MY ISRAEL: AN ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE PRESENT DAY OLD CITY WALLS & GATES OF JERUSALEM:

The Old City walls have been addressed innumerable times, I therefore decided to approach the subject solely from an architectural perspective.

Firstly, we are dealing with pure unadulterated military architecture. Bear in mind that Jerusalem was twice destroyed, attacked 52 times, captured & recaptured 44 times & besieged 23 times. The 25 archaeological layers that make up Jerusalem bear witness to the city’s turbulent past.

Built on the remnants of much older walls, the present day walls & 6 of the 8 major gates were built between 1537-1541 by the Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the magnificent (1520-1566). The walls are approximately 4.5 kilometers in length, vary in height from 5 to 15 meters & have an average thickness of 3 meters. The Old City including the Temple Mount covers an area of 0.9 square kilometers. The Temple Mount itself covers an area of 0.15 square kilometers. (Refer to sketch – 1).

The crenellations on top of the walls enabled the defendants to protect themselves. The raised sections protected the defenders when standing & the lowered spaces in-between enabled them to aim at and shoot their attackers.

You will at intervals notice a circular stone embedded into the walls. These stones are in actuality columns embedded horizontally into the wall. The column length matching the wall thickness. Called wall stiffeners, they act as a type of internal vice that holds the two sides of the wall together, thereby strengthening it.

The long thin vertical slits on the external wall face are arrow slits through which an archer could launch arrows. On the inside of the wall directly behind the slit is an alcove allowing the archer space to load the weapon & move around in order to obtain a wider field of fire.

Above the gates are corbelled (stepped) protrusions of stonework known as machicolations, which are floorless & thus open to the ground below. The defenders were able to drop stones, boiling water or boiling oil through the openings onto the attackers below. Additional external openings within the arch soffit (underside of the arch) on either side of the apex, served the same function.

In plan, entrances into the confines of the city were often L shaped. This was done in order to slow down the momentum of attackers should they have managed to break down the door. In other words, attackers would have to make a 90 degree turn before entering the city which would slow them down and expose them to the defenders fire.

Another method of slowing down attackers was to create an internal unroofed courtyard at the gate entrance level that was substantially lower than the entrance level into the main compound. This arrangement forced attackers to ascend stairs before confronting the defenders.

Anatomically an arch is made of springing stones located at the start of each side of the arch. The apex of the arch is the location of the keystone, & the intermediate stones on either side between the springing stones & keystone are voussoirs. (Refer to sketch – 2)

The aim of an arch or any opening is to transfer the forces generated by the loads above (in this case stonework) around the opening to the ground.

There are four types of arches found in the Jerusalem Old City walls. The Lancet arch, which resembles the pointed head of a lance. The Byzantine arch, which is a later version of the Roman arch & is rounded. The Basket Handle arch. The Depressed arch.

LANCET ARCH:

JAFFA GATE: (Sha’ar Jaffo): So named because it leads to Jaffa. Alternative names include HEBRON GATE as it leads to Hebron as well. The Arabic name BAB EL-HALIL means “Gate of the beloved of God”, namely Abraham, who resided in Hebron. The Crusaders named it PORTO DAVID, believing that the prayer niche of King David was in the vicinity. (Refer to sketch – 3)

ZION GATE: (Sha’ar Tzion): Located on Mount Zion. (Refer to sketch – 4)

(Bullet holes pepper the surrounding gate walls & are remnants of the battle that took place here during 1948 War of Independence).

LIONS GATE: (Sha’ar Ariyeh): The gate name derived from the pair of Lions or Panthers sculpted in relief on either side of the opening. According to the Christian narrative, the gate has two names. GATE OF OUR LADY as Mary was born in the area & died in the area & ST STEPHEN’S GATE, in remembrance of St Stephen, who was stoned to death in the area & regarded as the first Christian martyr. Another name given to the gate is SHEEP’S GATE, as sheep for Temple sacrifice entered through the gate. (Refer to sketch – 5)

(It was through this gate that that Israel’s soldiers entered the Old City during the 6 day war, thereby liberating and reunifying Jerusalem).

DAMASCUS GATE: (Sha’ar Shechem) : Leads to Damascus & Shechem, called Nablus by the Arabs. (Refer to sketch – 6)

FLOWER GATE (Sha’ar ha Prahim ): The name is due to floral motifs on the gates façade. The Arabic name is BAB AL-ZAHIRA meaning Flower Gate. Also named HEROD’S GATE after either Herod the Great or his son Herod Antipas. (Refer to sketch – 7)

BYZANTINE ARCH:

GATES OF MERCY: (Sha’ar ha Rachamim): Built either by the Byzantines during the reign of Justinian (527 C.E. – 565 C.E.) or during the Ummayad Period (660-749) using Byzantine workers. The Arabs adopted the name Gates of Mercy (BAB AL-RAHMA), whilst Christians refer to them as the GOLDEN or BEAUTIFUL GATES. Blocked & unblocked many times for both political & defensive reasons, but finally blocked up by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1541. (Refer to sketch – 8)

BASKET HANDLE ARCH:

DUNG GATE: (Sha’ar ha Ashpot) or GATE OF SILWAN. Named Dung gate as it was a place where inhabitants dumped their garbage after the Second Temple destruction. The name Silwan Gate derived from the nearby village of Silwan. (Refer to sketch – 9)

DEPRESSED ARCH:

NEW GATE: (Sha’ar ha Hadash): Built by the Turkish sultan Abdul Hamid 2 in 1887 to provide direct access into the Christian quarter. Also named the GATE OF HAMID. (Refer to sketch – 10)

Ron Traub : (Tour Guide & Architect). Website : rontraub-tours.com Photo’s : Rimonah Traub. Sketches : Ron Traub.