Saturday, May 11, 2013

The Golden Gate


When up at the Mount of Olives, I noticed a gates at the base of the Temple Mount that was closed up and surrounded by cemeteries.

The gate is called the Golden Gate and Jewish legend has it that this is the gate that the Messiah will return to Jerusalem through.

The gate was walled up in 1541 by Suleiman the Magnificent, while he was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (those that you see today). He did this to prevent the return of the Messiah.

The cemetery you see in the front is a Muslim cemetery. It was put there in the belief that no Jewish holy man (including the Messiah) would defile himself by walking through a Muslim cemetery.




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