December 2019 – Visit His Land

One of the gates entering the Jewish Quarter of the Old City is Zion Gate. Just outside Zion Gate is Mount Zion, and King David’s Tomb. The gate has several other names, including King David’s Gate, the Gate of the Jews, and the Wounded Gate. It is pock-marked with hundreds of bullet holes from the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. Israeli forces outside the city were firing on the Jordanian forces that held the gate. While the Israeli forces were able to enter, they were driven back, and the city remained under Jordanian control until 1967. The gate remained closed during that time.

One of the notable features of Zion Gate is the beautiful mosaic design in the pavement just outside the city wall.

The University of North Carolina has an archaeological excavation site just outside from Zion Gate. In 2019 they discovered a layer dating to the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

The Old City has eight open gates, if you count the small Tanner’s Gate. Jaffa Gate is a main entrance to the City from the west. It enters at the juncture of the Armenian and Christian Quarters.

Jaffa Gate is named for Jaffa Road, a primary route from Jaffa Port, also known as Joppa. If that name sounds familiar, you’ve heard of it in the story of Jonah, and also the account of Peter’s vision. The harbor of Jaffa is one of the oldest harbors in the world.

Heavy doors were used to secure the gate on the east and north sides of the tower.

Jaffa Gate was built in 1538 during the Ottaman Period, when most of the Old City walls were built. It is in the shape of a medieval tower gate. The road does a right angle turn inside the tower. This made it more defensible against an invading army.

Today, the traffic through the Gate is foot traffic. Vehicles use the road through the wall opening directly to the south of the gate. The breach in the wall was made in 1898 to allow German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II to enter the city as a conqueror.

In 1917, British general Edmund Allenby entered the Old City on foot through the Gate. He wanted to show respect, and avoid any comparison with Kaiser’s pompous entrance.