurately determined even at
present by means of a tradition which defines the position of the prison, the
grotto of Jeremiah, or otherwise called the Archer's Court
חצר המטרה: it was situated near
the Bab al Amud (which see). To the east of this gate were the towers Meah and
Chananel מאה וחננאל of
Nehemiah 12:39.
At
the east were,
7. The Sheep Gate (properly at the northeast).
8. The Old Gate,
also called the Middle Gate (Jer. 39:3), since, according to the assertion of
Yerushalmi Erubin, 5., it bore different names, to wit, שער
העליון the Upper Gate; the East Gate
שער המזרח; the Middle Gate
שער התוך and the Old Gate
שער איתן. 9. The Water Gate (Neh. 8:1,
"Upon the broad street, before the Water Gate," is explained by the Talmud
to mean "the Temple Mount"
הוא הר
הבית) .10)
The Fish Gate (at the southeast), of 2 Chronicles 33:14, is explained in the Chaldean translation of Rab Joseph with מזבני
כוורי "where fish are sold, or the fish market," and was probably near the pool of Shiloach; and
11. The Horse Gate,
of Jer. 31:40, and 2 Kings 11:16, and 21:11.
Ophel,*
of Neh. 3:26, was quite at the southeast, above the lower spring of Shiloach. It
was an uncommonly strong fort, the former position of which is still known from
tradition. The following statement is extracted from the
travels of Rabbi Benjamin, of Tudela: "There is found a large spring, the one
called Shiloach, in the valley of Kidron; over this spring stands a large
building (בנין גדול), which
dates from the days of our forefathers," מימי
אבותינו. The Italian Itinerary of the
year 5282, of which I shall speak more hereafter, says: "On the summit of the
mount, at the foot of which is the source of the Shiloach, stands a building,
where formerly was a village with houses having cupolas. It is said that here
stood the mint of King Solomon." At present this spot is called Ophel, and is
done so, without doubt, according to a correct and true tradition.
*
The passage in Zephaniah 1:10, ויללה
מן המשנה "A lamentation from the other
gate," is given by Jonathan with מן עופא
In Opha; wherefore Rashi expounds it withמשער
העופות "from the poultry gate," a most
singular name, since I could not find any trace of a gate so called in any
position. I hold it, therefore, as certain that here is an orthographical error,
and that עופא should read
עופלא Ophla, or the Ophel described above; and
it actually well suits to the description, Mishneh, or "the double," which
signifies then the two walls (2 Kings 22:14), or the double wall
החומתים, as also Rashi states to the
passage cited, and as I shall describe more fully hereafter. This certainly does
not confirm Rashi's explanation of poultry gate; but my hypothesis is
confirmed from the fact that several editions of Jonathan have the correct
reading מן עופלא, instead of
מן עופא. From Yerushalmi Taanith, 3., it
appears plainly that Ophel was in the valley of Kidron. See also Taanith, 22b. The commentary of Rashi and Tosephoth to this passage, however,
concerning "Ophel," does not appear very clear to me.
The
number of the gates just given, as also the course and circuit of the walls of
Jerusalem as they were in the time of Nehemiah, continued thus till, as Josephus
relates, the city was enlarged towards the north, and supplied with new walls.
When it was rebuilt, after the destruction in the reign of Hadrian, it was done
on a much diminished scale, and with less gates. I could find nowhere any
reliable accounts of that period, which give us any information respecting the
then size, gates, and wall of Jerusalem. Only of a much later time, the year
4930 A. M., (1170), Rabbi Benjamin, who then travelled through Palestine,
relates "that Jerusalem had four gates, the gates of Abraham, David, Zion, and
Jehoshaphat, which is east of the temple." The Gate of Abraham probably
denotes the one leading to Hebron, "the city of Abraham," as at this day
they call the gate leading to Hebron Bab al Chalil, "the gate of the beloved," as Hebron itself is termed Beth al Chalil,
"the house of the beloved," referring to Abraham,* the man universally beloved. The Gate of
David appears to be the western one, which stands near the Kallai, that is, the
so-called fort of David מגדל דוד.
The Zion's Gate is the modern one of the same name; and the Gate of Jehoshaphat
is the eastern entrance, which is near the valley of Jehoshaphat, i. e. the
valley of Kidron. It would thence appear that, at the time of Rabbi Benjamin's
visit, Jerusalem had no gate on the north side.
*
After careful investigation, however, I found that the Arabs do not apply the
name of Chalil to Abraham, but to Isaac, since they call so every one whose name
is Isaac; and I believe that this epithet is given solely to Isaac, and only
denotes him, as in Gen. 22:2,. את בנך
יחידך אשר
אהבת "Thy son, thy only one, whom thou lovest." He
lived, as his father had done, in Hebron; whence it may properly be called
Beth-Chalil, "the house of Isaac" (the beloved).
In
the year 5282, an Italian of Leghorn, whose name is unknown, travelled through
Palestine. His investigations and remarks are, it is true, but briefly and
simply given, but are nevertheless here and there interesting, and are attached
as an appendix to the small work, שבחי
ירושלים "The Praises of Jerusalem." The traveller relates,
"Jerusalem has six gates: 1, Bab al
Sebat, the Gate of the Tribes, i. e. the one through which the pilgrims entered
when they went three times a year to Jerusalem, on the festivals of Passover,
Weeks, and Tabernacles; 2, Bab al Amud; 3, Bab al Katun, since in its
neighbourhood much cotton was spun and worked up; and three other gates, not far
from Zion." Even at the present day the eastern gate is called Bab al Sebat;
the northern one is called Bab al Amud; and the three near Zion are termed the
small southern gate, not far from the ancient Dung Gate, the Zion's Gate, and
the Western Gate, which opens on the road to Jaffa. But the Bab al Katun is
unknown; yet it may perhaps be the one now walled up, somewhat to the east of
Bab al Amud. This then proves that, before Sultan Soliman erected the present
wall of the city, in the year 5287 (1527), it had the gates of the present day.
At present Jerusalem has five gates: 1, at the south, on Mount Zion, the Zion
Gate, also called Bab al Chalil, and Bab Nebi
David, gate of the prophet David, from the fact that King David lived at Zion,
and is entombed there also; 2, the gate situated to the east of the first, at
the foot of Mount Zion, the so-called Little Gate, near the site of the
ancient Dung Gate, and also named Bab al Megarbi, for
מערבי, by changing Ain into Gain, because the
interior of the city, in the vicinity of this gate, is occupied only by
Mahomedans, who have emigrated hither from Africa (i. e. the western country,
hence "the gate of the westerns"). When the Arabs and Bedouins rebelled
against Abraim Pacha in 5594 (1834), he had this gate closed and walled up; but
it was again opened when, in 5601, Palestine reverted to the Sultan of
Constantinople. 3, At the east, the Bab al Sebat; 4, at the north, the Bab al
Amud, "the column gate," because it has a colonnade attached to it; 300
paces to the east is a small walled up gate, but it is not known when and why it
was closed; and 5, at the west, the Bab al Jaffa, which opens on the Jaffa road.
On
the eastern side of the city wall, just opposite the great mosque on the temple
mount, called Al Sachara [Al Aqsa], can be seen two large gates, close to each other,
which are walled up; they are called by our brethren
שערי הרחמים "the
gates of mercy." They are already mentioned in Massecheth Soferim, 19, and are
said to have been built by King Solomon, as is also believed by Astori and Rabbi
Emanuel Riki, authors of the book עטרת
אליהו "the Crown of Elijah." But I have no
doubt that they belong to a much later period, since we perceive on the stones
figures, drawings, and ornaments, of the Arabic fashion; and their style and
character is such that they must to a surety have been erected by the Arabs. The
tradition may perhaps be owing to an idea that here once stood the "gates of
mercy," erected by Solomon, but they can by no means be themselves the remains
of that high antiquity. I moreover found traces of the oldest period only on the
following places: the Mourning Wall, or the כותל
המעבי the west wall of the temple, of which I
shall speak more circumstantially hereafter; the southwestern corner of the city
wall; and the lower portion of David's Tower מגדל
דוד Kallai. These three are actual remains of that high
antiquity, on which is impressed the seal of truth; but all the other remains
are the works of later periods.
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