The document discusses the walled city of Jerusalem during different historical periods and describes some of its gates. It notes that the Dome of the Rock now stands on the Temple Mount, and describes the religious significance of the rock. It provides details about several of Jerusalem's gates, including the Zion Gate, Damascus Gate, Dung Gate, Herod's Gate, and Jaffa Gate. It discusses the legends surrounding two tombs near the Jaffa Gate and the rebuilding of the city walls by Sultan Suleiman in the 16th century.
2. The walled city of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period (37 BCE-70
CE)
3. The walled city of Jerusalem in the Byzantine Period (324-638 CE)
Can you guess what is gone from here?
4. The walled city of Jerusalem in the Crusader Period (1099-1187 CE)
What new building do you see instead?
5. The Dome of the Rock now
stands on the Temple Mount
Within lies the rock or the peak
of Mt Moriah which is
considered the foundation stone
from which the world was
created
It is considered to be the place
where Abraham sacrificed Isaac
(Gen 22:2)
The rock is also the place where
the Prophet Muhammed
ascended to heaven in his vision
This place is the 3rd holiest site
in Islam
As we visited during the Id al-
Adha (―Feast of the Sacrifice,‖
commemorating Abraham’s
sacrifice), we could not even go
near it
6. Look at the crowd on that feast day This is a 2-lane street
7. Our bus was stuck there for a long time till some nice guys came along &
literally move the cars aside for our bus to pass
9. Entering the old city through the
Zion Gate
The old city of Jerusalem has
many gates—a total of 77
Only 7 of them are open today
Most of these gates were built
by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I in
the 16th century
A mezuzah (here, on the right
side of the entrance) is attached
to all the gates to remind Jews
of God’s presence &
commandments
The box contains Deuteronomy
6:4-9, which begins with, ―Hear,
O Israel: The LORD is our God,
the LORD alone‖ &
Deuteronomy 11:13
10. The façade of the Zion Gate
David’s Gate is marked with
bullet holes from the 1948 War
It leads to the Jewish
Quarter, David's tomb, & the
Coenaculum—the room of the
Last Supper
11. The largest & most splendid is the Damascus Gate—located on the
northern side of the walled city & leads to Damascus
12. The Dung Gate is nearest to the Temple Mount
Since the 2nd century, refuse has been taken out of the city through this gate
13. Herod’s Gate is named after Herod the Great because in the Crusader
Period a church was built near the gate over Herod Antipas's house
14. This gate is called Jaffa Gate
because it leads to the ancient
harbour city of Jaffa
15. Near the Jaffa gate are 2 tombs
A legend tells that this is the burial place of the 2 engineers who built the walls
that surround the city
Apparently, they were executed by Sultan Suleiman for not including Mt Zion
within the city walls
Another legend tells that the Sultan killed them as he wanted to make sure that
no other wall would ever challenge the beauty of the Jerusalem walls
16. St Stephen’s Gate is supposedly near The Israeli assault to recapture the Old
the place where Stephen was City in 1967 was made through this
martyred gate
It is also known as the Lion’s Gate
It leads to the Mt of Olives
because of the lions engraved on each
It is also known as the Sheep's Gate
side of the gate
because in ancient times the sheep for
sacrifice were brought to the Temple The lions actually look more like
from this gate leopards
17. Sultan Suleiman
rebuilt the walls of the
old city of Jerusalem
between 1537 & 1541
The lions were placed there because Sultan Suleiman dreamt that he was
chased by a lion
His advisors interpreted the lion as being Jerusalem—the lion of Judah– which
had been left naked (without walls) after it was conquered by the sultan’s father
Thus, he believed that if he did not construct a wall around Jerusalem, he would
be killed by lions
18. Near St Stephen’s Gate is the The acoustic here, designed for
Church of St Anne that marks Gregorian chant, was
the birthplace of Anne, the outstanding
mother of Mary
19. Within its compound is the Bethesda Pool where Jesus healed a crippled
man (John 5) which later housed . . .
20. A pagan temple A Byzantine church
A Crusader chapel A resting place for those who need a break
