Dung Gate
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The Dung Gate ( he, שער האשפות ''Sha'ar Ha'ashpot'') or Silwan Gate, also known as the Mughrabi Gate ( ar, باب المغاربة ''Bab al-Maghariba''), is one of the Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.Jerusalem Municipality, ''Dung Gate''
/ref> It was built as a small
postern A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location which allowed the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a postern ...
gate in the 16th century by the Ottomans, first widened for vehicular traffic in 1952 by the
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
ians, and again in 1985 by the
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i authorities. The gate is situated near the southeast corner of the Old City, southwest of the
Temple Mount The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...
. Directly behind the gate lies the entrance to the
Western Wall Plaza The Western Wall Plaza is a large public square situated adjacent to the Western Wall in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It was formed in 1967 as a result of the razing of the Moroccan Quarter neighborhood at the very end of t ...
. The Dung Gate is a main passage for vehicles coming out of the Old City and for buses headed to the
Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط ...
.


Names

Built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, this small gate was then called Mughrabi Gate. In the 19th century, it started being called Dung Gate by Jews. It is also known as the Silwan Gate. The original ''Dung Gate'' ( he, שער האשפות ''Sha'ar Ha'ashpot'') was, in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Pool of Siloam The term Pool of Siloam ( ar, بركه سلوان, he, בריכת השילוח, ''Breikhat HaShiloah'') ( gr, Σιλωάμ) refers to a number of Rock-cut architecture, rock-cut pools on the southern slope of the City of David (Silwan), Wadi Hilw ...
in the days of the Second Temple. It was probably named after the residue that was taken from the Jewish Temple into the Valley of Hinnom, where it was burned. The name was transferred to this small gate - at first, a small rectangular postern in the tower of the wall - in the 19th century. Arabs refer to the gate as "the Mughrabi Gate", but that name is ambiguous as it also applies to one of the gates that allow entrance into
the Temple Mount ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, inside the Old City walls. The name alludes to the Mughrabi Quarter, a neighborhood of North African
Kutama The Kutama ( Berber: ''Ikutamen''; ar, كتامة) was a Berber tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber confederation of the Bavares. The Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form ''Koidamousii'' by the Greek geographer Ptolemy. ...
Fatimids which was situated between both gates until 1967. Finally, the name Silwan Gate refers to the village of
Silwan Silwan or Siloam ( ar, سلوان, translit=Silwan; gr, Σιλωὰμ, translit=Siloam; he, כְּפַר הַשִּׁילוֹחַ, translit=''Kfar ha-Shiloaḥ'') is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, on the outskir ...
, that lies outside the gate, broadly southeast of it.


History


Fortified Ottoman postern

The Dung Gate was built as part of the new city walls erected under
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...
between 1537 and 1541. The original gate was just 1.5 metres wide, topped by an arch and only designed for pedestrians and pack animals to pass through. Initially the gate, or more precisely the
postern A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location which allowed the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a postern ...
, included an inner gate tower, which was demolished before the end of the Ottoman period. Towards the end of Ottoman rule, a new gate tower or gatehouse was added, but this time outside the wall, in a style that blended in with the 16th-century fortifications. This outer tower was demolished by the British Mandate officials in 1938, probably as part of their drive to restore the walls to their original look, this bringing back to light the old stone decorations.


Jordanian and Israeli modernisation

In 1952, when the gate was widened by the Jordanian authorities to allow cars and buses to pass through it, a reinforced concrete girder was installed under the old stone arch. In 1984-85 the gate was again enlarged, the old arch and the other decorative elements being raised, so that the opening reached a height of 4.5 metres. The modern gate is built of reinforced concrete, but clad in stone, and the new design helps the old and new elements blend together without disturbing the general style of the city wall, with the gate's opening closing in a more curvy line instead of the straight Jordanian lintel. Landscape architect
Shlomo Aronson Shlomo Aronson may refer to: * (1864–1935), first Ashkhenazi rabbi of Tel Aviv, grandfather of the historian * Shlomo Aronson (landscape architect) (1936–2018), Israeli landscape architect * Shlomo Aronson (historian) Shlomo Aronson (1936 – ...
cooperated with architect Arthur Kutcher at implementing the decision of the
Jerusalem Foundation The Jerusalem Foundation ( he, הקרן לירושלים, ''HaKeren LiYerushalayim''; ar, مؤسسة صندوق القدس) is a nonprofit foundation that promotes the development of the city of Jerusalem, by raising funds for social, cultural a ...
established by then-mayor
Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 19 ...
, motivated by the sharp increase in pilgrims traffic.


See also

* Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem *
Walls of Jerusalem The Walls of Jerusalem ( he, חומות ירושלים, ar, أسوار القدس) surround the Old City of Jerusalem (approx. 1 km2). In 1535, when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman I ordered the ruined city wa ...


References


External links


Bab al-Maghariba



Moors site
{{Old City (Jerusalem) Gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls Western Wall Ezra–Nehemiah