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| Lions Gate Section |
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Historic Overview:
Until the time of the Second Temple the region where the Lions Gate wall is located lay outside the boundaries of the city of Jerusalem. It was during the reign of King Herod that the city expanded to the north and the Second and Third Walls were erected, which enclosed the city's northern residential quarters. Despite Josephus' detailed description of the route that the city wall followed - beginning at the Tower of Hippicus ('David's Tower') at the citadel, continuing north around the Jewish neighborhoods, and in the end connecting to the northeastern corner of the Temple Mount - there is disagreement among scholars regarding the wall's northern route. The line of the Third Wall in the east was probably close to where the wall is currently situated.
In the Roman Period the city walls were built along the route we know today. Their construction is dated to the late third century-early fourth century CE. Most scholars believe that the route the Ottoman city wall follows is also that of the city wall of Aelia Capitolina, including the eastern wall north of the Temple Mount. It was also during this period that the network of main streets was established, which is still used in the city today. The main thoroughfares are the Cardo, running in a north south direction, and the Decamanus that crosses the city laterally from the Lions Gate in the east to the Eastern Cardo (Rehov Beit Ha-Bad). What is today the Via Dolorosa follows the route of the Decamanus.
In the Byzantine period the northern and eastern routes of the city walls remained as they were in the Roman period. In the fifth century CE, during the reign of Empress Eudocia, the city walls were built and three gates were rehabilitated and fixed in them. The eastern gate structure was probably located in the region of Lions Gate; however, its remains have not yet been exposed.
At the Beginning of the Umayyad Period the caliph 'Abd al-Malik (685-705 CE) rehabilitated the city wall. Following their rehabilitation, the course of the walls was similar to that of the walls we know today. Lions Gate is mentioned in historical sources as the gate that led to the Jordan Valley. The Arab historian Al-Muqaddasi referred to it as Jericho Gate and in other sources it is called Benjamin's Gate. Tradition has it that this is the gate through which Jesus entered Jerusalem.
At the same time as the walls were constructed during this period, the moat was probably hewn along the Moat Section of the city wall and along the city's northeastern wall.
In the Crusader Period Jerusalem's fortifications from the Early Islamic period were reinforced. The eastern city wall was built on the remains of previous walls and the Gate of Jehoshaphat was constructed in it, in the place where Lions Gate is situated.
During the Mamluk Period the Mamluk ruler Baybars rehabilitated the city's walls. Evidence of this can be seen in the lion reliefs, which we know are symbols representing him and were reinstalled in the gate in the Ottoman period. The reliefs are apparently remains of the gate that stood at the location of the Lions Gate at the time of his rule.
At the end of the Mamluk period the city walls were demolished and they remained in ruins until the beginning of Ottoman rule.
During the Ottoman Period, at the time Sultan Suleiman built the city walls along the route of the previous walls, Lions Gate was erected in the eastern wall, also along the line of the previous gates.
Lions Gate won its name from the lion reliefs that appear on the front of it. The reliefs are, as stated, Baybars' symbol, and such reliefs adorned other buildings constructed by Baybars elsewhere in Israel and Syria.
At the end of the nineteenth century the gate, which up until then was L-shaped, was breached in its western facade, thus providing direct and convenient access for vehicles to the Old City.
State of Israel. The gate's southern lintel was damaged in 1948, during the War of Independence. In 1968, following the Six Day War and the reunification of the city, the gate was rehabilitated and restored to its original condition.
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