Gates of the Temple Mount

The Temple Mount, a holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem, also known as the al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf or Al-Aqsa, contains twelve gates.

[2] The Gate of the Tribes (Arabic: باب الأسباط Bāb al-ʾAsbāṭ, Hebrew: שער השבטים) is located at the north-eastern corner of the compound.

Its name refers to the Twelve Tribes of Israel ("Bani Isra'il") who left Egypt and came to the Holy Land/Bayt al-Maqdis to find the Promised Land.

[6] The Asbāt gate is located on the northern wall of the Haram al-Sharif and it is in the double gateway also, it is almost directly opposite Ahwab Mihrab Mariam.

[10] The Gate of Remission (Arabic: باب الحطه Bāb al-Ḥiṭṭa), where 'remission' means 'forgiveness', is located on the north side, about 130 metres (430 ft) westward of the far eastern-end of the Temple Mount.

[15] The Iron Gate (باب الحديد Bāb al-Ḥadīd, Hebrew: Shaar Barzel) is located on the western side, at the end of Bab al-Hadid Street, being within the Muslim Quarter, and where, before entering, one gains access to an exposed and contiguous section of the ancient wall of the Temple Mount, known locally as the Little Western Wall.

[16] The Cotton Merchants' Gate (Arabic: باب القطانين Bāb al-Qaṭṭānīn Hebrew: שער מוכרי הכותנה) leads onto the Temple Mount.

[17] The gate was built by the ruler of Damascus, Tankiz, during the reign of Mamluk Sultan ibn Qalawun, as marked by an inscription over the door.

[19] The gate is rectangular in shape and reaches a height of 3.5 m. It was renovated during the reign of the Mamluk emir Alaa al-Din al-Busairi in the year 666 AH (1266 CE).

[21] The Chain Gate (Arabic: باب السلسلة, Bāb as-Silsila; Hebrew: Shaar HaShalshelet) is located on the western flank.

It is believed that the current gate was built during the Ayyubid period and renovated and connected to the western section of the compound during Mamluke rule.

[26] The Magharibah, as these communities were called in Arabic, lived in this area until they were dispersed with the quarter's demolition in 1967 by Israel in order to construct the Western Wall Plaza for the Jews to pray.

[27] The gate, specifically the excavation of the historic ramp leading up to it, has been a point of contention between Israelis and Arab Muslims.

[29][30] The Maghariba Gate is the only access for non-Muslims to enter the site, meaning its closure will prevent both Jews and tourists from visiting until a replacement structure is built.

The ramp leads from the plaza by the Western Wall up to the adjoining compound, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It is known that Israel has been carrying out archaeological excavations in an area outside the compound, inviting the charge that they are trying to destabilise the mosque, Islam's third holiest site.

The damaged ramp, situated beneath the bridge and not connected to it, consists of an accumulation of archaeological layers which have been excavated by the IAA, who removed surface material and made visible several ruined structures.

In 2013, an archaeological excavation was conducted at the Maghariba Gate by Hayim-Her Barbe, Roie Greenvald, and Yevgeni Kagan, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

[31] Firas Dibs, Press Spokesperson for the Jerusalem Islamic Foundations Administration, stated that the Israeli police attacked the al-Haram as-Sharif community.

[36] Rabbi Eliezer, dissenting, says that it was not a causeway, but rather marble pillars over which cedar boards had been laid, used by the High Priest and his entourage.

[37] This gate was not used by the masses to enter the Temple Mount, but reserved only for the High Priest and all those that aided him when taking out the Red Heifer or the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement.

The gate house, which is accessed from the Temple Mount by descending a wide flight of stairs leading into it, and where the current ground floor is built in the shape of a rectangle measuring 24 metres (79 ft) × 17 metres (56 ft) (exterior wall measurements), is surrounded by walls, the length of which space is divided by a row of columns forming two equal divisions.

It is named after James Turner Barclay, a 19th-century Christian missionary who discovered the main structure of the gate buried underground within the Al-Aqsa compound in 1852.

Since the 19th Century according to Ratrout, the name “Double Gate” was given due to the two rectangular doorways which opened up into the long tunnel leading to the “Ancient Mosque” or “Al Aqsa Qadeem”.