Devotional Trip – Day 8, Site 7 ... Damascus Gate, New Gate, & Jaffa Gate

Read: Nehemiah 6:1-14 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/nehemiah/6.html)
Sing: This Is a Day of New Beginnings, UMH 383
 
Damascus Gate
The Damascus Gate is located on the north side of The Old City and is the dividing point between the Muslim Quarter on the east and the Christian Quarter on the west. It is the busiest gate of The Old City for foot traffic. Vendors often fill the steps leading down to the gate and Muslim worshipers crowd the way as they gather for services on Fridays. The gate was built in 1541 by the Ottomans but its history dates back to the 2nd century AD and the Roman city of Aelia Capitolina.
 
New Gate                                                                              
Unlike the other ancient gates, the New Gate was opened in 1889 by the Ottomans, giving direct access to the Christian Quarter of The Old City.
 
Jaffa Gate
The Jaffa Gate of The Old City is unquestionably the busiest gate in the ancient walls. Damascus Gate, bordering the Muslim Quarter, serves a large pedestrian population, and the Dung Gate is an important exit for visitors to the Western Wall. But Jaffa Gate, so named because it faces west toward Jaffa, is the main entrance for pedestrians and motor vehicles – buses, trucks, taxis and cars. It wasn't always so. Until the late 1800s the narrow angled gate limited wheeled traffic. A moat was an additional barrier. All that changed when the Ottoman authorities rebuilt the gate to allow the German Emperor's carriages to enter the city in 1898.