128 



DR. E. W. G. MASTERMAN, ON 



Along the northern walls there are three gates. One a little 

 east of the before-mentioned corner is known as " the New 

 Gate," or more correctly as the Bab Abdul Hamid, so called 

 because it was opened during the reign of that infamous Sultan. 

 In the middle of the long stretch of the northern wall lies the 

 Damascus Gate, so called because from here runs the northern 

 road to that city. We know that the gate and the adjoining 

 wall are upon the foundations of earlier constructions. The 

 gate is known to the natives as Bab el Amud, " the Gate of the 

 Column," a name which may possibly be explained by the 

 great column which is figured in the famous Byzantine m.osaic 

 map of Palestine discovered some years ago at Medaba. From 

 this columiu the distances to places in other parts of the land 

 were calculated. To mediaeval Christians it was knowTi as St. 

 Stephen's Gate (not to be confounded with the gate in the eastern 

 wall, so nam.ed in modern guide-books) because it is supposed 

 that St. Stephen was led out here to be stoned. 



Further east we have the Bab el Sahirah, the Gate of the 

 Plain, called by travellers Herod's Gate. 



On the eastern side there are two gates, one of which has 

 long been walled up. The used gate is known to native 

 Christians as the Bab Sitti Miriam (" the Gate of the Lady 

 Mary," after whom the adjoining valley, the Kidron, is also 

 named), to the Moslems as Bab el Asbat, " the Gate of the 

 Tribes," and in the modern guide-books as St. Stephen's Gate. 

 From this gate every Easter issues the weird and fantastic 

 procession of Nebi Mtisa. 



Between this gate and the south-eastern corner of the city is 

 the famous Golden Gate, known in Arabic as the Bab ed Da- 

 harlyeh, " the Gate of the Conqueror," a fine piece of Byzantine 

 work built either by Justinian or Heraclius. It is often a subject 

 of surmise why this gate is kept shut, but the reason is evident : 

 the gate leads directly into the sacred Haram or temple area 

 into which none but Moslems have free access. To leave it open 

 would necessitate perpetual guards to keep out the "infidels,'' 

 Along the southern wall are two gates. One Ipng right across 

 the now half-obliterated Tyropcean Valley known as the " Dung 

 Gate," or more correctly Bab el Mugharibeh, the " Gate of the 

 Moors " (because it leads into their dwellings), while on the higher 

 ground further west is the so-called Zion Gate," or the Bab 

 Nebi Daoud, " the Gate of the Prophet David," so called because 

 it leads out to the mosque enclosing the traditional tomb of 



