Zion Gate

Zion Gate 2012

The Zion Gate ( Hebrew שער ציון, Sha'ar Zion , Arabic باب النبي داود, DMG Bāb an-Nabī Dāwud 'Gate of the Prophet David') is one of the eight gates in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Jerusalem's Old City . It was built in 1540 under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent . From the south (i.e. from the road to Hebron ) it opens up access to the Armenian and Jewish quarters of the old town.

Names

The gate has taken the name of the Byzantine Zion Gate further west. The Arabic name "Gate of the Prophet David" refers to the fact that from here you can get to the southwest hill of Jerusalem, where the tomb of David has been venerated since the 10th century . There has also been a mosque there since the 15th century.

Zion Gate between 1898 and 1914

Building description

The Zion Gate still shows the historical shape of the Knicktor, which was rebuilt in other old town gates to facilitate traffic. It is a gate tower with a vaulted interior and an upper floor. The interior, i.e. the path through the gate, describes a right angle - this should prevent riders from breaking through the gate in a storm.

Around the archway, typical elements of Ottoman architecture, such as round objects and loopholes vaulted with arches, are arranged axially symmetrically. On the central axis you can see the straight door lintel from bottom to top, above the triangular relief arch, the field with the building inscription, a pointed arch, a stone rosette and a turret.

Antique Spolie

In 1886 an inscription was discovered at a height of three meters, which gives a glimpse of the religious conditions in the Hadrian colony city of Aelia Capitolina:

"[I] IOVI O (ptimo) M (aximo) SARAPIDI

PRO SALUTE ET VICTORIA

IMP (eratoris) NERVAE TRAIANI CAESARIS

OPTIMI AUG (usti) GERMANICI DACICI

PARTHICI ET POPULI ROMANI

VEXILL (atio) LEG (ionis) III CYR (enaicae) FECIT.

VEXILL (atio) LEG (ionis) III CYR (enaicae) FECIT. "

"The vexillation of Legio III Cyrenaica has done this to the best and highest Iuppiter Serapis for the well-being and victory of the Emperor Caesar Traian, Nerva's son, the best Augustus of the Germanic, Dacian, Parthian and Roman people ."

It is not known whether this spoil originally belonged to an altar or a statue base; she is missing today.

Building history

Today's gate system is dated by two identical Arabic building inscriptions in the tympanum of the outer and inner gate:

"... on the 1st of the month Rabi 'of the year 947" (= July 1540)

The builders Süleymans I used the remains of a larger, Ayyubid tower complex that protruded slightly outside and inside the wall at ground level.

Modern history

Memorial plaque for the fighting on May 18, 1948

During the Palestine War , the Zion Gate was the scene of bitter fighting. Bullet holes can still be seen in the walls today.

David Shaltiel , Major General of the Hagana , tried to avert the loss of the embattled Jewish Quarter of the Old City on May 17, 1948 by preparing an attack on the Old City from two sides: a detachment of the Harel Brigade was supposed to conquer Mount Zion and through the Zion Gate to penetrate the old town; four platoons of the Etzioni Brigade were to storm the Jaffa Gate . Despite Arab machine gun fire from the walls, the pioneers managed to blow up a small opening in the Zion Gate at 3:25 a.m. They took advantage of the confusion created by the explosion and stormed the gate. The siege of the Jewish Quarter was temporarily interrupted and a provisional supply line could be set up. Through the Zion Gate, the district's defenders now received rifles, light submachine guns and ammunition. Logistical problems ruined this success, however, because no reinforcements arrived at the Zion Gate. Shortly before daybreak, the Zion Gate had to be abandoned. The Hagana made several attempts to break through at the Zion Gate, but each time the attempt failed because of the gate system: because of the narrow passage, the pioneers here became an easy target for the archers of the Arab Legion .

literature

Max Küchler : Jerusalem. A handbook and study guide to the Holy City . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-50170-2 .
Magen Broshi, Yoram Tsafrir : Excavations at the Zion Gate, Jerusalem . In: Israel Exploration Journal 27, 1/1977, pp. 28-37.

Web links

Commons : Zionstor - collection of images, videos and audio files

31.772863888889 35.229516666667Coordinates: 31 ° 46 ′ 22.3 " N , 35 ° 13 ′ 46.3" E

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Max Küchler: Jerusalem. A handbook and study guide to the Holy City , Göttingen 2007, pp. 120f.
↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem. A handbook and study travel guide to the Holy City , Göttingen 2007, p. 122.
↑ Christopher Weikert: From Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina. Roman policy towards the Jews from Vespasian to Hadrian . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2016, p. 211.
↑ Max van Berchem : Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum , Volume I / 1: Syrie du Sud, Jérusalem (ville) , Kairo 1922, pp. 441f., No. 126 and 127. ( digitized version )
^ J. Bowyer Bell: Besieged: Seven Cities Under Siege . Routledge, New York 2017, p. 224. (Original: Chilton Books, Philadelphia 1966), p. 223f.

[:0-1] Max Küchler: Jerusalem. A handbook and study guide to the Holy City , Göttingen 2007, pp. 120f.

[2] Max Küchler: Jerusalem. A handbook and study travel guide to the Holy City , Göttingen 2007, p. 122.

[3] Christopher Weikert: From Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina. Roman policy towards the Jews from Vespasian to Hadrian . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2016, p. 211.

[4] Max van Berchem : Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum , Volume I / 1: Syrie du Sud, Jérusalem (ville) , Kairo 1922, pp. 441f., No. 126 and 127. ( digitized version )

[5] J. Bowyer Bell: Besieged: Seven Cities Under Siege . Routledge, New York 2017, p. 224. (Original: Chilton Books, Philadelphia 1966), p. 223f.